'Disabled rights Bill to be put before cabinet in a day or two'

NEW DELHI: The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill is expected to be put before the Union Cabinet for its consideration "in a day or two", a senior government official said here today.

The secretary of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Lov Verma, also said the word ' handicapped' used in national institutes would be replaced with 'impairment' as a mark of "changing attitude" towards persons with disabilities (PwDs).

Verma's statement came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested the word "viklang" (disabled) used for describing PwDs should make way for "divyang" (divine body).

"We are bringing the new act, it should come before cabinet in a day or two," Verma said at a conference on disability here.

The new Bill seeks to replace the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.

It was introduced in Rajya Sabha in 2014 by the then UPA government and moved to the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment under which the department works.

Verma said the new Bill proposes to increase job reservations to PwDs from 3 per cent to 5 per cent and also widen scope of disabilities covered under the Bill from earlier 7 to 19.

"We have also proposed to add a clause that will allow us to increase scope of number of disabilities under the act if required," he added.

Referring to Modi's suggestion regarding describing PwDs as "divyang", Verma said, "So, the change of nomenclature... We will follow that up. The word 'handicapped' is there in many of our national institutes. We are replacing it with 'impairment'."

The official further said the government has set itself a target of training 1 lakh PwDs during this year under the National Action Plan for Skill Training, which was launched in March 21, 2015.

He also lauded the Accessible India Campaign, launched by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities.