Media of all hues is now dealing RPD Bill as consensus Bill which is a worrying sign. They don't sens the flawed intent in the Bill which have huge ramification on the lives of the disabled. Only Opposition parties can prevent this Bill from passage. http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/common-causes/
In the last few days of the 15th Lok Sabha, Parliament has gone into a Telangana tailspin. In the process, many important bills with far-reaching impact have been ignored. They have been stalled not because of any disagreement between parties on the broad shape of the bill or even individual clauses, but because other issues have always been given greater priority. They include the rights of persons with disabilities bill that seeks to update the 1995 legislation and expand the category to include autism and dyslexia, among other disabilities, to guarantee accessibility to public buildings, and to increase reservations in government jobs and educational institutions. While this bill does not please all activists, it stands to improve the lives of crores of people. Apart from these, a range of bills that address various aspects of public corruption and service delivery must be passed in the common interest. These bills are trickier, not because of what they contain, but because of whom they are seen to benefit. By championing an anti-corruption omnibus of six bills, Rahul Gandhi is certainly trying to position the Congress for the election. Predictably and understandably, that makes the BJP resist their passage, given how central the UPA's perceived corruption is to its own campaign. But some of these are crucial interventions that parties must support if they are to stand by their own rhetoric on corruption. For instance, the whistleblowers protection bill provides necessary shields to those who disclose corrupt or otherwise illegal actions by public officials. The right to time-bound services and grievance redressal bill aims to create a citizen's charter, and to remove harassment and rent-seeking from service provision, and impose accountability on officials -- a legislation that could arguably help dent the currently widespread disillusionment with the state's processes. The public procurement bill also aims to curb discretion, and enable the shift towards competitive bidding in Central procurement. These valuable aims should not be lost in the bids to appropriate or deny political credit. The Congress would do well to put them ahead of its own electoral agenda, and the BJP, equally, should realise that these bills cannot wait. All responsible and forward-looking parties should cooperate to pass them. They should redeem this parliamentary session to the extent they can. -- Avinash Shahi M.Phil Research Scholar Centre for The Study of Law and Governance Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi India Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in 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..
