Chennai District Collector inaugurates free transport from bus stop to collectorate

Battery-operated car for differently abled, elderly

M.K. ANANTH

  

The car was a long-pending demand.–Photo: M.K. Ananth

A battery car to transport free of cost differently abled and elderly petitioners from the bus stop to the district collectorate was inaugurated by District Collector J. Kumaragurubaran on Monday. Mr. Kumaragurubaran told The Hindu  that it was bought under the District Innovation Fund (DIF) under the 13th Finance Commission.

The Collector said on an average close to 500 petitions were submitted at the collectorate during the weekly grievances meet on Monday. Of these, about 200 to 250 of them (40 per cent to 50 per cent) were submitted by differently abled and very old persons. “A car for the petitioners was a long pending demand of various associations for the differently abled,” he said.

Mr. Kumaragurubaran said a proposal to buy the car, worth Rs. 4 lakh, was sent to the State Government about three months ago. According to him the DIF gets 90 per cent (Rs. 3.6 lakh) of the cost from the State Government while 10 per cent (Rs. 40,000) is contributed by the public.

“The car is the first project sanctioned for Namakkal under DIF – of the total Rs.1 crore earmarked for this district,” the Collector said. The decision to buy a battery car was taken as it has lesser ground clearance – less than half a foot – that is much less than the clearance of many petrol and diesel vehicles in this price range.

“Initially, the vehicle will function from 9 a.m. till the end of the meeting on all Mondays,” he said and added that the free service would also be made available on other days based on demand. Differently abled persons said the vehicle had brought down the time taken for them to reach the petition counter by 10 minutes.

“The weekly grievance meeting is now conducted in the conference hall on the first floor of the collectorate. A meeting hall will soon be constructed at Rs. 17 lakh on the ground floor.

First Blind Judge in Korea shows how blind persons can function as Judge successfully

Dear Colleagues,

A very good news coming in from Korea. We have a Blind Judge Mr. Choi Young, who held the court first time with his screen reading software on the lap top. And the attendees in the court were spell bound! 

I have been working hard to see our blind brethren in the judiciary in Delhi. However, despite five posts specially reserved for the Blind in the judicial examinations held in past few years, we have seen no success.  I am requesting the Delhi High Court to organize special coaching to blind law graduates and practicing blind lawyers this year so that we can put up an example to the country. Its not that we have no blind judges in the country, but we have none in Delhi so far.

Please refer to my earlier posts "Can a blind person work as a judge?" and subsequently  "Want to become a judge?" and "A step further to ensure that Blind can function effectively in Courts" on this subject. 

Here is the wonderful news from Korea. 

SEOUL: Judge Choi Young focused on the sounds from his laptop computer at the court as he strives to grasp the case he undertook.

A text-to-speech software in the computer helped blind judge with the trial. While attendees were nervous and astonished to see how dexterously he dealt with the case, he remained calm and confident.

Korean blind judge, Choi Young, adjusts an earpiece 

as he presides over his first public ruling for a civil 

case at the Seoul Northern District Court 

in Dobong District 

(Photo credit: Korea Joongang Daily)

Choi, the Korea’s first blind judge, had his first open trial on Friday. 

Choi is one of the 86 new judges appointed in February and works as an associate judge at the Seoul Northern District Court.

The 32-year-old judge had five trials on Friday. He entered the court room at 10:00 a.m., supported by his fellow judge. He found his seat with the help of other staff. Unlike other judges, there was a laptop computer at his seat.

The court said it had installed a text-to-speech software and provided the necessary equipment, including the laptop, to assist  judge.   “He translates all the documents into audio files and put it in a USB flash drive before trials,” an official from the court said.

During the open trial on Friday, Choi seemed calm and looked no different from other judges besides he had an in-ear earphone. He also typed something on his laptop from time to time.

Observers were impressed how he could look for all the necessary files and document during the trial.

“Choi can memorize all the documents by listening to the audio files just one or two times,” a spokesman of the Seoul Northern District Court said.

Choi noted Friday that he hopes he can bring a new change in Korean society. “There was a big change after the country appointed its first woman judge. I hope I can make the same effect as the country’s first blind judge,” he said.

The 32-year-old was not born vision disability, but started to lose his vision from 1998 due to illness. He lost his vision completely in 2005 while at Seoul National University. He needed extra effort to prepare for the judicial examination due to his disability.

Despite his five consecutive failures, Choi did not give up and passed the judicial examination in 2008.

He completed a two-year program at the Judicial Research and Training Institute in earlier this year to become the country’s first ever blind judge.

Source: Asia online 

Boy with epilepsy shuttled between two welfare homes in four months

Dear Colleagues,

All of 12 years, and found abandoned at New Delhi railway station, his medical report shows he was diagnosed with epilepsy. In four months, he has been made to scuttle between two childrens’ homes, spanning the jurisdiction areas of three Child Welfare Committees (CWC), only to be returned to the first — as authorities at the two other institutions called him a “disturbance” to other inmates.

The CWC (Mayur Vihar), on December 29, 2012, had sent him to Don Bosco home in Okhla as authorities found the children’s home in their area “not equipped to handle his medical needs”.

In March, authorities at Don Bosco home, under CWC (Lajpat Nagar), said that “being a short-stay institution housing 20 children, we are not able to adequately manage the child and it becomes a disturbance for the other children.”

The boy also sustained a head injury after he accidentally fell down during an episode of fits while he was there. The authorities of the home suggested that the child be sent to another one — Antodaya Niketan in Kashmere Gate, “for its proximity to St Stephen’s Hospital and their better resources, which will help them manage the child properly.”

So, on March 25, CWC (Lajpat Nagar), ordered he be moved to Antodaya Niketan.

But within three days of being transferred here, in an official letter dated March 28, Antodaya Niketan authorities said, “The child is continuously afflicted with epilepsy and needs special attention. Moreover, it is a disturbance to other children at our home.”

They requested CWC to “transfer the child to other homes specialised in handling such cases.”

CWC (Kingsway Camp) directed the child be transferred back to Don Bosco last week.

According to Father George Nadackal, director of the Don Bosco Home, “This child needs a lot of special attention. We have to devote an attendant permanently for him. Also, his medical expenses amount to a lot — MRIs, CT scans, etc. We do not have the resources to take care of his needs. Now that he is back with us, we will try to find a solution.”

Tej Wilson, social worker at Antodaya Niketan, said, “We could only keep this child for a few days, because he had a lot of special needs and other children were getting disturbed. Since he was being well taken care of in Don Bosco, we requested our CWC to transfer him.”

With no designated home for long-term care of children diagnosed with neurological disorders, CWCs say they are in a constant dilemma over finding a place of care for such children. “Authorities at most homes say they do not have the facilities to take care of these children,” Raaj Mangal Prasad, chairperson, CWC (Lajpat Nagar) told Newsline.

However, department of Women and Child Development (WCD) officials dismissed these arguments as “excuses to turn away children”. “All normal homes are supposed to take care of the special needs of children. Isolating those with neurological disorders is not correct,” WCD Director, Rajiv Kale said.

The unwritten rule in Delhi institutions, is to direct children to Nirmal Chhaya home where an NGO, Manas Foundation, provides mental health counselling service. “We have over 120 psychiatry patients — 10 of them diagnosed with epilepsy. Since we provide a facility, all CWCs have started referring such children to us,” said Monika Kumar, Managing Trustee of Manas Foundation.

Nirmal Chaya chairperson Neera Mullick said, “We take care of all children diagnosed with epilepsy. It may be traumatic for other children to see them in a state of fits, but isolation is not the solution.”

The boy will be produced before the CWC ( Lajpat Nagar) on Monday where a final decision on his stay will be taken.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/boy-with-epilepsy-shuttled-between-two-welfare-homes-in-four-months/943272/0

MCD will create 1790 posts of Special Educator under Right to Education Act

PTI, Mar 19, 2011, 

NEW DELHI: In keeping with the provisions of the Right to Education Act, the MCD has decided to create 1,790 posts of special teachers for children with disabilities in schools run and aided by the civic agency.

A meeting of the MCD Standing Committee approved a proposal in this regard this week.

The creation of the posts is also in consonance with a Delhi high court order of 2008 that said at least two such teachers should be provided in each school along with necessary teaching aids and reading material.

Officials said the Education Department has, however, proposed to create one post of "special educator" in each primary school. It is in process to place a request to the High Court for consideration, they said.

"The proposal for creation of 1,790 posts of special educators -- one each for schools run and aided by the MCD -- was prepared in compliance with the direction of the court and the provisions of RTE," an official said.

The total financial implication of the project will be Rs 53.70 crore per annum and it is expected to be met put of Plan funds to be provided by Delhi government. "There is a provision of financing such expenditure under RTE. According to it, 65 per cent of the expenditure will be borne by the Union government and the remaining by the state," he said.

The Right to Education Act provides that a child suffering from disability shall have the right to pursue free and compulsory elementary education.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-19/delhi/29145895_1_posts-mcd-civic-agency

The World "Handicapped" is banned in Haryana

Dear Colleagues,

In the recent past Govt. of Haryana  initiated a network of social infrastructure in every district that includes old age homes, special accessible school infrastructure for four major disabilities to include persons with disabilities in the mainstream. Several quarters who advocated inclusion in all spheres of life including education etc were quite critical of this step while the State Government's decision was more in line with providing better infrastructure in specialized and state of the art institutions which could become pivotal institutions to empower the disabled people to inclusion. In addition to this, other educational institutions are also being made inclusive.

Now in yet another positive step towards a rights based and inclusive society where marginalized segments are accorded full respect and dignity, it has come out with an official announcement banning the usage of the word "Handicapped" in the State since it violated and undermined the dignity of persons with disabilities. Not only  that, it went on to even discourage the world "differently abled" since this focuses on differential dimension hence not inclusive. This is a very positive step and the officials responsible for this remarkable step must be congratulated. 

The larger issue is now to implement this and I am sure State had already done its bit to a good extent by highlighting this in the media and through various means so that the state machinery at all levels understand the "persons first approach" or People-First Language.

As per Wiktionary the word  "Handicap" means-  An allowance of a certain amount of time or distance in starting, granted in a race (or other contest of skill) to the competitor possessing disadvantages; or an additional weight or other hindrance imposed upon the one possessing advantages, in order to equalize, as much as possible, the chances of success.  Eg. 

• The older boy won, even though his opponent had been granted a handicap of five meters.
• A handicap in chess often involves removal of the queen's rook.

It also means a race, for horses or men, or any contest of agility, strength, or skill, in which there is an allowance of time, distance, weight, or other advantage, to equalize the chances of the competitors.

Thus,  person may have a disability  and not handicaps and it is derogatory to refer to an individual with the a noun "handicapped".  This announcement is in line with Article 8 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which is reproduced below:

Article 8 - Awareness-raising

1. States Parties undertake to adopt immediate, effective and appropriate measures:

1. To raise awareness throughout society, including at the family level, regarding persons with disabilities, and to foster respect for the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities;
2. To combat stereotypes, prejudices and harmful practices relating to persons with disabilities, including those based on sex and age, in all areas of life;
3. To promote awareness of the capabilities and contributions of persons with disabilities.

Measures to this end include:

1. Initiating and maintaining effective public awareness campaigns designed:
   1. To nurture receptiveness to the rights of persons with disabilities;
   2. To promote positive perceptions and greater social awareness towards persons with disabilities;
   3. To promote recognition of the skills, merits and abilities of persons with disabilities, and of their contributions to the workplace and the labour market;
2. Fostering at all levels of the education system, including in all children from an early age, an attitude of respect for the rights of persons with disabilities;
3. Encouraging all organs of the media to portray persons with disabilities in a manner consistent with the purpose of the present Convention;
4. Promoting awareness-training programmes regarding persons with disabilities and the rights of persons with disabilities.

Here is the news coverage of the announcement in Indian Express:

Haryana bans use of word 'handicapped'

Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 

Chandigarh: Haryana government has banned the use of expression 'handicapped' saying it violates and undermines the dignity of persons with disability. 

An official spokesman said the expression 'handicapped' was against the spirit of the Constitution, the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, and, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to which India was also a state party. 

He said the use of such other expressions as 'differently abled' would also be discouraged as such an expression harps more on the differentiality dimension whereas there was a need to promote equality dimension. 

Wherever such description was both necessary and relevant, such persons would be described as persons with disability or as persons with blindness, persons with speech and hearing impairment or persons with locomotor disability. 

He said national institutes like National Institute for the Visually Handicapped and National Institute for Hearing Handicapped should also be renamed appropriately. 

PTI