For the past few years, Tamil Nadu has not had a functioning State Coordination Committee for the disabled, say activists from the community.
“The last time the committee met was in 2011. Since then, it has not been active,” said Dipti Bhatia, who was a member of the committee when it was first constituted.
The tenure of this committee has since expired, said K. Manivasan, State Commissioner for the Differently Abled and a proposal for the setting up of a new one has been sent.
Under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, the formation of a State Coordination Committee (and State Execution Committee) is mandatory.
The Coordination committee is supposed to meet every six months and its members hold office for a term of three years.
The committee is meant to “function as the state focal point on disability matters and facilitate the continuous evolution of a comprehensive policy towards solving the problems faced by persons with disabilities,” according to the the Act.
On January 29 this year, the Madras High Court, on hearing a writ petition on a protest by blind students, had said: “If there is no such Committee, the same should be constituted at an early date, not later than one month from today.”
More than three months later, the committee has not yet been constituted.
“The committee is meant to coordinate all the activities under the PWD Act in the State. Without it, there are no new schemes, no new programmes or proposals on anything to do with the disabled sector. Only if the committee is formed and comes up with programmes directed towards addressing the needs of the disabled, can the State Executive Committee implement it,” said Smitha Sadasivan of the Disability Rights Alliance.
“Without the committee, not only is there complete policy paralysis, there is no platform for the disabled to have their voices heard or raise their grievances.
“We don’t have any means of engaging with the government. Unless they engage with us, how will they understand our difficulties and our needs?” asked T.M.N. Deepak, founder president, December 3 Movement - Disability rights defenders.
“The proposal for the setting up of the committee is in an advanced stage now and we are expecting a government order shortly. When this comes, we will form the committee,” said Mr. Manivasan.
Under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, the formation of a Coordination Committee (and State Execution Committee) is mandatory.
