Dear Access Indians, The efforts need to be supported by all the disabled community. Lets hope our Honorable PM may pay attention and consider this representation. With Regards Amruth Reddy Chairman Differently Abled Employees Action Committee, AP, Hyd.
________________________________ From: Srinivasu Chakravarthula <sriniv...@srinivasu.org> To: accessindia@accessindia.org.in Sent: Tue, 8 March, 2011 2:48:26 PM Subject: [AI] Fwd: CONVENOR, DISABLED RIGHTS GROUP, JAVED ABIDI'S REACTION TO THE UNION BUDGET AND AN URGENT APPEAL TO THE HON'BLE PRIME MINISTER Dear Access Indians, Just thought of sharing. Hope there will be a good response from the Government. Thanks, -Srinivasu ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Secretariat - NCPEDP <secretar...@ncpedp.org> Date: Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 12:25 PM Subject: CONVENOR, DISABLED RIGHTS GROUP, JAVED ABIDI'S REACTION TO THE UNION BUDGET AND AN URGENT APPEAL TO THE HON'BLE PRIME MINISTER To: sriniv...@srinivasu.org Dear Srinivasu, Reference your E-mail requesting a copy of the letter sent by Mr. Abidi to the Prime Minister. Please find below the same in an E-mail format. Do let me know, if this is okay. Best, Dorodi National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) A -77, South Extension Part II New Delhi - 110 049, India Tel.: 91-11-26265647 / 26265648 Telefax:011-26265649 Websites: www.ncpedp.org and www.dnis.org *URGENT ATTENTION: HON'BLE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA, DR. MANMOHAN SINGH * *Respected Sir,* ** *The Union Budget was a huge disappointment for us, the 70 million disabled citizens of India.* And for not one but several reasons: *1: Year 2011-2012 will be the last year of the current XIth Five Year Plan. We had sincerely hoped that funds would be earmarked for the National Institute of Universal Design.* In the last Budget, funds were sanctioned for the Sign Language Research and Training Centre but this had got left out. We were told that this was due to the lack of resources and we were promised that “next year” and before the XIth Plan runs out, this Institute will also be sanctioned. The Disability Act has been there for the last 15 years but the less said about accessibility the better. 98% of the constructions (post 1995) are built in an inaccessible manner. Even the 2% which are supposed to be accessible are not so due to the lack of awareness and expertise. When I had served on the Steering Committee of the Planning Commission to draft the disability component of the XIth Five Year Plan, we had envisioned this Institute with the hope that once set up, it would serve as a centre of excellence on the issue of accessibility and universal design. Ideally, it should have been sanctioned in the very first year itself but it was not! We have followed up on this year after year after year with the PMO as well as the Urban Development Ministry but with no fruitful outcome. *The setting up of the National Institute of Universal Design is a solemn promise made to the disabled people of India by the Planning Commission under your Chairership. Sir, please ensure that it is fulfilled this year.* *2: The National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities was set up in 1999. By and large, it has failed in its mandate. Pre 1999, parents of children with severe disabilities were asking “what will happen to our children after us?”. A dozen years have gone by, but the question remains unresolved. Poor leadership apart, one major reason for nothing substantial to have happened is the lack of resources.* *The National Trust was set up with a Corpus of 100 crores. Believe it or not, Sir, 12 years have gone by but the Corpus stands as it is. It seems that in the eye of your Government, especially MSJE, this particular Institution is immune to inflation!* The Trust operates its various schemes from the interest that it earns from its Corpus, say about Rs. 8-9 or maximum Rs. 10 crores per annum. That was the budget in 1999-2000 when it was set up. That remains its budget even over a decade later in 2010-2011 and now, thanks to Hon’ble Finance Minister’s oversight, it will remain the same this F.Y. also. *Sir, Hon’ble Finance Minister is quite fond of the figure 300 and he admitted so much during the Budget speech. I request you, Sir, to please impress upon him to sanction an additional Rs. 300 crores during this F.Y. to the Corpus of the National Trust. Now, it is all the more necessary because under the new scheme of things, the mandate of the Trust is going to be expanded to include several other disabilities which also have High Support Needs.* An additional Rs. 300 crores would do wonders to this organisation meant for the most marginalised and the most severely disabled citizens of India. *3: Hon’ble Finance Minister has been very generous in taking up the Income Tax exemption limit for ‘Very Senior Citizens’.* It is a good step because with advancing age, older people do need that extra care and protection. Their expenses on medical care, the need for an attendant, etc. go up. Therefore, if they are given some relief from taxation, they can use that extra money to fund their extra needs that develop due to the old/very old age. *Sir, I wish the Hon’ble Finance Minister would have not forgotten about the needs of people with disabilities, particularly people with severe disabilities.* *It would not require a very long argument to prove that the needs of a disabled person (especially those 80% and above) are any day greater, much greater than a say 80 or 85 year old senior citizen. The need for full time carers, the astronomical amounts spent on medicines and rehabilitation.* *We request you, Sir, to please ask the Hon’ble Finance Minister to be empathetic to the cause of disabled people also and to extend the same tax exemption (of Income upto Rs. 5 lakh) to people with disabilities also. And needless to say, the same concession should also be available to the parents of a dependent disabled child or disabled person, especially in the case of parents of children/people with psychosocial and intellectual and developmental disabilities.* *4: The 5% service tax on health care has already drawn adverse reaction from across sections of Civil Society.* I was quite impressed / touched that even those who are in the health care business have spoken out and even published advertisements in newspapers to oppose the tax. They had/have no reason to worry because obviously the additional 5% burden will get passed on to the patients and their families. Their business will continue to flourish. *If there is one section of the society who will be the most impacted, it would be people with disabilities.* Again, it would not require a very long argument to establish that most disabled people have serious health care needs. At most times, those needs are not fulfilled within the existing public health system and therefore, per force, a disabled person has to go to a doctor or a rehab professional at one of those “air conditioned” hospitals or clinics. Sir, I can share with you my own personal experience. As you know I am severely disabled and confined to a wheelchair. I have serious health needs and on an average, I have to go and meet one or the other doctor almost every month or two. I can tell you honestly that when one goes to see a doctor, it is not out of any choice (as if one is going to a movie theatre or a shopping mall!) but out of compulsion. It is not some kind of a luxurious, joyful expedition that needs to be punished or penalised by way of an additional Tax! On the contrary, it is a worrisome sometimes painful experience, already heavy on the pocket and certainly, it should not be aggravated further by adding that 5% burden. Sir, is it not a fact that our public health system is in bad shape and majority of good/reputed doctors are now in the private sphere, operating out of those “air conditioned” hospitals. So, in my case, if Dr. Anoop Mishra or Dr. Ravi Bhatia or Dr. Rakesh Tandon (all earlier with AIIMS, just to illustrate my point) are now with Fortis, Apollo and Max Saket respectively, what choice do I as an average Indian citizen have? If I still want to be under their care, why should I be punished with an extra 5% Service Tax?? That way, even the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC) the *only* hospital in India that excels in the area of spinal cord injuries is an air conditioned facility! So that too, where all the poor people go in the case of traumatic accidents from all across India, will now come under the 5% tax burden. *Sir, I appeal to you to please convince the Hon’ble Finance Minister to NOT levy this extra tax on health care and to please withdraw/drop this proposal from the Union Budget of 2011-2012.* Thanking you and with the highest regards, *Javed Abidi* *Convenor, Disabled Rights Group (DRG)* *7.3.2011* -- Best regards, Srinivasu Chakravarthula Mobile: +91 990 081 0881 Website: http://www.srinivasu.org | http://www.learnaccessibility.org Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/VasuTweets To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. 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