Aadhar card become a barrier for Charitable Institutions availing subsidized LPG Cylinders

Hi,

Aadhar numbers brought in so much of ease in putting faces to the numbers and thus making it easy for the direct transfer of subsidies to the needy. However, linking of Aadhar cards for receiving gas cylinders is proving a big hurdle for the charitable institutions since the insitutions are not individuals eligible for aadhaar numbers/ cards!

Perhaps while planning integration of Aadhaar with the Gas Connections, this aspect was not taken in to account. The Gas companies should come up with alternatives for charitable organsiations, so that they may quote their registration number or PAN no. rather than Aadhaar number since they are also entitled to receive gas cylinders at reduced rates given the nature of their work.

Here is the coverage from TOI - Charitable institutions lose out due to Aadhar cards

TNN | Jun 26, 2013, 05.13 AM IST

Panaji/Margao/Ponda: Charitable organizations, religious institutions and other bodies carrying out social and community work face hardships in accessing LPG cylinders at subsidized rates after the re-oriented scheme was launched from June 1, 2013.

As per provisions of the scheme, Aadhar cards of individual consumers have to be linked to their bank accounts, but this poses a problem in the case of organizations.

"We have to buy LPG cylinders from the open market due to this problem," Fr Savio Barreto, rector of Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa, said. The Professed House adjoining the Basilica has a few priests and staff. But the LPG refills prove costly, as the card is registered in the institution's name.

Youth formation movement headed by Fr Patricio Fernandes organizes "light of the world" retreats for SSC students. "A two-day residential retreat is held for an average of 70 students on all days, except Sunday," Fr Barreto said.

Salik Usman who works at the administrative wing of a Margao-based orphanage for girls said that there is not much clarity regarding the linking of the Aadhar card to the LPG scheme and said that authorities should have created better public awareness about it.

Matruchaya, an orphanage in Dhawali in Ponda also faces a similar problem and they have requested the Goa marketing and supply federation to allot LPG cylinders at subsidized rates.

The government provides a subsidy of 396 directly in the bank account of consumers on the sale price of 815.50 per 14.2 kg refill.

Sources in another convent also said that they face a similar problems and have to buy the refills in the open market. An oil company official said the problem can be solved if any representative of the organization possessing an Aadhar card opens a bank account in his name and links it to the card.

Education Options for Deaf in Delhi dwindle with Social Welfare Deptt encroaching on their only secondary school

Dear Colleagues,

Please refer to my earlier post titled "Present education system is inaccessible to deaf". The Government has been tom-toming itself on the RTE (The right to compulsory and free education), however, the deaf and the speech impaired have continued to be the most marginalised in the community. The statement from Mr. Narayanan, the Secretary of NAD says it all, "Ninety per cent of the deaf are either illiterate or have very low level of literacy as almost all the tching is oral. There are 18 million deaf in India and only 250 professional interpreters."

Admittedly, there are only three primary schools for the deaf and only one secondary school run by the Delhi Government. This indicates how many deaf children graduate to colleges from the schooling system in Delhi- given the fact that The Govt. Lady Noyce Senior Secondary School is a school that attracts deaf students from entire north India. The students have also been complaining that despite being in fairly senior classes, they can barely read and write.

I have met several students of this school personally and can bet for the poor quality of education being imparted in this institution. The teachers mostly use oral methods rather than sign language. The children rely more on sight words rather than being taught the formation of sentences. The question papers are given in advance with answers to the students to mug up the subject. On the day of the exam, the mugged up answers are vomitted on the sheets with no effective learning.

Tthe fact that Social Welfare department is housed in the School building with the common entrance /compound of the school and entry of general public is allowed, this is a serious threat to the security of the school where deaf young girls and boys and studying. They are vulnerable and their voices may go unheard complicated by their typical disability. There are a large number of visitors on a daily basis right from the senior citizen and the disabled to the RTI applicants, vendors and maintenance engineers of the outsourced firms... the list would be long.

It is the high time, the government moved out its office from the School campus and created more options for ensuring quality education of the deaf in Delhi. In the name of Inclusive education, the blind and the deaf have been among the most hit. They are neither included truly in the mainstream schools nor are able to find sufficient options due to scarcity of special schools. Given such a large number of hearing and speech impaired children wanting special education inputs, can three primary school and one senior secondary school suffice for the state? This is the question that the Social Welfare Minister is to answer.

Here is the coverage from TOI that spills the beans for the Welfare Deptt!

Government 'trespasser' in its school for deaf

Shreya Roy Chowdhury, TNN | Apr 16, 2013, 

NEW DELHI: Lady Noyce Senior Secondary School for the Deaf has more offices than classrooms today. Delhi government's department of social welfare, which runs the school, occupies large sections of the only secondary school for the deaf in the city, located behind the Ferozeshah Kotla cricket stadium. The primary section has counters for public dealing, the playground has porta cabin offices, the spaces in between buildings serve as parking areas and there are offices in both the girls' and boys' hostels.

A disability rights NGO claims applicants are now being refused admission because of lack of space. The Delhi-based National Association of the Deaf (NAD) says they came to know of what they describe as "encroachment" by the department on the school when some children turned away by the school came to them.

The department has operated from the school premises since 2005. "We don't want to be here," says Achla Singh, director in the department. She says they haven't taken over the entire ground but only a small part of it and that there are still large spaces on the premises for the children to play in. "We will vacate the top floor for the children," she says, "but we have functioned from here for so many years and have had a very peaceful coexistence with the school".

But for A S Narayanan, secretary, NAD, peace has prevailed because the affected group is hearing-impaired. "They couldn't have done this with a school for children with any other form of disability," he says. "Everyone can advocate for themselves except the deaf." According to the NGO's report of a meeting held on March 5, the department is staying put. It has nowhere to go and will move to Kingsway Camp eventually but the plan is still at a "conceptual" stage.

A senior official says they moved in only because there was space. "Then in April 2011, the school was upgraded from secondary to senior secondary," he recalls. With two new classes, there was "some overcrowding". The response was to shift the primary section to Nehru Vihar. The department itself has expanded since its split from the department of women and child development and now there are about 150 people on the staff.

"As far as education is concerned, the deaf are worse off than the visually-impaired or those using wheelchairs," says Narayanan. "Ninety per cent of the deaf are either illiterate or have very low level of literacy as almost all the teaching is oral. There are 18 million deaf in India and only 250 professional interpreters."

The Lady Noyce school, which has at present 517 students on its rolls, is important for a number of reasons - it is affiliated to CBSE, is affordable, and, being residential, it draws students from all over the north. It was established in 1931 by an alumnus of Gallaudet University (for the deaf) and is the first school for the deaf in north India. Delhi government runs three primary schools for the deaf but only one secondary school.

But Narayanan and colleague Zorin Singha argue that the offices are affecting the quality of education being imparted at the school, its roll strength and security. Achla Singh disagrees, arguing that the department's visitors - the aged and the differently-abled - are no threat to the students.

As for quality, some students complain that despite being in fairly senior classes, they can barely read or write. They say that most of their teachers don't know sign language and teach orally. School principal L D Trekhi denies all this. "Nobody has been refused admission," she says, adding, "all teachers are trained and know sign language" and that the offices are not a problem.

The NGO has written many letters to the departmet and even to the chief minister since April last year but to no avail. It's now planning a dharna and gherao of the social welfare minister, Kiran Walia, if the department doesn't move out by May 10.

Source: Times of India

MHADA considers reservation for PH in Affordable Housing

Part of affordable houses for physically challenged

Express news service 

Thu Mar 14 2013

Mumbai : The state government is considering reserving a percentage of affordable homes being built through government agencies for the physically challenged, said MoS for Housing Sachin Ahir during question hour in the Legislative Council on Wednesday.

MHADA is fine-tuning a scheme to build 10,000 affordable houses in Goregaon. “Once this is finalised, MHADA will decide number of houses to be reserved for physically challenged. All other categories for which reservations need to be made are also being discussed,” said Ahir.

MHADA already reserves houses for the physically challenged in its annual lottery.

In November 2011, the Bombay High Court had directed MHADA to allot houses to all those defined as disabled under the Persons with Physical Disabilities Act. Thus the flats under the lottery system started being allotted to persons from categories not limited to people with visual, hearing and speech impairment.

Source: Indian Express

Realising the dream of Barrier Free enviornment in Public Spaces

Dear Colleagues,

Its over one and a half decade when The Persons with Disabilities (equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation) Act was passed in India with specific mandate under sections 44 and 46 that stipulated barrier-free accessibility for the disabled at public buildings. However, the sad story is that it is not in the priorities of the State Governments still to make their offices accessible. With impunity access to even social welfare sections/ pension sections/ public dealing offices continues to be through staircases rather than lifts/ ramps. In fact the entire office complex is supposed to be accessible if section 33 of the Act mandating 3% reservations in the jobs is to be respected and complied with in its true sense.

There exist guidelines from the office of Chief commissioner Disabilities titled "Plannning a Barrier Free Environment", CPWD's "Guidelines and Space Standards for Barrier Freeenvironment for Disabled and Elderly Persons" and also Model Building Bye-laws  of Town and Country Planning Organization (Min. of UD) incorporated by most of the states to ensure accessibility in the public places/buildings.  The National Building Code 2005 and its earlier versions mandated accessibility and barrier free environment in the public buildings. However, the government offices especially in the States continue to defy the norms.

To facilitate easy implementation and remove bottlenecks of funding, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has been giving project based funds to make public places accessible to the states/agencies. However, the states either seem to have not shown interest in this or are little too slow on acting on the funding scheme available.

Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India which is the nodal ministry to ensure a barrier free environment had started this initiative by getting the access audits done through competent agencies for the union government buildings in Delhi and in other major cities and also the satellite towns. The next phase of implementation of the access audit reports is in progress in the Capital and several states. 

For implementation of Section 46 of the Persons with Disabilities Act 1995, the State Governments have nominated an official in each district (designated as Access Officers/ Inspectors  )for bringing cases of non-compliance to the notice of the concerned authorities in addition to the office of State Commissioner- Disabilities whose mandate is to see the implementation of the said act.  It has been found that often the nominated official/Access officer has no knowledge of the barrier free environment. Often their powers/scope of duties is not properly indicated and it is either just an additional charge given to them.

The State governments- barring a few like Goa etc - have not taken sincere initiatives to ensure accessibility in their buildings and public services- which also include access to information. Most websites of the state governments and even some union ministries continue to be inaccessible for the visually impaired users and those with mental challenges. 

This calls for alternate remedies and a strict and time bound implementation of the mandate. The Chief Commissioner - Disabilities at the Centre has been very pro-active in issuing notices to the Government departments, universities, post offices and banks etc to ensure their buildings and services accessible. However, the State commissioners have been little lethargic on this front.

Suggested measures

(a) State Commissioners should on their own motion or on receipt of complaint/ information take immediate action to ensure that the flouting department provides accessibility in a time bound manner. More stakeholders should approach the State Commissioners for persons with disabilities, a list of which is available at link : STATE COMMISSIONERS-DISABILITIES. On how to write a complaint/grievance visit link: Writing a Petition for your Grievance.

(b) State Governments should be directed to provide a dedicated office of the nominated official in each district called as "Access Officers/ Access Inspectors" and provide their coordinates on the State Government Website/ District Collector's website with phone numbers, email ids, FAX etc. These access officers/inspectors should be provided sufficient staff at block level/ panchayats who should inspect the existing buildings to ensure they are accessible. Their duty should also involve giving recommendations on the building plans of the new buildings. The Access officers should either give their nod/or reject with reasons within a fixed time period. No buildings should be allowed to be built without a clearance from the access officer. 

(c) More NGOs/ user groups, stakeholders, family members should be encouraged to bring the cases of inaccessible public buildings to the notice of access officers/disability commissioners.

(d) The Access Officers/ Commissioner- Disabilities should be trained and sensitized on creation of barrier free environment. All new joinees on these posts should undergo the sensitization.

(e) If the state has not adopted the model building bye-laws, the existing guidelines by the Union Government/ Chief Commissioner - Disabilities should prevail in such cases.

With these measures, I am sure we can achieve much more than just sitting and criticizing the non-implementation of the PWD Act 1995.  

Here is one news report from Jharkhand published in The Telegraph talking about inaccessibility of the Collector's office, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. 

Built on crippled common sense

- Collectorate degrades disability act with staircases

ANIMESH BISOEE
Visually impaired Sonali Pal (35) from Uliyan Kadma nearly fell on December 22, 2012, on the staircase of the first floor of the district collectorate while going to submit a memorandum of protest against the Delhi bus rape before East Singhbhum deputy commissioner (DC) Himani Pande

When orthopaedically challenged Deepak Kumar Srivastava (31), secretary of Jharkhand Viklang Sansthan, has to meet officials such as deputy development commissioner (DDC) Dadan Choubey in the course of his work, he climbs steep stairs using crutches to reach the first floor of the district collectorate

On an average, around 10 disabled persons who visit the East Singhbhum district collectorate office a day, know what it is like to feel like second-class citizens.
The three-storey (G+2) collectorate building in Sakchi, Jamshedpur, does not offer accessibility to the disabled.

Even though the structure came up in 2003, eight years after Persons with Disabilities (equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation) Act with sections 44 and 46 that stipulated barrier-free accessibility for the disabled at public buildings, staircases and not ramps were the only links between floors.

According to conservative estimates of a Jharkhand Viklang Manch survey, nearly six per cent of the total 22-lakh-plus population of East Singhbhum district comprises the disabled.
It appears a sizeable population of 1.32 lakh can’t access their own district collectorate without feeling humiliated and risking a fall.

Most senior bureaucrats, including DC Himani Pande, additional deputy commissioner Ganesh Prasad, additional district magistrate (law and order) Ajay Shanker, DDC Dadan Choubey, executive magistrate Sunil Kumar and others, have offices at the district collectorate.

These apart, important departments including social welfare, DRDA, welfare, district information office and nazarat deputy commissioner office are also located in the same building.

Manch president Arun Kumar Singh said they had submitted petitions to all deputy commissioners from 2006 onwards, protested twice in front of the district collectorate and written to former state commissioner (disability) Satish Chandra, but nothing happened.

“It seems our plight does not bother bureaucrats. Mounting stairs is a risk. Plus, it is a time-consuming and painful process. But there’s no way out at the district collectorate,” said Singh.

Former state commissioner (disability) Chandra — the post is vacant since December 2012 — admitted to receiving petitions from the disabled in Jamshedpur.

“I had taken up the issue of barrier-free accessibility. But nothing has been done so far,” Chandra said.

State social welfare director Krishna Prasad Dev Sahu agreed the problem was serious. “When a new commissioner (disability) is appointed, he will be entrusted with the task of ensuring that the disabled can access the district collectorate with ease,” said Sahu.

On being prodded, deputy commissioner Pande claimed they had asked the executive engineer of building construction department to prepare a blueprint for a ramp and guidelines tiles on staircases for visually challenged.

“We are planning these things. We will look into it,” she said without giving a deadline.

Source: The Telegraph

Concerns arising out of Rail Budget 2013 for Persons with Disabilities

Dear Colleagues,

Recent railway budget speech of the railway minister announced the following for the benefit of persons with disabilities:

"India is a signatory to the UN Convention on the rights of the disabled. We are conscious of our responsibility under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). To facilitate the boarding of trains and exit from the stations for the differently-abled and the elderly, the steps proposed include provision of 179 escalators and 400 lifts at A-1 and other major stations, affixing Braille stickers indicating the layout of coaches including toilets, provision of wheel chairs and battery operated vehicles at more stations and making coaches wheel-chair friendly.

In order to provide an employment avenue to the disabled people, I propose to reserve a specified number of JTBS for them, keeping in view the fact that the PCOs at stations have become largely redundant after the mobile revolution in India".

Concerted efforts to fill up approximately 1.52 lakh vacancies this year. It is a measure of popularity of railways as an employer that a staggering 2.2 crore applications were received. For the first time, Railway recruitment examinations were held at more than 60 cities across the country. In the process, a backlog of about 47,000 vacancies earmarked for weaker sections and physically challenged is likely to get cleared".

PIB has published the budget highlights that are available in PDF at link: Rail Budget 2013 highlights.

Critical Review of Rail Budget 2013

Here is a the para - wise critical review of the rail budget 2013 from the perspective of the disability sector and the mandate of UNCRPD and the spirit of Disability Act::

(a)       Passenger Amenities:  The paragraph does not mention the amenities will be made inclusive and follow universal design standards to be accessible and friendly to everyone irrespective of abilities. Persons with reduced mobility have been facing infrastructural barriers in the community for a long time. The railways must declare and budget for making its rolling stock as well as platforms and services accessible and barrier free based on universal design. Currently the effort is just to make a small exclusive section accessible which actually excludes people from the mainstream and renders them vulnerable.  While A-1 and major stations have been proposed to be made accessible by lifts and escalators, we strongly suggest you to include sustainable non-dynamic features like ramped access to foot-over bridges at all the Railways stations to provide connectivity to all the platforms (as provided on Agra Railway Station and few others). This makes it easier for passengers with heavy luggage, those travelling with elderly members and children and for women.   Similarly, the concern of platform to train compartment transfer is still unaddressed. Even the so called disabled friendly coach has four steps to access it hence it remains inaccessible to disabled people. It is pertinent to mention here that the philosophy of Universal Design has been specially included in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) that you have so kindly referred to in the Budget speech.

(b)      IT enabled services: The paragraph is silent on the web accessibility standards requirement, online booking allowing booking concessional tickets by passengers with disabilities and other listed services inclusive. This is despite the fact the UNCRPD specifically refers to making all the Web services accessible and Govt of India has already mandated WCAG 2.0 level for websites. The online system continues to ignore passengers with disabilities.  (UNCRPD Article 9 : Accessibility)

(c)       Ticket Reservation: The paragraph doesn’t mention about accessible e-ticketing facility even while talking about the enhancing the speed and capacity of the system. Declaring and clarifying the same would be in line with the mandate of the UNCRPD that India stands committed to. (UNCRPD Article 9 : Accessibility)

(d)      Catering:  The toll free number for complaint doesn’t address the needs of persons with hearing impairment/ Deaf passengers who primarily depend on the text SMS for filing any complaint. It is requested to consider SMS based complaints also to make it inclusive to deaf passengers. (UNCRPD Article 9 : Accessibility)

(e)       Rail Tourism: This section doesn’t mention about accessibility while the designing the executive lounge at Delhi. Similarly regarding the trains, it says "The train will be made attractive and affordable through concessional fares", without any mention of their being accessible based on universal design so that everyone irrespective of disabilities can enjoy the use the lounge and train services. It would be pertinent to mention that accessibility will promote rail tourism also among a large number of international travelers with disabilities, elderly travelers and their families who have been, so far getting discouraged due to lack of accessible tourism options in the Country. (UNCRPD Article 9 : Accessibility & Article 30 - Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport)

(f)       Staff: Our experience indicates that the amenities such as quarters and hostels etc continue to be designed without keeping the needs of the diversity of employees. Railway being the largest public sector employer, it would be in the fitness of things that staff amenities such as the quarters and hostel are made barrier free based on universal design and that the ministry makes a special mention about it in its formal communications. (UNCRPD Article 9 : Accessibility)

(g)      Skill Development:  This section must include marginalized groups and persons with disabilities to bring them to the mainstream so as to realize the mandate of the UNCRPD. (UNCRPD Article 24 Education & Article 27 Work & Employment)

(h)      Rail Heritage: The plan to revamp the museum for the benefit of children is a welcome step. Currently, there are lots of accessibility issues from the perspectives of children with visual, mental and physical disabilities and it should be confirmed that the whole revamp would be done in consultation with the involvement of stakeholders so that the museum is based on best international standards and inclusive to every child irrespective of his abilities. (UNCRPD Article 9 Accessibility & Article 30 - Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport)