February 1, 2021
*Press Statement* The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) has issued the following statement: *Union Budget: Disabled Cold Shouldered* The NPRD lodges its strong protest at the substantial reduction in budgetary support to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. Even the meagre and inadequate Rs. 1325.39 estimated last time, has been further reduced to Rs. 1171.77 crores this time. This substantial reduction of nearly 12 per cent will adversely impact various schemes and programmes that are being undertaken by the department. The “Scheme for Implementation for Persons with Disabilities Act” sees a cut in its allocation from Rs. 251.50 to Rs. 209.77 crores. The National Trust which caters to persons with autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities etc. is also witnessing lesser budgetary support. It has been reduced from Rs. 39.50 to Rs. 30.00 crore. Even allocations to the National Programme for Prevention of Blindness have been reduced by nearly 50 per cent from Rs. 20.00 to Rs. 10.50 crores as compared to last year. Grant in aid to state governments have also been reduced substantially. When more disabled people are joining the ranks of the unemployed, it would have been prudent to enhance allocations for the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation, to enable it to provide loans to small businesses set up by disabled people. On the contrary budgetary support to the NHFDC has been drastically reduced from Rs. 41 crore provisioned in the 2019-20 budget to a mere Rs. 0.01 crore this time. The announcements made to vigorously pursue privatization of various public sector undertakings will adversely impact the disabled also. With the government unrelenting on the demand to extend reservations to the private sector, shrinking employment avenues in the government sector will see the ranks of the unemployed disabled bourgeoning. The total expenditure earmarked for the national programmes for welfare of persons with disabilities has been reduced from Rs. 655 to Rs. 584 crores. The total towards schemes/projects has been reduced from Rs. 780.00 to Rs. 709.77 crores, this time. The total expenditure towards Social security & welfare has seen a reduction from Rs. 1126.79 to Rs. 988.59. Disability pension continues to be stagnant at Rs. 300 for the past many years. In the pandemic situation, which saw a huge escalation in the number of mental health cases, the allocations made towards mental health displays the total lack of acknowledgement of the crisis. Allocations to the National Mental Health Programme remains constant at Rs. 40.00 crore. No support has been earmarked for the National Institute of Mental Health & Research for the last two years. However, unlike last time, there has been a slight increase in allocations to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru and the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoli Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur. What is even more glaring is the complete omission of flagship programme started by this government the *Accessible India* campaign. The government remains content with bestowing divine status and a label of *divyang, *even while pursuing policies that confine disabled citizens to the margins. Displaying complete indifference, during the entire two-hour long rhetoric filled speech by the Finance Minister, not once did she refer to disabled persons. Disabled *atmas* don’t matter. In earlier budgets, the disabled were disregarded or neglected. This time they have been cold shouldered. This is deplorable. The NPRD calls upon the disabled community to rise in unison and protest this disabled-unfriendly budget. *(Muralidharan)* *General Secretary* -- 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/ Celebrating Louis Braille birthday Jan 4 --- 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/CAGWwaneetj_Tt%3DFFcVgGVcjn-eDZmZW_Pn8e9LhdjfQ6DYf0EA%40mail.gmail.com.
