NATIONAL SEMINAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS - VICTIMS AND REHABILITATION AT KARAIKKAL, PUDUCHERRY IN MARCH 2012

Dear All

Arignar Anna Government Arts College, Karaikkal is going to organized the above cited seminar. Yes it is the right time to address the issues of the marginalized groups as a human rights model.  In this connection i have submitted the abstract and full paper on the rights of the persons with disabilities which has been accepted for presentation. It is pasted below for information as:

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RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES – CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR INCLUSION

Lakshmi Narayana N

Director

Geo Rehabilitation Centre

Hyderabad

grcnln@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Keywords: Challenges, Opportunities, Vulnerability, Rehabilitation, Rights, Independent Living, Inclusion, Sustainability, Quality of Life

          Persons with disabilities were denied their rights with equality to be part of family and community and thus forced for exclusion. The need of the hour is to understand their vulnerability, challenges and provide services, support & opportunities to get their rights with equality and dignity like their counterparts in the community. This is well supported that disability, poverty and development acts as cause and consequence of each other which affects development of the people and Nation. Along with growth and development, the disability population is in increasing trend and as per the recent Censes it is expected to be around 14%. The vulnerability of the PWDs in the rural villages is more complex as more than 70% of them live in it. All the human rights are also applicable to the persons with disabilities. In addition, there exist special rights through various acts like Mental Health Act, Persons with disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Council of India Act and National Trust Act. The Government and Civil Society Organizations are extending the support by way of various schemes and benefits including Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives from Industries and Corporate. Other area needs to be concentrated is to develop measures with multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach to work for the prevention of disabilities.  In spite of best efforts of the stakeholders, still PWDs have got limited opportunities and majority of them could not be part of the community which is having barriers and an inaccessible environment.

           The process to overcome these challenges and vulnerability has resulted to United Nation Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) which has brought paradigm shift in the whole concept of rehabilitation of PWDs from charity to welfare to developmental to human rights. India has signed and ratified this convention and thus become mandatory to provide the services and supports to PWDs with right based strategies and interventions as an inclusion. The shift from inabilities of PWD to the barriers of their surrounding environment emphasizes towards the development of right based community based rehabilitation.

          The present study deals with the rights based paradigm shift, process of amending Indian disability acts, concept of right based community based rehabilitation model and the attitude of the stakeholders towards this shift including the need of prevention of disabilities. It also presents the opportunities for the NGOs, DPOs and other Civil Society Organizations to work for creating accessible environment so that mobility can be enhanced for leading independent living with better sustainability and quality of life in an inclusive environment as a contributing member and to work for the prevention of disabilities for making disability free society.  

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Looking forward for better reflections and suggestions...

All the Best