Gujarat to offer Online appointment with Doctors for Disability Certificates

Online facility to help the disabled get certificates

Monday, Aug 19, 2013, 10:08 IST | Place: Ahmedabad | Agency: DNA

Smitha R

Ability Gujarat, a web-based application, will help people with disabilities get online appointment with doctors.

Soon people with disabilities (PwDs) need not do the rounds of government hospitals time and again to know the availability of a doctor who can examine them and issue a disability certificate.

For, the health department is mulling to provide a facility, where the PwDs can get an online appointment with the concerned doctors. 

Speaking about the initiative, commissioner of health, PK Taneja, said that Ability Gujarat, a web-based application, is already in place to effectively deliver services to PwDs. “The service is already a hit. And now, we are planning to provide the online appointment facility to the PwDs. To get a disability certificate, a candidate after filing the registration form, needs to be examined by a doctor. 

Many times, candidates are not aware about the time and place. 

However, through the new facility, candidates will get to know online the time when a doctor will be available and they can appear for the examination. This will save their time,” said Taneja.

As per the 2001 census, the prevalence of disability in Gujarat is 2.1% and as per the estimate, the state is likely to have at least 12 lakh PwDs. Another official in the health department, who did not wish to be named, said that despite the online facility, those who want to register through manual forms can continue to do so. 

“Often in case of obvious disability, a doctor can examine a patient and issue a disability certificate. But in case of multiple disabilities and where the disability is not so obvious, a panel of doctors examines the patients.

Now, the panel may consist of doctors with different specialisation, and a patient may not know when the doctors will be available. Therefore, using this system, patients can get to know about their timings, when each panel of doctors will be available at the hospital. This will save their time and energy,” said the official.

Source: DNA

Inaccessibility keeps students away from Colleges in Coimbatore

Dear Colleagues,

This seems to be the condition in most Indian Institutions including the Delhi University wherein even the minimum seats reserved the students with disabilities go vacant each year. In Delhi Univeristy alone roughly close to 500 students take admissions against the 1500 reserved seats for the students with disabilities and even this number gets reduced due to drop outs who do not find accommodation or have problem of transportation. 

In the instant case in Coimbatore, it is not because the students with disabilities  are not interested in pursuing higher education that seats remain vacant, but because the institutions do not provide an environment conducive to them.

Even those who choose to pursue higher education are those with lesser percentage of disability.  Therefore, reservation of seats in higher education for the disabled is of no consequence if the physical infrastructure (of institutions/ hostels) & the transportation systems to reach institutions are not inclusive and barrier free!  Here is the news from The Hindu:

Lack of facilities keeps differently abled away from Coimbatore's educational institutions : Coimbatore

AMUTHA KANNAN

Focus on use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), to ensure differently abled lead an inclusive life, has stolen the attention from the real difficulties they face from the physical barriers. This is significant from the representations they have time and again made demanding a barrier-free environment.

While, most differently abled have easy use of audio-visual aids, equipment, computers and softwares to assist them, what remains elusive is the physical access to various places by virtue of these not being disabled-friendly. This is in terms of absence of ramps, lifts to accommodate wheel chairs, modified washrooms, etc. This becomes critical when these places are schools / colleges / universities. 

This year, only a few higher education institutions have been able to admit students under the three per cent quota for the differently abled. Out of these, only a handful of colleges have admitted students in double digits. And, this is not because those with disability are not interested in pursuing higher, but because the institutions do not provide an environment conducive to them.

Even those who choose to pursue higher education are those with lesser percentage of disability.

Persons with disability of 70 per cent and above, and others who are confined to wheel chairs do not prefer to go to colleges because the infrastructure is not suited to their condition.

Though there is an Act – The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 – to ensure equal opportunities, higher education still remains a distant dream.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has schemes to provide grants for creating facilities in colleges that are 2 (f) and 12 (B) approved, and universities, but since the institutions do not take interest in applying for these, the schemes go unused.

But the recent State Government Order Ms. No. 21 (Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules 2013 of February 1, 2013), the implementation of which comes with a time frame of 180 days, has brought some hope. The G.O. calls for making public and multi-storeyed buildings disabled-friendly in six months.

R. Rajendran, Principal of PSG College of Arts and Science, says, “The college has used the grant from UGC under the XI Fiver Year Plan, along with its own funds, to make existing buildings disabled friendly. Work is going on in phases to put up ramps, modify washrooms, etc. Some washrooms are already in use.”

More than 90 differently abled applied here for UG admission and the college admitted nearly 40 students based on eligibility and three per cent quota.

Visually challenged, and those who are hearing and speech impaired prefer to go to institutions that are exclusive for persons like them. However, there are only special schools and not colleges to accommodate them.

Nevertheless, Nithya Ramachandran, Deputy Joint Director, Sankara College of Arts and Science, says the college admits those with hearing and speech impairment.

“Special infrastructure, aids and faculty have been arranged to cater to these students. It requires special effort to provide them with an atmosphere that is conducive to study,” she says.

On colleges constructing infrastructure suited to the differently-abled, Ms. Ramachandran says that self-financing colleges do not get any provision from any source for taking up such activities.

Though the UGC provides grants, these are restricted only to colleges that have been approved under Sections 2 (f) and 12 (B) and not those recognised under Section 2 (l), which are not declared fit to receive central assistance.

The Hindu

Disability advocates prefer social media to highlight disability discrimination

Disabled make a point in social media to highlight inaccessibility in Australia

ONE afternoon last month Stella Young went to the Glenferrie Hotel in Hawthorn to have a beer with some friends. But she found the disabled bathroom stacked with cases of wine and it was impossible to get her wheelchair inside.

Earlier Ms Young had been told by staff that the toilet was out of order. Hotel manager Mark Henderson now admits that was a lie. The cases of wine from another hotel were put in the disabled bathroom by Mr Henderson's business partner, and had been there for 10 days.

''Look, it was a huge amount of stock and there was nowhere else to go,'' Mr Henderson said. ''I came in to find it here. I just took too long in getting it out.''

The episode is not uncommon. Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes, who is blind, has had similar experiences. ''It's unlawful to discriminate against people on the grounds of their disability,'' Mr Innes said. ''If you have an accessible toilet and effectively block its use, then that is just the same as not providing one.''

Patricia Wilson runs excursions for the disability support service, Inclusion Melbourne. She said she stopped going to one council-run facility after it become too burdensome to clean away drug-injectors' blood in the disabled toilet.

Ms Young said she was frustrated with the Disability Discrimination Act, which requires a formal complaint, and now prefers social media. 

Stella Young at the hotel where the disabled toilet (inset) became a
storeroom. Photo Courtesy Angela Wylie  (theage.com.au)

Rather than use the hotel's female toilets with the door open, which she said ''isn't very dignified'', she left, but not before tweeting an image of the crammed room, which has now been viewed almost 3000 times.

Ms Young, a comedian who edits the website Ramp Up, wrote two emails to hotel management, but it was only after she wrote on their Facebook page that she got a response.

''People with disabilities too often feel as though we don't belong in public spaces,'' she wrote. ''We'd really love your help in changing that.'' Four hours later the hotel wrote back, apologising for their ''blatant ignorance [and] rash, senseless and absent-minded decision-making''. The space has since been cleared.

Kelly Vincent is a member of the South Australian Legislative Council and uses a wheelchair for her cerebral palsy. She has seen disabled toilets used for storage at an Adelaide restaurant, and elsewhere to store furniture.

''Having an accessible toilet that is unusable is maybe worse than not having one at all because it sends the message to people with disabilities that it is just a symbolic cross to bear for these business owners,'' Ms Vincent said.

Source:  The Age(dot) com

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