Dear All, As all of you are aware, the National Institute of Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities has decided to close its Secunderabad and Kolkata chapters.
Today a protest by students enrolled at the Kolkata chapter is being organised. Tomorrow a protest will be held before the Secunderabad chapter. A protest demo is also being planned before the Dehradun HQ of the NIEPVD. To strengthen these protests, we propose to send this joint letter to the MSJE. If you agree, you may kindly send in your endorsements latest by tomorrow morning.i.e. December 19 morning, to this mail id. Regards Muralidharan Gen. Secy, NPRD *Letter to the MSJE for Endorsements* *Shri Thawar Chand Geholt* *Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment* *Government of India* We, disability rights organisations, activists and concerned citizens lodge our strong protest against the decision of the National Institute of Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities, Dehradun to close down its regional chapters in Secunderabad & Kolkata. The formation of such institutes and regional centres by the central government were in pursuit of the country’s commitment to provide equal opportunities to one of the most marginalised and discriminated sections of our society. The closure of these regional centres will impact not just students currently enrolled there but will also deprive future children from the regions of utilising the opportunities provided here. The families who benefit from this training will have no understanding of probable support and will have to fend for themselves. The shutting down of these centres will also adversely impact free distribution of aids and appliances under various government schemes, which were being done through these chapters. We apprehend that many more such centres and institutions will either be closed or will follow a “self-sustaining” model in tune with the understanding contained in the New Education Policy 2020, whose thrust is on commercialisation of education. We urge upon the government to rethink and not to go ahead with shutting down these centres that cater to a large number of disabled people. -- National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) 36, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla Lane New Delhi 110 001 Tel. 11-23387674; 9868768543 -- Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AccessIndia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to accessindia+unsubscr...@accessindia.org.in. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/CAGWwancAoN3_yZ04OKpfY5NGGQu49OLZrLBM3w3e4A%2BAqbrsiw%40mail.gmail.com.