DISABLED SEEK QUOTA IN POLITICS

In order to attain political reservation from the village level to Parliament level for the Disabled, the All India Disabled Rights Forum (AIDRF) is preparing for ‘Chalo Parliament’ on August 7 at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, to increase pressure on the government to expedite this move, following that another protest on August 8 at the residence of Union social justice and empowerment minister Dr. Thawar Chand Gehlot in New Delhi.

Though the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 provides them with political reservation along with political participation, the reservation in the political scenario is still not being guaranteed to the differently abled, stated the Disabled Rights Forum.

Mr Kolli Nageshwar Rao, the national president of AIDRF, said, “Changing the name from Disabled to Divyang won’t change our fate. We need proper policies and their strict implementation for a better life. If given chance we can represent ourselves and speak about our problems.”

As the new Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 has increased to disability categories from 7 to 21, as it included many illnesses which were earlier not considered as a disability, now the population went up to seven per cent of the total disabled people in the country.

The Disabled Rights Forum has also said that the reservation has increased from 3 per cent to four per cent under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.