After no regular hearings since the lockdown began in March, the office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities this week re-started its hearings of grievances filed by persons with disabilities (PwD) through video-conferencing.
A senior official of the CCPD office, which operates under the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment’s Department of Empowerment of PwD, said on Saturday the first online hearing took place on Wednesday and that from next week, two hearings — on Wednesdays and Fridays — would be held. The Chief Commissioner’s office, which functions like a civil court, can look into complaints of the rights of PwD being denied by Central organisations, either on its own or on application by an aggrieved person.
The official said hearings had not taken place since the lockdown was imposed in March and that about 300 cases had become pending in that time. Besides 1,100 cases are under various stages of processing, including issuing summons to respondents and holding hearings.
In the first online hearing, the Chief Commissioner, a post held by DEPwD Secretary Shakuntala Gamlin, heard four cases — three related to employment and one to retirement benefits, the official said. Directions had been given in two of the cases, while further dates had been given in the other two.
When it shared photos of the virtual hearing on its Twitter handle on Wednesday, the DEPwD faced flak from some users who pointed out that the official website of the CCPD (ccdisabilities.nic.in) had not been functional for months. It remained down as on Saturday evening.
Anjlee Aggarwal, of the rights’ group Samarthyam, said the online hearings were a welcome step but it should be followed by immediate uploading of the proceedings and decisions online, for which the CCPD website needed to be functional.
“There are three components — filing of complaints by PwD or agencies, can it be done through email, social media etc?; then redressal, which is happening through virtual hearings, but the proceedings should be available online in interest of transparency; and referral — the CCPD office should be connecting complainants with State commissioners if needed, asking for immediate action etc,” she said.
