Programme Schedule

Concept Note

United Nations has adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 13 December 2006 and the same was opened for signature on 30 March 2007. It is regarded as the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century. Significantly, on the very first day of the opening of the convention in the UN, the highest number of signatories endorsed the same. Subsequently, the convention came into force on 3 May 2008.

The convention visualises a paradigm shift in perspective of viewing persons with disabilities as ‘Objects’ of charity, medical treatment and social protection towards viewing persons with disabilities as ‘Subjects’ with rights who are capable of claiming those rights and making decisions that affect their lives based on their conviction and consent as active members of the society. The convention is intended as an instrument of human rights with an explicit, social development dimension. It reaffirms that persons with all types of disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Some of the significant sections of the preamble of the Convention are:

1. Recognising that disability is an ‘evolving concept’ and that disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their ‘full and effective participation’ in society on an equal basis with others.

2. Recognising the importance for influencing the promotion, formulation and evaluation of the policies, plans, programmes and actions to further equalise opportunities for persons with disabilities.

3. Emphasising the importance of ‘mainstreaming disability issues’ as an integral part of relevant stages of sustainable development.

It is significant to indicate that much before the adoption of the UN Convention on the rights of the persons with disabilities, two unique provisions were introduced in the Indian Constitution. According to the 11th schedule of the Constitution (Article 243 G), which was brought in as part of the 73rd constitutional amendment Act-1992, ‘Social welfare, including welfare of the handicapped and mentally retarded’ is an important area of functioning for the Panchayati Raj Institutions. On similar lines, 12th Schedule of the Constitution (Article 243 W), which was inserted as part of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act-1992, ‘Safeguarding the interests of weaker sections of society, including the handicapped and mentally retarded’ is an important function of the Urban Local Governments. It is significant to note that at that time, the words like ‘Handicapped’, and ‘Mentally Retarded’ were widely used. The literature on disability has also undergone a sea change and the words like ‘Physically Challenged’, ‘Mentally Challenged’ and ‘Differently Abled’ (Divyang in Hindi) came to usage. In the present context, most of the documents use ‘Differently Abled’ which aptly conveys the uniqueness of the population.

Government of India has formulated the ‘Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 itself. After the signing and ratification of the UN Conventions in 2007, the process of enacting a new legislation to replace the PWD Act-1995 was initiated in 2010 in compliance with the UN Conventions. After detailed deliberations and meetings, the Govt. of India has brought out the Rights of the Persons with Disability Act, 2016 which was notified on 28 December 2016 subsequent to its passing in both the houses of Parliament and assent by the President of India.

Different State Governments (including Karnataka) have also brought out a policy document for the differently abled. The object of the policy is to ensure implement of the legislations related to persons with disabilities. It is expected to ensure multi-sectoral co-ordination amongst concerned agencies for prevention and early detection of disabilities.

It is in this background, a ‘National Policy Workshop on Mainstreaming Differential Ability in Local Governance and Development’ is being organised by the Sri. Ramakrishna Hegde Chair on Decentralisation and Development, Institute for Social and Economic Change at Nagarabhavi, Bengaluru on 22 & 23 February, 2018. The workshop is expected to carry out a detailed analysis of the effectiveness of operationalization of the programmes and projects for differently abled by the Governments at different spheres with thrust on Local Governments, both at the rural and urban areas. It visualises to develop a Status Report and the State’s Response on the differently abled, aimed at enabling the Local Governments to take ‘affirmative action’ in this direction. The workshop is expected to come out with tangible, practical and viable suggestions towards ‘Mainstreaming the Differential Ability in Local Governance and Development’. The workshop will be attended by people with differential ability, elected members of Local Governments, academicians, researchers, practitioners, policy makers, civil society representatives and social activists . Those who interested to participate may be sent to any one of the following persons, preferably before 10th February, 2018.