Over 200 Disability Rights Organisations, Activists Issue Statement Opposing Dilution of RPD Act

Over 200 disability rights organisations and activists have issued a joint statement opposing the proposal to dilute the penal provisions contained in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

The statement says that these penal provisions were introduced following the non-compliance of various provisions in the now repealed Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995.

As per the suggested amendments to the RPD Act, the proposal is to compound offences before the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities or the State Commissioner leading to the “discharge” of an offender “if in custody”. These pertain to Section 89 (punishment for contravention of provisions of Act or rules or regulations made thereunder); Section 92 (a) (Whosever, intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a person with disability in any place within public view) and Section 93 (punishmentfor failure to furnish information).

But the government cannot deprive the hard won rights of the marginalised in the name of providing investor friendly climate or to promote ease of doing business, adds the statement. The signatories are of the view that such amendments are part of a larger agenda of the central government, which is utilising the pandemic situation to “open up the economy to unbridled loot by foreign and domestic capital”. However, the disabled need protection guaranteed by law and not patronising terms like “divyang”, it adds.

Instead of the mandated provision of an enabling and empowering environment to one of the most marginalised sections of our society, the proposed amendments remove even the little teeth that the Act contains, to ensure its compliance. Therefore, the rights organisations and activists urge upon the government to not go ahead with the amendments, as the penal provisions enable and contribute to the creation of a more inclusive environment.

The complete text of the statement is given below.

No Dilution of Existing Provisions of RPD Act

We, disability rights organisations, civil society organisations and activists register our unequivocal and strong protest against the proposal to dilute and nullify penal provisions contained in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

It needs to be recalled that it was the lack of penal provisions that was one of the factors that contributed in no small measure to the non-compliance of various provisions in the now repealed Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995.

Under the plea of decriminalising “minor offences” the government is proposing to drastically alter the very nature of the RPD Act. And the government has unabashedly stated that such provisions “act as deterrents and this is perceived as one of the major reasons impacting investments from both domestic and foreign investors”. Every investor foreign or Indian has to comply with the law of the land where they are setting up businesses and legislations are not amended to suit their interests.

As opposed to the mandated provision of an enabling and empowering environment to one of the most marginalised sections of our society, the proposed amendments remove even the little teeth that the Act contains, to ensure its compliance.

Amendments proposed to the RPD Act cannot be seen in isolation. As per information available, proposals have already been mooted for amending 19 laws including the Insurance Act, 1938, PFRDA Act, 2013, RBI Act, 1934, Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, NABARD Act, 1981 Banking Regulation Act, 1949, LIC Act, 1956, Schemes Act, 2019 etc on similar lines to “decriminalise” various offences. Many more are in the anvil.

This is part and parcel of the larger agenda that the central government is pursuing in its renewed thrust for opening up the economy to unbridled loot by foreign and domestic capital utilising the pandemic situation.

As per the suggested amendments to the RPD Act, the proposal is to compound offences before the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities or the State Commissioner leading to the “discharge” of an offender “if in custody”. These pertain to Sec. 89 (punishment for contravention of provisions of Act or rules or regulations made thereunder); Section 92 (a) (Whosever, intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a person with disability in any place within public view) and Sec. 93 (punishment for failure to furnish information).

Ease of doing business or providing an investor friendly climate cannot be at the cost of depriving and negating hard won rights of the marginalised. Unfortunately, for the government, it the interests of business that takes precedence over the interests of the people.

Penal provisions for contravening the provisions of law are not a “deterrent”, but should if implemented properly, see compliance of law, and in the long run, are on the contrary, enabling and contribute to the creation of a more inclusive environment. More importantly, there is very little data on cases registered under the concerned provisions of the RPD Act and penalties being imposed.

We therefore stoutly oppose these amendments and urge upon the government not to go ahead with them as they will nullify the little achievements that have been gained in the struggles over the years and will negatively impact the lives of persons with disabilities. The disabled need protection guaranteed by law and not patronising terms like “divyang”.

Signatories:

1.National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled

2.Vikalangula Hakkula Jatiya Vedika, Andhra Pradesh

3.Delhi Viklang Adhikar Manch, Delhi

4.Viklang Adhikar Manch, Gujarat,

5.Haryana Viklang Adhikar Manch, Haryana

6.Jharkhand Viklang Morcha, Jharkhand

7.Karnataka Rajya Angavikalara Mattu Palakara Okkota

8.Differently-Abled Welfare Federation, Kerala

9.Lakshwadeep Disabled Welfare Association

10.Platform for Rights of Disabled, Odisha

11.Tamilnadu Assn for the Rights of Differently-Abled & Caregivers

12.Vikalangula Hakkula Jatiya Vedika, Telengana

13.Tripura Pratibandhi Adhikar Manch, Tripura

14.Paschim Banga Rajya Pratibandhi Sammelini, West Bengal

15.Madhya Pradesh Viklang Adhikar Manch, MP

16.Dec. 3 Movement, Tamilnadu

17.Sruti Disability Rights Centre, Kolkata

18.Kamayani Bali Mahabal, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Mumbai

19.Nipun Malhotra, Disability Rights Activist

20.Syed Hussain,ARVIC, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu

21.Seema Baquer, Disability Rights Activist, Delhi

22.G.C. Mathur, Convenor-Trustee, Binty

23.Akhil S Paul, Executive Director, Sense International India

24.Shivani Gupta, Founder & Chief Consultant, AccessAbility

25.Venky, CBR Global Network (CGN), AVHV, Anantapur

26.Abha Bhaiya, One Billion Rising, India Coordinator

27.Dr. R. K. Sarin, General Secretary, Progressive Society for the Sightless Persons, Delhi

28.Karnataka Srinivas general secretary visually challenged employees association Telangana

29.Gautam Chaudhury, Disability Rights Activist, West Bengal

30.Nilesh Singit, Disability Rights Activist, Bombay

31.Kota Prabhu, Andhra Pradesh

32.Dinanath Yadav, Noida, Uttar Pradesh

33.Dr. Shuvojit MoulikFounder, Civilian Welfare Foundation, Kolkata

34.Prof. Banibrata Mahanta, BHU, Varanasi

35.Kodakkal Shivaprasad, Indian Divyang Empowerment, Karnataka

36.Dr. Sunanda Reddy

37.Jeeja Ghosh, Disability Rights Activist & Researcher, Kolkata

38.Dr. Nandini Ghosh, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata

39.Smitha Sadasivan, Member, Disability Rights Alliance, Chennai

40.Kapil Kumar Aggarwal, Federation of Disability Rights, Delhi

41.Murali Padmanabhan, Inclusive development specialist

42.Deepak Kumar Gupta, St. Stephens College, Delhi

43.Shilpi Bhattacharya, Jindal Global Law School, Sonepat

44.Bunty Solanki, General Secretary,Viklang Sahara Samiti Delhi

45.Shika Aleya,

46.Shivangi Agrawal, Queer Disabled Activist

47.Dr Sneha Rooh Founder Orikalankini

48.Dr. Marisport A,Centre for Disability StudiesGujarat National Law University

49.Dr.Bubai Bag,Dept of History, Bagnan College, Kolkata

50.Savindra Kumar Singh, AN UNIT OF RESEARCH, Gaya

51.Suchaita Tenneti, Phd Student, JNU

52.Oshin Dhawan, Student, Dev. Studies, Azim Premji University

53.Kriti, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan

54.Kriti Shukla, Disability and Public Health Consultant

55.Seema Lal, Executive Trustee, Together We Can, Ernakulam

56.Meenakshi B, Equals CPSJ, Chennai

57.Aahuti Dhandhukia, Govt. Engineering College, Bhavnagar

58.Kimberly Fernandes, University of Pennsylvania

59.T. Mageswari, Secretary, SFRAWD

60.Prakash Chandra Mishra

61.Poonam Manchanda, PGIMER, Chandigarh

62.Dipti Bhatia, NAB, Tamil Nadu State branch

63.Rohini Hensman, Writer and Researcher, Mumbai

64.Indrapramit Das, Writer & Editor

65.Hema Balraj

66.Kajal Sharma, Delhi

67.Sunetra Neogy, Point of View

68.Hema Balraj, The Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd.

69.Ishan Chakraborty, Jadavapur University

70.Devika Shetty, Goa

71.Vinay Bhati, Parent of a Intellectually disabled child

72.Shruthi Venkatachalam, University of Bristol

73.Dr. Suresh Kumar Digumarthi, GITAM Deemed to be University, Hyderabad

74.Varta Trust, Kolkata

75.Srilatha Juvva

76.K Raghuraman

77.V Rajeshakar

78.Zarana Maheshwary

79.Diamond Oberoi Vahali, Independent Activist

80.Forum for Students with Disabilities, Jadavpur University

81.SANSKRITI - Resource Centre for Inclusion, Kochi

82.PGI Differently abled Employees Union, Chandigarh

83.Chanchal Kharbanda

84.Aneri Arya, Veer Narmad South Gujarat University

85.Shilpaa Anand

86.Gopika Bashi, Bangalore

87.Deepa V, Delhi

88.Paresh Palicha, Kochi

89.Odisha State disAbility Network

90.Parivaar Bengal

91.Sandhya Limaye

92.Sangeeta Chatterji

93.Renu Singhal

94.LABIA - A Queer Feminist LBT Collective, Mumbai

95.National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM)

96.Sambhavana, Delhi

97.Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy, Kolkata

98.Abha Khetarpal, President, Cross the Hurdles

99.Disability Activists Forum, West Bengal

100.Society for Rehabilitation of the Visually Challenged, Kochi

101.Snigdha Sarkar, President, Anwesha Kolkata

102.Ritu Singh

103.Shreya Ila Anasuya, Writer & Editor, Kolkata

104.SAHELI, Delhi

105.Kamla Bhasin, Delhi

106.Reva Yunus, Bangalore

107.Nisha Biswas, Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression

108.Vaishnavi Jayakumar, Disability Rights Activist, Chennai

109.Ritu Dewan, Vice President, Indian Society of Labour Economics

110.Women with Disability India Network

111.Shanta Memorial Rehabilitation Centre, Bhubaneswar

112.Virginia Saldanha, Activist, Indian Christian Women's Movement, Mumbai

113.SutonoyaChakraborty, Activist, Kolkata

114.Das Theke Das Hazar, Network of Activists & Groups, W. Bengal

115.Kaushik Gupta, Advocate, Calcutta High Court

116.Bhavna Botta, Founder-Editor,connectspecial.in

117.Dr. Aiswarya Rao, Public Health Consultant, Chennai

118.Rajiv Rajan, Executive Director, Ektha

119.Dr. Smarajit Jana, DMSC, Kolkata

120.Subash Chandran K R, Advocate, Supreme Court

121.Porkodi Palaniappan, Founder, Better Chances, Chennai

122.Sudha Ramamoorthy, Equals CPSJ

123.Sathish Kumar, Chennai

124.Prof V S Sunder, IMSc, Chennai

125.Sankalpa Satapathy

Total 125 signatures till 12.00 noon on July 4, 2020, when it was released to the press.

126.Gopinath Ramakrishnan, Trustee, Special Child Assistance Network (SCAN)

127.Suneeta Dhar, Activist

128.Ritika Gulyani, Jawaharlal Nehru University

129.Abhisek Anicca, Delhi

130.Jaspal Singh Ahuja

131.Ravideep Ahuja

132.Humanity Welfare Organisation Helpline, Jammu & Kashmir

133.Jammu Institute of Gen. Educ. & Rehabilitation

134.All J&K Handicapped Association

135.Prof. Nilika Mehrotra, Jawaharlal Nehru University

136.Aditya Sen, Delhi

137.Rajnish Kumar Arya

138.Abantika Chakraborty, Gurudas College, Kolkata

139.Chronic Pain India

140.Tanushree Sarkar, Vanderbilt University

141.Prof. Anita Ghai, Ambedkar University

142.Aziz Minat, Gujarat

143.Deepa Sonpal, Ahmedabad

144.Sameer Chaturvedi, Delhi

145.Gireesh Kempaiah, Karnataka

146.Anil Joshi, Disability Rights Activist, Delhi

147.Masarrat Khan, Maharashtra Dyslexia Association

148.Himanshi Sardana

149.Sudipendu Dutta, IICP, Kolkata

150.Anuj Goyal, Independent Researcher on Disability

151.Dr Amitabh Mehrotra, SPARC-India, UttarPradesh

152.Youth Association of the Deaf (India)

153.Niharika Banerjea, Ambedkar University, Delhi

154.Chronic Pain India, Faridabad

155.Family of SMA, Delhi

156.Scleroderma India, Faridabad

157.Dr. Anubha Mahajan, Dentist, Founder & Chairperson, Chronic Pain India

158.Mr S.C Mahajan, Faridabad

159.Mrs. Rajni Mahajan, Faridabad

160.Tanvi Vij, Content Writer, Delhi

161.Mr. Ritesh Sehgal, Chairperson, Family of SMA, Delhi

162.Purva Mittal, Delhi

163.Neetu Wadhwa, Cofounder - Scleroderma India, Faridabad

164.Dr. Lavanya Seshayee, Founder, The Global Women’s Recover Movement

165.Bittu K R, Scientist and activist, Trans Rights Now Collective

166.Uma Chakravarti

167.G Ravi, Disability Rights Activist, Bengaluru

168.Rev Asir Ebenezer, General Secretary National Council of Churches in India

169.Lalrem Siami National Council of Churches in India - Indian Disability Ecumenical Accompaniment ( Program Assistant)

170.Zaheer Jan, Social Activist, Kashmir

171.Adarsh Chhetrey

172.Sarojini N, Delhi

173.Dr.Bindhulakshmi Pattadath, Advanced Centre for Women's Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

174.Soumita Basu, Kolkata

175.Jeevesh Gupta, Campaign For Differently Abled

176.Adv Ujwala Kadrekar

177.Ananya Bhardwaj

178.Meenakshi Venkataraman

179.Aravind Nair, Kerala

180.CA.P.Chandrasekar, Hony Secretary, National Association for the Blind, Tamilnadu

181.Prof (Dr.) Maheshwar Singh, Professor, Director, Centre for studies in Disability and Law, National Law University, Delhi

182.Anshita Koul

183.Blind Persons' Association, Kolkata

184.Peace & Equality Cell

185.Deepa Sonpal, Ahmedabad

186.Karnataka Vikalachetanara Samasthe

187.Dr. K. Muruganandan, Thiruvalluvar University Constituent College of Arts and Science

188.Sai Vijayaraghavan Nair, Thiruvananthapuram

189.Dhananjay Bhole, Centre for disabilities and inclusive education Savitribai Phule Pune University

190.Merry Barua, Action For Autism

191.Balajothi Centre for the Disabled, Bengalur

192.Lohita Vijayalakshmi

193.Nupur Bhole

194.K Raghuraman, Karna Vidya Foundation, Chennai

195.Dr. Satendra Singh, Doctors with Disabilities

196.Preeti Mehra, Journalist, New Delhi

197.Madhumitha Venkataraman, Diversity and Inclusion Evangelist.

198.Tanvika Gulyani, Delhi University

199.Shilppa Das

200.Narendera Kumar

201.Seema Nath, University of Cambridge, UK

202.Pinky Thakral, Noida, UP

203.Sreeparna Mustaphi, Jadavpur University

204.Paschimbanga Pratibandhi Aikyamancha

205.Aatreyee Ghoshal, Kolkata

206.Dr Bindiya Shajith, Member, Child Welfare Committee, Bangalore Urban

207.Poonam Natarajan, Vidyasagar, Chennai

208.Radha Ramesh, Director, Vidya Sagar, Chennai

209.D Madan,Member, Disability Rights Alliance,Chennai

210.Dr Sangeeta Saksena, Co-Founder, Enfold Proactive Health Trust

211.Adishi Gupta and Ayushi Khemka, Mental Health Talks

212.Naina Seth

213.Forum for Autism