*July 10, 2023*
*Press Release* Hundreds of disabled people from various states in the country assembled at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi today protesting against the refusal of the Union government to enhance disability pensions, provide other social security measures; provision of Antayodaya Anna Yojana cards for the disabled; jobs under MNREGA, problems with the Unique ID for persons with disabilities etc. The protest was organized by the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD), an affiliating body of state level disability rights organisations. Braving several hardships and barriers they reached Delhi from the farthest corners of the country. The dharna was addressed by leaders of the NPRD from the states who brought out the situation obtaining on the ground and the economic and other hardships being faced by them. The protest was also addressed by former Union Minister Ajay Makhen and Lok Sabha M.P. Smt. Kanimozhi. Former MP and Kisan leader Hannan Mollah also addressed the gathering. All of them while deploring the plight of the disabled promised to put the issues of disabled on the agendas of their respective political parties, the governments they head as well as raise the issues in parliament. Leaders of several mass organisations like the AIDWA and SFI also addressed the gathering. Executive Director of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment of Disabled People, Arman Ali also addressed the gathering and extended support to the demands. A six member delegation met the Secretary of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) Shri Rajesh Aggarwal and submitted a detailed memorandum to him. The memorandum is being attached herewith. They were given a patient hearing and the Secretary and other official present assured to take up the demands with the respective ministries for resolution immediately. The delegation members were: Gireesh Kheerti (President), Namburajan (Working President), Jansi Rani & Anirban Mukherjee (Vice Presidents), Muralidharan (General Secretary) and K Venkat (E.C. Member). *(Muralidharan)* *General Secretary* Memorandum Submitted to Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, Secy., DEPwD July 10, 2023 *Secretary* *Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities* *Dear Sir,* Under the auspices of the National Platform for the Rights of the Disability, an affiliating body of various state-level cross disability organisations, disabled persons have assembled at Jantar Mantar today and are protesting on issues centering mainly around livelihood. Some of these are outlined here below. Though all issues do not directly fall under the purview of the DEPwD we are raising it with you, since the DEPwD is the nodal department for disability affairs. *Pension & Other Social Security Measures* Since 2011 there has been no upward revision in the amount given through *the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension*, and it continues to remain stagnant at *a miserly Rs. 300*. In addition to its being incredibly low, the criteria is so stringent and exclusionary that the overwhelming mass of the disabled population is left out of its ambit. To avail this pension, one has to have a disability of 80% or more and his family should have a BPL card. No wonder only a mere 3.8% of the disabled population identified by the 2011 census is covered. *Enhance Pension: *Given the high cost of living as also the added burden induced by disability needs, we demand that the t*he minimum pension should be fixed at Rs. 5,000/- with a guarantee of periodic revision linked with the cost of living index*. The criteria should be revised to cover all those with 40% disability and above. Section 24(1) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPD Act) mandates that *25 per cent additional allocations* should be made for similar poverty alleviation schemes — a mandate that should be implemented for which allocations need to be made. *Caregiver Allowance: *Section 24 of the Act also provides for *caregiver allowance*, unemployment allowance etc – for which no schemes have been launched. The primary caregiver in overwhelming number of cases is always the mother, who has to give up her employment to look after the disabled child and has to face additional burdens. It is to tide over at least part of this loss that the caregiver allowance becomes necessary. *Delink from Aadhar: *The exemptions in biometrics granted to disabled are not followed in many places, leading to hardships in procuring Aadhar by the disabled. The mandating of Aadhar for availing benefits of schemes is leading to many disabled people being deprived of various schemes. We therefore demand the *de-linking of Aadhar from various schemes.* *Issue AAY cards to all Disabled:* As per the assurance given by the Central Government before the Delhi High Court in 2020, to include households of persons with disabilities under Sec. 38 of the National Food Security Act, 2013 and provide food grains under Antyodaya Anna Yojana scheme, the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution issued necessary directions to the state governments and Union Territories. However, the non-provision of additional allocations of foodgrains to the states has led to many states expressing inability to include the disabled. Given the cap on the number of beneficiaries that has been imposed due to the inadequate allocations, states like Tamil Nadu, where thousands of disabled applied following the state releasing applications for the same, officials at the ground level have refused to entertain such applications as that may lead to the striking off of already existing beneficiaries. *Additional allocations have to be made to ensure that the government complies with the orders of the Delhi High Court.* *MNREGA* There are complaints galore of the disabled not being provided job cards under the MNREGA. The Operational Guidelines-2013 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) places persons with disabilities at the top of the special/vulnerable categories. The operational guidelines also direct the state governments to make special efforts to enroll persons with disabilities adequately in this scheme and for that, states have to identify specific works that can be undertaken by them. As per the Ministry of Rural Development as of August 6, 2021 only 23,73,336 disabled have been issued job cards. However, no data is available with regard to the number of people who had registered or the total number of days work provided. Currently, only seven categories of disabilities as against 21 recognised by the RPD Act are covered under the scheme. *We demand that all the recognised 21 categories be covered.* *Scrap NMMS App:* The National Mobile Monitoring System, apart from other issues, is creating problems for the disabled, who at times owing to their disability and connected mobility issues may not be able to report on time for duty and stand to lose the day’s work. Therefore, the NMMS App attendance system should be scrapped immediately. *Increase Working Days: *Given the distress in the rural areas, we demand that the working days be increased to 200. *Allocate More:* Roughly 70% of the disabled population lives in the rural areas. Many of them depend on this poverty alleviation scheme for their survival. Reduction in budgetary allocations also adversely impacts disabled job card holders. We therefore demand that additional allocations be made for the scheme to take care of the increasing dependence on it and also for increasing the working days. *UDID* The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) has made the possession of Unique Disability ID mandatory for availing all central schemes from April 1, 2023. Some states have also followed suit. But as per the DEPwD’s own Annual Report of 2021-22, out of a total disabled population of 2,68,14,994 identified by the 2011 census, only 1,74,25,905 have been issued disability certificates as of 19/01/2022. From among those certified also a mere 67,09,894 have been given UDID cards. *Rather than mandating UDID*, the effort of the DEPwD should be directed towards *making the card valid and acceptable across all government (central and states) ministries, departments, boards and agencies.* *Railways have refused to accept UDID *and for those seeking to avail concessions for rail travel, they have to procure a separate certificate/ID issued by the railways. This defeats the very purpose of the UDID. *The railways should be prevailed upon to accept UDID.* *Camps at regular intervals: *The centralisation of the certification and UDID issuing process is leading to a variety of problems including those connected with e-literacy, non-availability of facilitation centres and the hefty charges that some of these centres levy as also connectivity issues in many places. We therefore demand that camps are regular intervals should be conducted for speedy issuance of the UDID. *Railways* Apart from the refusal of the railways to accept the UDID, problems with *accessibility* continue to plague disabled rail travellers. While there has been some improvement over the years, even the targets set under the Accessible India campaign have not been met year after year. *Extend Concessions to All Disabled:* Apart from its refusal to accept the validity of the UDID, even in the matter of concessions the railways does not extend it to all categories recognised by the RPD Act. All those with benchmark disabilities should be extended concessions. *Make railway accessible: *Despite the RPWD Act mandate for making all transport systems accessible, most of the railways station platforms, bogies, ticket counters, toilets etc inaccessible. More allocations are needed for this purpose. *Stop Privatisation*: Privatisation of services will adversely impact the disabled. Services like buggy etc are no more free at many stations. Private rail networks will stop the concessional fares currently being offered to various categories of people. Employment opportunities for the disabled will also shrink as the private sector is out of the purview of reservations. The drive towards privatisation should stop. We through this memorandum urge upon you to not only address issues directly concerning the department but also take up the other issues with the concerned ministries/departments. *Copy to the Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Virendra Kumar.* -- National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) 36, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla Lane New Delhi 110 001 Tel. 11-23387674; 9868768543 ReplyForward -- 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.. 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