PANAJI: The Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG) on Friday welcomed the Ministry of Home Affairs’s (MHA) guidelines for the differently abled people to respect the national anthem.
However, the association objected to the “mockery of persons with disability in the circular by stating the symptoms of a particular disability.”
The President of DRAG, Avelino de Sa, in a statement said, “The guidelines are a set of dos and don’ts. There is no need to mention the symptoms of a disability in the guidelines. This is mockery of persons with disability and we will take up the matter with the concerned authorities for its deletion.”
The guidelines
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued guidelines based on the directions of the Supreme Court in the writ petition Civil No. 855 of 2016, a official release of the Goa government said.
“The persons with locomotor disabilities and other wheel chair users, shall position themselves to the extent of maximum attentiveness and alertness, with or without the help of appropriate aids and appliances. For example, a wheel chair bound person with disability shall make the wheel chair static, and position themselves maintaining the maximum possible alertness, physically,” the release stated, adding, “if the person with disability is on crutch, he/she shall become stable [non-mobile] to the extent of maximum alertness.”
For the hearing impaired, it directed for instructions in form of captioning as well as in sign language on the screen. It also said that people with blindness and low vision shall stand up in respect to national anthem.
However, the circular went on to describe the the challenges faced by mentally challenged persons. “[With] the characteristics [of the mentally challenged], like lack of understanding and comprehension, associated conditions like epilepsy, attention deficit, hyperactive disorder, sensor[y] impairment, psychiatric illness, motor problem, etc., most of them will have behavioural problems like flapping of the hands, screaming, shouting, abnormal body movements, difficulty in performing practical task, etc., [which] may hamper in showing respect to the national anthem.”
It added, “While the persons with mild intellectual disability, without associated conditions, can be trained to understand and respect the national anthem, the same may not hold good in other cases. Relaxation to such class of persons with disabilities may be considered.”
