Why are disability rights activists divided over the Disability Bill?

When the marginalised members of your society come out in protest against a measure that would supposedly benefit them, you have to stop and consider. And that is the case with the ongoing tussle over the Disability Bill which is now with the Standing Committee awaiting a future.

In the meanwhile, groups such as the All India Disability Alliance are asserting as much influence to prevent the passage of the bill. Only last week, a delegation of disabled citizens, stood outside prime minister's residence in a dharna to appeal for a reconsideration of this bill. The visuals from this protest were daunting to say the least.

So, why are these groups unhappy with the bill, while there are others who are rallying for it? Amba Salelkar of the Inclusive Planet Centre for Disability and Policy, explains, “In its present form the bill is not what it intended to be. It fails the UN Conventions and binges in a lot of existing rights of the differently-abled people”.

Salelkar, who is a lawyer, presents legal illustration, “A case in 2009 involving the reproductive rights of an intellectually disabled girl. The said girl was impregnated on being raped, and the state, who was her guardian, wanted to terminate the pregnancy. The Supreme Court had stepped in allowing the girl to decide if she wished to keep her child. However, under the new bill such reproductive rights of the women are violated.”

It does raise pertinent questions of how a legislation can retrograde ruling by the apex legal body of the nation, not to mention overlook those rights provided in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Marginalising the marginalised
All India Disability Alliance, on the other hand, is appealing for due considerations of the amendments proposed on behalf of the Alliance, based on the inputs received from different disability organisations. In a press statement last month, they claimed that “in its current format the Bill threatens the rights of persons with disabilities by expressly overriding established precedents”.

“The bill contains provisions which legitimise discrimination,” they state. “It exempts the private sector from obligations on accessibility, and even create convenient escape clauses for the Government to limit access to transport, social security etc.” 

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For more photographs from the protest: Members of All India Disability Alliance protest against ordinance on the Disability Rights Bill

The bill, they explain, also fails to revoke provisions of other existing laws which discriminate against persons with disabilities.

“In fact, it contains an applicability clause which allows for these legislations to prevail as they do at present, with regard to involuntary institutionalisation, denial of legal capacity, and more. It threatens to perpetuate the further marginalisation of already marginalised groups because of its failure to recognise their vulnerabilities.” 

The disagreements as to what rights the Bill should accommodate have led to the creation of separate movements within the same cause, both demanding essentially the things, better inclusivity for the disabled. 

Pradeep Raj, general secretary of Association for Disabled People, presents this contradiction. “The bill has been in draft for the last five years,” he reacts strongly to those opposing it. “They could have contributed to provide stronger follow-up.”

Accusing the opposition of a bearing political agenda, he questions. “Why have they only come out in protest now? The divergence in approach is politically-backed, considering the upcoming general elections.”

Praising the bill for its progressive steps, Raj elaborates his stance, “It improves rehabilitation conditions of individuals with disabilities as well as lists additional kinds of disabilities into its purview.”

“Apart from that, the bill increases percentage of reservation providing more opportunities for those with education,” he further adds. “It will also provide for a commission for people with disabilities with powers to exercise the rights, unlike the current commissioner who has a limited role on implementation of the Disabilities Act of 1995.”

And even as the bill has turned into a bone of contention between the very activists fighting for stronger human rights for the differently-abled, Pradeep Raj maintains, “If we fight jointly, we can make certain that required amendments are incorporated to make the bill more effective and suitable to everybody”.

Also read:
What is the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill?

Activists demand parliamentary approval for disabled rights bill