Miles to go on rights of disabled

KATHMANDU, Dec 3: Disability resides in the society, not in individuals. As Richard Bennett, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, opined during an interaction program on Wednesday, it is the society which creates disability by making physical environment inaccessible to persons with disabilities.



Even as the world celebrates the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Thursday focusing on ´Making the Millennium Development Goals Inclusive: Empowerment of persons with disabilities and their communities around the world´, Nepal still has a long way to go in ensuring social justice for persons with disabilities. [break]



“There is almost no accessibility to physical infrastructure for persons with disabilities. Even hospitals have not done it for us. We can´t take our wheelchairs to toilets in hospitals,” General Secretary of the National Federation of Disabled Nepal (NFDN) Sanjay Bantawa argues. He claims people with physical disabilities would need no reservations and quotas if they have accessibility to physical environment.



Nepal also fares very badly on the constitutional front with respect to persons with disabilities. “Jung Bahadur Rana had made provisions of a fistful of food and two pairs of clothes per year in the Muluki Ain in 1910 BS and the society still treats people with disabilities with pity,” NFDN President Birendra Raj Pokharel rues. Bantawa says there is still a stigma associated with disability and the society still takes it as consequence of sins committed in past lives.



An estimated 650 million persons live with disabilities in the world and Bantawa goes by the World Health Organization estimation of around 10-12% of population of developing countries being persons with disabilities. But the 2001 Census glaringly put the number of persons with disabilities in Nepal at just 0.45% of the population. “We don´t believe it and want the government to involve us (NFDN) in the next census to get the real picture,” Bantawa said.



The Convention on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was adopted by the UN General Assembly on Dec 13, 2006 and opened for signature on March 30, 2007. Nepal signed it on Jan 3, 2008 but has yet to ratify it.



Article 1 of the CRPD says its purpose is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.



Improving Scenario



There appears to be a silver lining, however, and things are changing for the better. There is a provision of 5% reservation for people with disabilities in Civil Service since 2007, according to Bantawa. Similarly, persons with disabilities have been appointed teachers in schools in relief quotas. There is also provision of 2% reservation in medical studies.



But more importantly, the issues of persons with disabilities are being addressed in the process of forming the new constitution. Constitutional Assembly (CA) members Indra Maya Gurung and Raghav Bir Joshi, representing the community in the CA being persons with disabilities themselves, say CRPD will be ratified immediately after the House resumes.



Coordinator of the Social Justice sub-committee under the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Committee in the CA Gagan Thapa says there will be provision of proportional representation of persons with disabilities in the state mechanism in the new constitution. Rights of social security and rights to live with dignity will be ensured. The state will not be allowed to formulate any law discriminating against persons with disabilities.



“The right to information will also ensure that there will be provisions for visually and audibly challenged. The infrastructure made by the state should be disability friendly and public transportation would also be made friendly to the persons with disabilities,” Thapa says.



Thapa reveals the clause on rights to availability of assisting accessories -- like wheel chairs, sticks -- has been added as it was missed earlier due to oversight. “I personally want a separate article to address the issue of disability under fundamental rights. But it was not be incorporated as the committee couldn´t agree due to differing interests of the representatives,” Thapa states.



“But I am hopeful we can still have a separate article because the issue of disability is related to complete cross-section of society, including ethnic groups, women and children and all kinds of minorities,” Thapa explains.

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