[Ai] Shopping Accessibility survey: We asked consumers to share their experiences of disabled access and provision in high-street or luxury fashion store

[avinash shahi via Ai]

‘I got undressed in full view’: Sarah, Leicestershire
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/30/no-one-wants-to-accept-the-disabled-pound-shoppers-on-poor-retail-accessibility
A new shop had opened at Rushden Lakes and I thought it presented a
positive, fresh shopping opportunity. When it came to trying on
clothing I discovered the entrance to the changing rooms was blocked
by a concession stand. My wheelchair couldn’t fit through so I had to
nudge some displays out of the way. When I eventually reached the
changing rooms, I was told there wasn’t a disabled cubicle and I
should go back across the shop floor to one in the lingerie section. I
refused so I decided to put any embarrassment aside and got undressed
in full view because the door wouldn’t close around my wheelchair.
It’s a disaster with fixed door cubicles which have no room to swing a
cat or a wheelchair! The simple adjustment of having curtains would
have made this much easier.

‘I was charged £50 for a voucher when I had asked for £15. They look
the same when lip-read’: May, Ayrshire

I am deaf so I either read or lip-read information. I like to check
what prices are by reading the display on the till but it’s often
obscured or not shown until it’s too late. One time I was charged £50
recently for a voucher when I had asked for £15. They look the same
when lip-read! Although most assistants in shops are now deaf aware
and will check how best to speak with you, there are still those who
are not. This can spoil a whole shopping experience by totally
knocking back your confidence and self-esteem. I am pro-active about
getting the best service so I’m usually successful at enjoying a
friendly experience. The provision of working loops and training
in deaf awareness should be the norm for shops. We also need an
alternative for making phone calls to retailers because these changes
would give deaf people
more equal access.

‘I just want to get in and out of a shop with minimum sensory
distress’: Kathryn, Brighton

I’m autistic, and my primary issue with shopping is sensory. Large
crowds are very difficult for me, and the design of many shops -
packing as much stock
and shelving into a space as possible - means that the shop becomes
crowded and difficult to get through. The noise level in shops is also
a major issue
for me. Many stores have music turned up to a very high volume, as
well as other noise issues.

For many autistic people, including me, fluorescent lights make a
noise which is barely audible to most non-autistics, but which can
seem like nails on
a chalkboard to us. When I just want to get in and out of a shop with
the minimum of minimal sensory distress, having a shop assistant come
up to me and
start talking at me can cause me a lot of trouble. When I do go
shopping, I often need to wear headphones and stick to familiar areas.

‘I have been met with a variety of reactions’: Chris, London

I’m a wheelchair user and I have tried repeatedly to get into several
shops in London’s West End where there is a big step at the front
door. In the shops
I went to there is no provision for access for wheelchair users, not
even the cheapest solution of a lightweight portable ramp. I have been
met with a
variety of reactions, from profuse apologies to haughty rudeness and
utter contempt for the very idea that a wheelchair user might want to
get into the
shop. Some shops have level access at the front door, but no access to
upper floors. Whilst it’s nice of staff to offer to bring me stuff
from the other floors
to examine, this is no substitute for browsing and certainly does not
constitute equality of access. It is extraordinary and disgraceful
that after 22
years of legally obligatory provision of access for disabled people,
there are hundreds of shops in London which I cannot get into or
around.

‘It would be great if retailers could use seated models’: Sara, East Yorkshire

I am a paraplegic but I can go shopping because I have an adapted car.
The biggest problem is the lack of disabled parking spaces, especially
ones that
have sufficient space to fully extend the door open. I need room be
able to get into the car from my wheelchair, dismantle it and then
lift it into the
car.

In addition to the physical challenges of a shopping trip, actually
finding suitable clothes is sometimes problematic. I need close
fitting jackets that
will not get splashed with mud or caught in my wheels à la
Isadora Duncan
 (who died by strangulation when her scarf got caught around her car’s
tyre). A fastened jacket may look nice on a standing model but when
sitting down
it will pull across the hips unless vents are inserted at the sides.
All in all, I find online shopping an easier experience but it would
be great if retailers
could photograph items of clothing on a seated model. It is a vicious
circle, the perception is that there are not many disabled people
about, but they
are not about because shopping is often a problematical and unpleasant
experience for us.

[Ai] Peter Holley reports in the Washington Post: "For decades, the blind have used canes to get around. Now a special wristband gives them a ‘sixth sense.'"

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Watching Fernando Albertorio stroll down a crowded sidewalk in
downtown Washington during a recent lunch hour, casually sidestepping
pedestrians running errands and crowding around food trucks, you’d
have no idea he is legally blind.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/10/27/for-decades-the-blind-have-used-canes-to-get-around-now-an-special-wrist-band-helps-them-locate-hazards/?utm_term=.8837dacaaa5c
Albertorio easily blends into the flow of human traffic swirling
around him, which is even more remarkable considering that he is doing
so largely without the use of his limited vision.

His secret: a wristband called Sunu that emits a high-frequency sound
wave that bounces off objects as far as 14 feet in front of him before
registering as a gentle, pulsing vibration on his arm.

The closer the object is — whether it’s a wall, trash can or person —
the more frequent the pulses become, allowing Albertorio to create a
mental map of the world around him using echolocation. He compares the
device to sonar being used in vehicles to sense nearby objects and
avoid crashes.

Albertorio, who grew up in Puerto Rico, is part of a team of
entrepreneurs from Mexico who built Sunu from scratch and are hoping
their invention changes the way visually impaired people get around.




“One of my friends calls the device his ‘sixth sense,’ ” Albertorio
said, noting that people with vision loss are sometimes afraid of
going outside. “It enhances my awareness of my personal space and
keeps me safe when I’m out in my neighborhood.”

For the visually impaired, smartphone apps can help them hail a ride,
link to real-time maps and get to the nearest convenience stores. But
avoiding a tree branch obstructing a sidewalk after a storm or walking
through a busy, rush-hour crowd, not to mention finding an office in
an unfamiliar building or locating the closest restaurant in a new
neighborhood. There is no app for that.

It was those challenges — the kind that can fill an ordinary day with
physical hazards and extreme complication — that led Albertorio to
develop Sunu.

“This is a way of getting people outside and doing things while being
discreet,” he added. “Folks want to be able to go outside, be active,
blend in and be part of their community.”

The device’s settings, including range and sensitivity, can be
customized using the company’s app.




The National Federation of the Blind estimates that there are more
than 7 million people living with visual disability in the United
States. Some experts expect that number to increase sharply in the
coming decades as baby boomers reach old age and are afflicted by
glaucoma and other eye diseases.

Although the visually impaired are still largely reliant on guide dogs
and the white cane — a tool that is nearly 100 years old and doesn’t
protect users above their knees — the Sunu band isn’t the first device
to harness the power of echolocation. Inventors have created vibrating
clothing that uses echolocation and a vibrating clip that uses
ultrasound to help visually impaired people avoid obstacles above
their lower body.

And at least one man, known as “the real-life batman,” trains visually
impaired people to create a rudimentary form of echolocation by
clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth — a tactic he
learned on his own. By clicking, Daniel Kish, who lost both eyes to
cancer as a toddler, is even able to ride a bike on city streets.




 [Meet the eyeless man who says he can see (and is probably right)]

The challenge for engineers, Albertorio said, is creating technology
that isn’t obtrusive, distracting the user from the sensations and
sounds visually impaired people rely upon. A vibrating cane might help
a user detect large obstacles ahead of them, for example, but it can
also numb the delicate sensations that allow someone’s fingertips to
perceive subtle changes on the ground below, Albertorio said.

Because of the variety of navigational challenges visually impaired
people face, there is no single solution for getting around, experts
say. Having access to a portfolio of complementary navigational tools
is often ideal, according to Dave Power, the president and chief
executive of Perkins School for the Blind,  the first school for the
blind in the United States.

“If you’re walking down the sidewalk and you’re anticipating a corner,
it’s hard to beat a guide dog that knows you and can help you travel
long distances,” he said. “But if you drop your wallet on the floor,
you might prefer using Sunu over using a cane, which might be a
clunkier solution for finding a small object.”




In the future, Albertorio said he’d like to link innovations like Sunu
with Google Maps or Facebook, so that a visually impaired person could
point a device in different directions to get up-to-date information
about complicated urban environments, such as business areas, parks,
offices or transportation locations. Instead of being tethered to
their routine routes, Albertorio sai

[Ai] Amid everyday struggles, four differently-abled siblings coping with effects of downpour

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Vishwanathan, Jayaraman, Devarajan and Karpagam | Ashwin prasath
http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2017/nov/02/amid-everyday-struggles-four-differently-abled-siblings-coping-with-effects-of-downpour-1689733.html
CHENNAI: If you are cribbing about the discomfort caused by incessant
rain, spare a thought for four disabled siblings who are somehow
coping with the
situation on their own amidst their everyday struggle called life. A
rope that runs across all rooms in the house and their hands to
provide balance are
all they depend upon for mobility within the house at Foreshore Estate
here. If there is a flood or water enters their house due to incessant
rain, they
perhaps will have to wait for help till their sister Suguna returns
home after work from Anna Nagar.

The four — Viswanathan (50), Devarajan (48), Karpagam (40) and
Jayaraman (35) — have been diagnosed with spinocerebellar
degeneration, a genetic disorder
often associated with poor coordination of eyes, hands and speech.
Suguna works as a sanitary worker in Chennai corporation.

Three of them — Devarajan, Karpagam and Jayaraman — hold the rope that
runs through all the three rooms, including the washroom, with one
hand and use
the wall to rest the other hand and move around the house.
Viswanathan, who cannot stand, moves around the house by resting his
palm on the floor.
If water leaks inside the house due to rain, they have to be more
cautious on the slippery floor. Even if they fall down, they have to
wait for help from
neighbours or relatives, which is rare because they do not have visitors often.

“The recent rain not only ruined the mud path to their house, but
caused leaks in various parts of the house. But the maximum they can
do is place buckets
in those places and wait for their sister to return in the evening to
empty the filled or sometimes overflowing buckets. “Neither of us can
carry anything
heavy as our hands quiver. There have been incidents where I have
dropped hot sambar and coffee on myself because of this quivering,”
recalled Karpagam.

“A few months back, the condition of the house was even worse. In
fact, every night I would wake up to see whether the ceiling had
fallen, but Suguna somehow
borrowed money and fixed the roof. But what if the rain gets worse and
we are marooned? That’s what we fear,” she said.

Walking down memory lane, Viswanathan said, “We were all fine till we
were in the teens; all four of us fell ill and later were crippled. We
were seven
siblings. One sister Chandra died during the 2004 tsunami while
another sister Vimala is married and settled in the city. She visits
us every week. Suguna
is the other sister who has sacrificed her life for us,” he added.

“Even when we fall sick, we have to depend on somebody in the
neighbourhood to lift us up to the autorickshaw or any other vehicle
to reach the hospital.
Finding a mode of transport is even more troublesome. So during the
rain, we ensure we are safe to avoid being a burden on others,” says
Devarajan.
Jayaraman, who is suffering from mental disability, is not aware of
anything, but always has a smile on his face.  When most people
complain about discomforts
caused by rain, this family is coping with the incessant downpour
amidst its everyday struggle. The siblings are pinning their hopes on
Suguna who is trying
to find a safe shelter for her family.


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU


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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Mumbai: Kanchan Chaudhari reports in the HT: "Can’t fix cut-off for recruiting people with blindness , says Bombay high court

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/can-t-fix-cut-off-for-recruiting-people-with-disabilities-says-bombay-high-court/story-5NwC3MtOzhpdZTa0cxQLeI.html


There cannot be any benchmark or cut-off for filing vacant posts
earmarked for people with disabilities, said the Bombay high court.
The court struck down the Union ministry of finance’s decision to not
appoint a visually impaired candidate to its economic and policy
research department, as no one could cross the bench-mark fixed by it.

“In our view, once the post was identified and reserved for visually
impaired person, then fixing cut-off marks for selection of the person
for that post was impermissible,” said a division bench of justice
Naresh Patil and justice ZA Haq.

The bench said it was necessary for the department to prepare a
separate merit list of visually impaired people, and consider
candidates from this list according to merit, without fixing benchmark
or cut-off marks.


















It was hearing a petition filed by Kranti Goyal, a visually impaired
person, who had applied for the post of research officer in the
economic and policy research department. He approached the high court
after the department decided not to select any visually impaired
candidates on the grounds that none of them could cross the cut-off of
210 of 350 marks in the written examination.

He said the department had set the same benchmark for candidates from
the general category and the visually impaired category – and merely
granted 7% extra marks to visually impaired people.

The court held that by fixing cut-off marks for the visually impaired
people on par with the general category candidates, the ministry and
the department had acted arbitrarily and contrary to the object of the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection
of Rights and Full Participation) (PWD) Act, 1995. It said granting 7%
grace marks was not a sustainable criteria.

The court has now directed the central department to prepare a
separate merit list for visually impaired people and select a
candidate from among them.




-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU


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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Sutirtha Chatterjee: Photo Feature: Living and Learning in India's Blind Schools

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Note: to watch photographs one can visit the below given website.
Special schools are the only place where blind children can be enabled
to blend into an everyday life of dignity and self sufficiency.
https://thewire.in/99907/photo-blind-school/
India is now home to the world’s largest number of blind people. In
addition, nearly 30,000 blind people are added every year. Cataract is
the primary cause for blindness in India. Every year approximately
three million people develop cataract in India but the worst part is
that almost half of these cases are curable, which when left
unattended translates to complete or partial blindness. Meanwhile
there is an acute shortage of donated eyes in India and nearly 60% of
the eyes donated are wasted or left unused.

Another neglected aspect is education among blind children. It is
estimated that a meagre 5% of the total population of blind children
in India receives education. Blind schools are important institutions
in imparting education among the visually impaired children in India.

Over the years, studies in child development, sociology and special
education have led to the conclusion that blind children grow,
flourish and achieve greater self and social fulfillment by being
nurtured in the least restrictive environment. Through local
education, supported by well-prepared specialists in education of the
blind, these children can enjoy everyday common experiences essential
to the development of a keen awareness of the world around them.

The way ahead lays within the blind school – the institution that
allows for the hope filled possibility of education and rehabilitation
for children. It is the only place where we can enable them to blend
into an everyday life of dignity and self sufficiency.

A visually impaired student walks down a flight of stairs, from the
boy’s hostel, to attend the morning prayer at a blind school in
Kolkata.
A visually impaired student walks down a flight of stairs, from the
boy’s hostel, to attend the morning prayer at a blind school in
Kolkata.

Study material in Braille. Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee
Study material in Braille. Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee

Brihaspati Mahato , a humanities student, poses for a portrait.
Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee
Brihaspati Mahato, a humanities student, poses for a portrait. Credit:
Sutirtha Chatterjee

Visually impaired students during a jam session at a blind school in
Calcutta. Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee
Visually impaired students during a jam session at a blind school in
Calcutta. Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee

Students listening to radio in their dormitory. Radio is the most
popular media for news dissemination amongst the visually impaired.
Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee
Students listening to radio in their dormitory. Radio is the most
popular media for news dissemination amongst the visually impaired.
Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee

Girl students share a light moment after a class. Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee
Girl students share a light moment after a class. Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee

A student prepares himself in the morning for his daily classes.
Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee
A student prepares himself in the morning for his daily classes.
Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee

Reema Khatun , an albino student, grooms herself during recess.
Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee
Reema Khatun, an albino student, grooms herself during recess. Credit:
Sutirtha Chatterjee

Reema's favorite pair of shoes. She loves the red colour. There are
different stages of blindness. In the earlier stages of impartial
vision, colours can be recognised. Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee
Reema’s favorite pair of shoes. She loves the red colour. There are
different stages of blindness. In the earlier stages of impartial
vision, colours can be recognised. Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee

Reema poses for a portrait. Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee
Reema poses for a portrait. Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee

Siblings wait for their parents to take them home from school.
Students from out of town stay in the hostels, which are well-equipped
for hosting the visually impaired. Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee
Siblings wait for their parents to take them home from school.
Students from out of town stay in the hostels, which are well-equipped
for hosting the visually impaired. Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee

Students during a recess session. Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee
Students during a recess session. Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee

A student reacts to light after coming out of a class. Credit:
Sutirtha Chatterjee
A student reacts to light after coming out of a class. Credit:
Sutirtha Chatterjee

Most blind schools provide mid day meals for their students. Credit:
Sutirtha Chatterjee
Most blind schools provide mid-day meals for their students. Credit:
Sutirtha Chatterjee

Students rehearse for a stage performance for their annual function.
Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee
Students rehearse for a stage performance for their annual function.
Credit: Sutirtha Chatterjee

An ex student at a 

[Ai] Punjab University installs scanners for visually impaired

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/chandigarh/pu-installs-scanners-for-visually-impaired/490014.html
Visually impaired students test the scanner installed at the library
in Panjab University on Monday. photo: Manoj mahajan

Chandigarh, October 30
 Panjab University (PU) today installed two scanners for visually
impaired students of the varsity.
 According to PU librarian Dr Raj Kumar, with the help of scanners,
visually disabled students can scan books, notes, magazines and other
study material. After scanning, it gets stored in their laptop or
computer in the PDF format. Then the text could be converted into
audio book. The total cost of the scanners with software is around Rs
1.3 lakh.
 There is an option to convert the scanned part into MP3 format and
hear it on one’s mobile phone also.
“There has been a demand from the students in this regard,” he said.
The earlier software being employed by the PU to scan books was not
accurate and it did not have the option of Hindi audio.
“We have been demanding it for the last two years. The earlier
software used by the PU to scan books did not have 100 per cent
accuracy,” said Shubham Sharma, a post graduate student of political
science who is 100 per cent visually impaired. “Earlier, we were going
to Delhi University for the material,” said Manish Chauhan, who is 75
per cent visually impaired and a student of political science.
“In future we will develop e-library for these students,” said Raj Kumar.
“There are 20 visually impaired students on the campus. We have got
these two scanners after a struggle of two years,” said Jatinder
Arora, who is a law student and is 50 per cent visually impaired. It
was Arora who had spearheaded the demand.
 Regarding other demands, he said that we wanted

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU


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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Those who missed it earlier: Read on: "The Manipur initiative: Education and freedom at a school for children with disability"

[avinash shahi via Ai]

The Manipur initiative: Education and freedom at a school for children
with disability
 November 12, 2016 16:25 IST
Updated:  December 02, 2016 15:07 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/The-Manipur-initiative-Education-and-freedom-at-a-school-for-children-with-disability/article16443835.ece
With imagination and heart, this school shows how to make the
participation of children with disabilities not an exception but the
rule


“My attitude is based on how you treat me,” reads a sticker outside
the school’s braille room. Inside, Pau, the braille instructor, and
his student, Elizabeth, both visually impaired, are spelling numbers.
Elizabeth reads aloud, “One Zero - Ten; Two Zero - Sixty!” Pau adjusts
the braille card and asks her to try again. At this, teachers next
door break into affectionate laughter, aware that Elizabeth, who
occasionally teases Pau, would soon give the right answer.

Across the airy corridor, in the physiotherapy room, Tina, a
five-year-old with cerebral palsy, is working on her balance. “Give me
a high five, Tina,” smiles Angie, the physiotherapist. Tina delights
at the clap of their palms, while balancing herself on her knees. It
is a weekly session that Tina refuses to miss, even if unwell.

In other classrooms, Tina’s friends are spelling alphabets into a
wooden mud-tray or learning nursery rhymes in sign language. Outdoors,
a group of children have encircled their favourite teacher, Thang.
They hug him, tug at his shirt and giggle naughtily as he jokes with
them.

Elizabeth, Tina and their friends are students at The Malsawm
Initiative, a school for children with disabilities in the tribal
district of Churachandpur, 60 km south of Manipur’s capital city,
Imphal. The school brings together children with various categories of
disabilities — be it autism, cerebral palsy, Hydrocephalus, Down’s
syndrome, hearing, visual and locomotor impairments.

For the current batch of 30 children, aged five to 14, who until a few
years ago were leading an overprotected and isolated life at home, the
school is a space with a promise of freedom — to learn, think, play,
make mistakes and not be judged. It combines education and therapeutic
care (physiotherapy, speech therapy and mobility training) such that
the children can develop their cognitive, communication, social and
daily living skills.

Dondouching and Pauzagin Tonsing founded the school in 2011, after a
six-year-long struggle to find a school where their son Malsawm could
study. A handsome boy with a sharp ear for music, Malsawm lost his
eyesight in 2005 to Optic Nerve Atrophy, a condition that impairs the
optic nerve.

“We thought if our son goes to school, he would start learning the
basics and his social skills would improve. But he was not learning
anything — the special schools in the town had more holidays than
working days and the teachers at the private school he attended were
clueless but too polite to kick him out,” says Malsawm’s mother,
Dondouching, who actually feels sorry for the teachers. “He needed
time and thought, but the teachers were only baby-sitting him; they
wanted to help but could not.”

Dejected, the couple pulled Malsawm out of school, enrolled themselves
for a distance-learning Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) programme and
began meeting other parents. “At first the parents were reluctant and
ashamed to meet us since talking about disability was a taboo here,”
says Pauzagin, founder of the Churachandpur-based Centre for Community
Initiative (the parent organisation that set up the school). Pauzagin
discovered that most parents and caregivers had been living with a
sense of guilt, having internalised the social stigma associated with
birthing or raising a child with disability.

This changed with frequent meetings, where parents shed their
discomfort and formed a group to advocate for the rights of persons
with disabilities. This was before an educationist known for his love
of playgrounds for children, offered the couple a portion of his
school’s land for free. In response, the couple and parents of
fourteen other children, pooled in their faith and imagination to set
up The Malsawm Initiative (which initially was a one-room thatch and
bamboo structure, and today, is a yellow and red building amidst a
green thicket on a low-lying hill slope).

In the life of the school, the parents or caregivers of children with
disabilities have always played a pivotal role. Once, when a landslide
blocked roads around the school, parents and teachers formed a human
chain and cleared the rubble. Dondouching explains, “Children spend
the maximum time with their families. So we expect the caregivers to
be fully involved. We also encourage siblings to volunteer at the
school so that they can observe and learn from the teachers.”

At the same time, and in the absence of any state support for
disability-specific education, rehabilitation or information services,
the staff at the school is sensitive to the caregivers’ personal
circ

[Ai] Court Observation: "Supreme Court suggests special schools and teachers for children with special needs"

[avinash shahi via Ai]

I feel SC's observation is very critical cause it has specified the
categories of disability groups who have their distinct needs.
Thankfully it has not clubbed all categories as children with
disabilities as one unit where one or two types of disabilities  enjoy
privileges and the rest remain on the margins. And the disability
sector needs to learn lesson from the observation. We should certainly
think whether 5 years old children with blindness/mental
disabilities/defness/autism are served better in 'inclusive schools'
in India? And when I say India it means delhi comes last in my
thoughts, you know. Census what if erroneous, informs us that around
69 per cent of people with disabilities reside in the villages.
Majority of so called inclusive schools are located in the faraway
hinterland and they lack basic physical infrastructure let alone
mindset. do we have classes in sign-language? Do all teachers of
different subjects know Braille? Do teachers and the non-teaching
staff understand what is autism and how to cater to the needs of those
children? I'm not talking about the peer mates whose ceaseless taunts
and disability slurs go unnoticed and perpetuated inside the campus of
'inclusive set up which leaves one traumatised for the entire life.
how many decades will it take to bring about sensitization. And why
the current generation of kids should suffer due to enapt teachers?
Why children with different disabilities should spend extra hours in
the so called 'inclusive school'?  Why don't the children with
disabilities not encouraged to play sports in general in 'inclusive
schools'?for example, what if one 'inclusive school has only one blind
kid will she/he be able to play football or cricket with other class
mates? How his/her mobility needs will be catered to? legal and
ethical questions need to be brainstormed before reaching to a hasty
conclusion that schools which are pre-occupied with enrolment and
offer least substantive inclusion are the way forward. The debate over
inclusive vs specialized schools is too old to start it again. I
however welcome SC's observation which has sent a wave of uneasiness
among the propaganda machine of a particular ilk.


PTI
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/sc-moots-special-schools-and-teachers-for-special-children/article19949980.ece
 NEW DELHI:, October 30, 2017 17:52 IST
Updated:  October 30, 2017 18:10 IST
Deems it ‘impossible’ that those who have autism, blindness and
deafness can be taught along with normal children

The Supreme Court has questioned the lack of separate schools and
distinctly trained teachers for students who suffer from autism,
blindness and deafness.

The apex court observed that it is “impossible to think” that
children, who are disabled or suffer from any kind of disability or
are mentally challenged, can be imparted education in mainstream
schools along with normal children.



A Bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M.
Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, said that access to education has now
been regarded as a fundamental right under Article 21A and there was a
statutory obligation on the States to provide education under the
Rights of Children to Free and Compulsary Education Act, 2009.

Treat them as special

“We are of the prima facie view that the children with special needs
have to be imparted education not only by special teachers but there
have to be special schools for them,” the Bench said.

It asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file an affidavit keeping its
observation in mind in four weeks and specify when the State is going
to meet the obligation. It listed the matter for further hearing on
November 27.

“When we say ‘disability’, we do not mean ‘disability’ as has been
defined in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. The
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 includes certain
physical disabilities which may not be a warrant for getting admission
in special schools,” the bench said.

Emphasising the need for a separate system, the court said: “The
students who suffer from blindness, deafness and autism or such types
of disorder may be required to have separate schools with distinctly
trained teachers.”

The Bench was hearing a plea filed by Rajneesh Kumar Pandey through
advocate Prashant Shukla, claiming lack of sufficient number of
special educators in Uttar Pradesh and other States to teach the
children with special needs.

‘UP already on it’

Additional Advocate General Aishwarya Bhati appearing for Uttar
Pradesh said the State was committed to imparting education to the
children with special needs.

She said the State had already commenced the procedure for engaging
12,000 teachers, of whom some would be teachers for such special
children.

Counsel for Centre said that under the new integrated education
scheme, special children were being taught along with normal children.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development and the UP government
claimed that children wi

[Ai] Antara Telang writes: When 'Looking Disabled' Is an Option, and When It's Not

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Access India should discuss this article!
I feel the author needs to be commended for an honest confession. Many
privileged  people with disabilities don't talk this piercing reality.
I often stress upon understanding each category of disability as an
independent unit.I'd love to read comments and  people can debate
discuss this powerful write up this weekend! "Among persons with
disability (PwDs), there exist individuals who have an edge over most
others in the community." Antara Telang
https://thewire.in/191527/visibilising-disability-bravery/


Visibilising your disability – especially when you have the option not
to – takes serious bravery.

Among persons with disability (PwDs), there exist individuals who have
an edge over most others in the community. Credit: Reuters/Vivek
Prakash
Among persons with disability (PwDs), there exist individuals who have
an edge over most others in the community. Credit: Reuters/Vivek
Prakash

We all like eating cake – the reason why we like to slip in references
to cake in our conversations. If something good happens, it’s the
cherry on the cake. If something is easy, it’s a piece of cake. While
talking about minority groups, we like to say that there’s a ‘creamy
layer’ to ignore the shit cake that lies below it. This creamy layer
refers to people who are the most privileged among the oppressed. They
tend to have a louder voice, greater socio-economic privilege and more
cultural capital than most others of their ilk, and hence outline
problems that are only the tip of the iceberg to others in their
group. Take for example, cishet, nondisabled, white feminists as
opposed to feminists who belong to the LGBTQIA+ community/are people
of colour/are Dalits/have a disability/are at an intersection of two
or more of the above categories.

Similarly, among persons with disability (PwDs), there exist
individuals who have an edge over most others in the community. This
is where I publicly admit that I am lucky – I’m a savarna,
well-educated, upper-middle-class woman who has a high-end prosthetic
leg. Do I face repercussions of disability? Most definitely. I need to
take several days off work – and several zeroes off the end of my bank
balance – every year for healthcare. I’m subject to humiliating and
outdated security checks that often involve me stripping off my pants
and having to pass my leg through the X-Ray machine with others’ bags
and laptops. I’ve had to hear a lot of hurtful comments about my
eligibility for shaadi with ‘good boys’. (And though these become the
object of hilarious drunken gaalis in retrospect, they’re not the most
pleasant thing to have to actually hear when they’re directed towards
you.)

Despite all this, there are many reasons why I need to call out my own
privilege. The first is that I do not face social discrimination or
exclusion in terms of education, job hunts or recreation. The second
is that my family and friends are textbook cases of what maximum
levels of emotional and financial support should look like. And the
biggest reason of them all is that, at first glance, I don’t ‘look
disabled’.

I often find myself walking a tightrope – on one hand, I certainly
enjoy more privileges than most disabled people; on the other, how do
I negotiate the problems I actually face without seeming like I’m
hogging the mike?

I have the privilege, unlike most other PwDs, of ‘invisibilising’ my
disability when I choose to. When I wear jeans and closed shoes, most
people around me can’t even tell that I’m wearing an artificial leg.
Unlike other disability aids like wheelchairs or crutches, my
prosthetic leg has the same shape and size as a ‘normal’ leg, and
thus, doesn’t attract much attention, especially when covered up. It
grants me the mobility to climb stairs and to walk without a limp. Due
to this, I’m able to independently navigate public spaces, travel to
new places alone and avoid stares from every single stranger on the
road. (I settle for every tenth stranger instead, woohoo!) In fact, on
the rare occasion that I get into what’s popularly known as the
‘disabled compartment’ (I mean, if you were even slightly woke, you’d
be calling it ‘compartment with a disability’) on the local train, I’m
usually shouted at and asked to get off until I roll up the right leg
of my pants to prove my innocence to my irate co-passengers.

On the few occasions that I’ve ventured out in shorts or a dress, the
number of stares I’ve got make me feel like I’m Deepika Padukone.
(Except nobody asks me for autographs. And nobody asks to take photos
with me. And nobody has my face tattooed on their arm. Okay, fine, I
feel nothing like Deepika.) I end up getting so annoyed that I prefer
to wear full-length jeans daily even in the sweltering Bombay heat.
However, Hema Subhash, who has an above-knee amputation and regularly
wears dresses, says, “Initially, I only wore short clothes in front of
friends and family, but started ‘brandishing my mettle’ (wink wink)
after about two years of

[Ai] Mini Muringatheri reports on the Hindu front page: Breaking barriers to scale peaks

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Kiran memorised music lessons for practice.Special Arrangement
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/breaking-barriers-to-scale-peaks-in-classical-music/article19935787.ece
24-year-old is set for first Carnatic concert after battling cerebral palsy

It is a beautiful voice that has taken a 12-year struggle to perfect.
T.A. Kiran, a 24-year-old musician, is all set to give his maiden
Carnatic music
performance in Thrissur, a city that has fostered classical music, at
the Chetana Music College on Saturday.

It is an unusual concert, because Kiran has battled visual impairment
and 65% disability, encouraged by his mother Sajitha. He graduated in
music from
Madras University, memorising lessons and writing examinations with
the help of scribes.

Kiran’s challenge began when he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a
toddler. “He was visually impaired and couldn’t utter a word. He was
unable to lift
his hands or legs. Epileptic attacks were frequent,” says Ms. Sajitha.
Doctors were clear that he would need prolonged physiotherapy. As a
child, Kiran
would cry a lot, and his mother calmed him down with music. Later, he
attended ‘Reach Swasraya’, a special school at Kuttor in Thrissur,
till he was 14.
He practised light music and won prizes at State-level competitions.

When Kiran completed Class VII, Ms. Sajitha sent him to Government
Model Boys High School, Thrissur, where he completed Plus Two.
Learning with normal
students had a positive impact: he won prizes in music contests.

His big moment came when he joined Chetana Music College for the BA in
music. He was the only special student. “Though he was good at melody,
learning
Carnatic music was a bit difficult,” says Fr. Paul Poovathingal, Principal.

“In Carnatic music, one has to maintain taalam , or rhythm, using the
hand, along with singing. Coordination of two activities is difficult
for those with
cerebral palsy. Kiran, had to memorise his lessons [due to visual
disability]. It improved his memory and ability to reproduce. He had
sharp listening
capacity too,” he recalls. “Singing improves breathing. Thus oxygen
supply increases, strengthening the nervous system,” notes Fr.
Poovathingal, who specialises
in vocology, a system of rehabilitation.

Kiran is looking ahead. “I want a Ph.D in music and a government job.
Marriage is also on my mind,” he says.


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU


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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Punjab: CM orders Special recruitment drive to fill vacancies for disabled

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Tribune News Service
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/cm-orders-drive-to-fill-vacancies-for-disabled/488408.html
Chandigarh, October 27

To mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3,
Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has ordered a special recruitment
drive to be
conducted across the state to clear the backlog of vacancies for
persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the public sector.A special event
would also be conducted
on December 3 as part of state government’s programmes to observe the
day, an official spokesperson said today. Appointment letters to newly
recruited
persons with disabilities would be handed over in addition to
distribution of wheelchairs and other aids on the occasion, he
said.Guidelines have been
issued to the Chief Secretary and Special Chief Secretary (Social
Security & Development of Women & Children) to clear the backlog of
vacancies meant for
persons with disability in a time-bound manner on top priority.A
special Braille printing press and an employment exchange for the
disabled at Ludhiana
are some of the other initiatives in place for these people. A total
of 776 disabled unemployed are registered at the exchange while
Braille press is used
for printing of Braille books as per the Punjab School Education Board
for students up to Class XII free of cost.


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU


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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] May be of interest: The Economist Special Report: "The New Bazaar: E-commerce takes off

[avinash shahi via Ai]

IN WAREHOUSES AROUND the globe, they wait: toys, phones, dresses,
televisions, blankets, trainers, laptops and much more. In China,
online retailers are gearing up for “Singles Day”, November 11th, the
world’s busiest shopping day. Last year Alibaba, much the biggest of
the country’s e-commerce giants, rang up sales of $18bn on that
occasion, the most ever spent in one day anywhere on Earth. Much of
the rest of the world is preparing for the Christmas rush.
Present-hunters used to wear themselves out tramping around crowded
shops. Now, increasingly, they order from the comfort of their homes
or offices.
https://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21730546-e-commerce-transforming-business-and-daily-life-mostly-better-says-charlotte
Over the past decade global e-commerce has been expanding at an
average rate of 20% a year as bricks-and-mortar shops have languished.
Yet its share of total retail trade last year, at 8.5% worldwide, was
still modest. Even in South Korea, the country with the highest
percentage of retail sales online, it amounted to only 18%, according
to Euromonitor, a research firm. In America, the world’s biggest
consumer market, it made up about 10% of the total. And in many
middle-income countries its share was much lower: less than 5% in
India and Brazil, for instance.


But there is every reason to think it will get much bigger. In rich
countries millennials who grew up buying goods online are moving into
their prime spending years. In poorer ones, rising incomes and the
spread of mobile phones will bring more shoppers online. In China,
although growth in e-commerce has slowed, Goldman Sachs, a bank, still
expects online spending to more than double between 2016 and 2020, to
make up nearly one-third of total retail sales. In America,
Euromonitor predicts that its share will rise from about one-tenth
last year to about one-sixth in 2021. In Britain the figure may rise
to one-fifth.




The relentless growth in e-commerce may eventually run up against
natural limits. In America, argues Frederick Smith, the founder and
chief executive of FedEx, a logistics firm, rising shipping expenses
will make e-commerce less attractive. And different parts of the world
will progress at different speeds. In India, for instance, growth has
faltered. Yet there is no doubt that e-commerce has much further to
go. What is less clear is how far and how fast it will rise, where it
will do best, and how great its impact will be.

America and China, the world’s two biggest economies, have produced
the two titans of the industry, Amazon and Alibaba. Both are relative
youngsters. Amazon, started by Jeff Bezos as an online bookshop, had
its initial public offering in 1997. Alibaba was founded by Jack Ma in
1999. Since then both have been growing at breakneck pace, bringing
large-scale disruption not only to retailing but to a range of
industries spanning logistics, entertainment, advertising and
manufacturing in their home countries. Both have also been expanding
their empires abroad. Amazon already has e-commerce sites in 14
markets and is planning further growth. Alibaba’s foreign ventures
range from South-East Asia to Brazil and Russia.

The two giants do not have the field all to themselves. In America,
Walmart remains the biggest retailer and is spending heavily on trying
to fend off Amazon. It also has a stake in JD.com, an e-commerce firm
based in Beijing that had 13% of the Chinese market last year. In
China, Alibaba faces not just JD but also Tencent, a messaging and
payment company that is now JD’s biggest shareholder. Smaller
e-commerce firms around the world have the backing of giant investors
such as SoftBank, Naspers and Tiger Global. In this business, size
matters. Thanks to the power of data, technological expertise and
large distribution networks, the biggest e-commerce firms will only
get bigger.

Data day

Since retailing touches the economy and society in so many ways,
e-commerce is already having broad effects well beyond the industry
itself. In many countries retail is the biggest single private
employer. In America it accounts for one in nine jobs. It is also
affecting the way that other kinds of firms do business. Logistics
companies are trying out new ideas to meet ever-rising expectations of
fast, free delivery. Small new manufacturers are able to challenge
big, established ones, thanks to the ease of selling goods online.
Mountains of consumer data, the most treasured commodity of
21st-century commerce, are helping manufacturers develop products and
interact with shoppers, not just online but increasingly in physical
shops as well.

The implications are all the broader because Amazon and Alibaba, the
industry’s two most innovative companies, do not define themselves as
retailers at all. Amazon does not just sell goods: it leases cargo
planes, produces films and offers a voice assistant, Alexa. Its
cloud-computing business, Amazon Web Services (AWS), powers its own
operations along with th

[Ai] DANIEL KRIEGEROCT reports for the New York Times: Guide dogs are taught to keep the blind safe. Now they’re being trained to help guide blind runners in a marathon

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Panek had been a runner from a young age, so even when he lost his
sight in his early 20s, he continued to compete in road races. And
like any blind runner, he has relied on volunteers to guide him.
Whether he was running the New York City Marathon (with Rabbi Michael
Friedman of Running Rabbis) or the Boston Marathon (with the famed
ultramarathoner Scott Jurek), human guides, connected by a tether,
have led his way. He has enjoyed this method, despite the lack of
independence.

And yet Mr. Panek, now 47, has wondered what it would be like to run
with one of his guide dogs. Every trainer he posed this question to
gave the same answer: guide dogs were not appropriate for
long-distance running, let alone a race. “The presumption was that it
wasn’t safe,” he said. “And no school had ever trained a guide dog to
run.”

He had gotten wind of several blind racers who bucked the conventional
wisdom, like a Denver runner named Kerry Kuck, but Mr. Panek never
seriously considered doing that himself.

Then one morning in April 2014, as he was eating breakfast just before
running the Boston Marathon, a friend who was guiding him brought up
running with a guide dog: “Why don’t you see if it’s possible?”

That was the right moment if there ever was one. Mr. Panek had just
become C.E.O. and president of Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a nonprofit
school in Westchester County, N.Y., that trains guide dogs for people
with vision loss. He began dwelling on the challenges — “real and
perceived,” he said — and after consulting with his training team,
held a focus group for the blind community to weigh in. “The response
was overwhelming,” he said, and in early 2015, the school introduced
what may well be the world’s first program for training guide dogs to
run with their handlers. For the pilot, Mr. Panek used his guide dog,
Gus, a yellow Lab, who was one of the first to be trained for this. “I
said, ‘If other blind people are going to do this, I’ll have to prove
it’s safe,” he recalled. Two dozen running guide dogs have graduated
so far, with a long waiting list for more. None of these certified
running guide dogs has yet to take part in a race, but on Oct. 29 Mr.
Panek and Gus hope to reach this milestone when they run the Poland
Spring Marathon Kickoff, a five-mile race in Central Park, without
human assistance. This will also be a first for the race’s organizer,
New York Road Runners, which after much discussion agreed to
officially allow Gus to run.
Read more: 
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/nyregion/a-blind-runner-and-his-guide-dog.html

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU


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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Punjab University refuses blind student nod to record class lectures

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/chandigarh/pu-refuses-blind-student-nod-to-record-lessons/479978.html

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU


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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Haryana: Rework scribe policy, say visually challenged

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/rework-scribe-policy-say-visually-challenged/483339.html

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU


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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] What about persons with disabilities? UGC decision may reduce SC/ST, OBC faculty posts

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Does anyone know how many faculty with disabilities are employed with
central universities? we should certainly ask this question to the
UGC? not only this we should also inquire about category-wise data of
faculty with disabilities. Read on this data which is very handy for
legal advocacy. As per official data, there are 17,106 teaching
positions at 41 UGC-funded central universities, of which 5,997 are
vacant as of April 1, 2017. This roughly
works out to 35 per cent vacant teaching positions. Out of vacant
faculty posts, the maximum are at the assistant professor level
(2,457), followed by
those of associate professor (2,217) and professor (1,098).
http://indianexpress.com/article/education/ugc-decision-may-reduce-scst-obc-faculty-posts-4901911/


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Jaypur: Shrishti Sharma reports for Nayi Duniya: "inki duniya bhale hi andhari, par kanth se nikaltay surele sapne"

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://www.jagran.com/news/national-they-are-blind-but-their-singing-winning-heart-of-everyone-16872390.html

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Balrampur: chattisgarh: donon aankhon mein roshni nahi, par parivar ki jimwari kandhon pe

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Hats off to Uday who is living for his family amidst abject poverty.
He plays flute and has managed to marry his 3 sisters and helped his
father to buy bulls for his field. He's breaking myth that blind
people are always dependent. He's the sole earning member in his
house. When will the government take these artists with disabilities
seriously?  
https://www.patrika.com/balrampur-chattisgarh-news/you-will-be-fan-of-blind-uday-by-his-work-1-1710843/

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Devendra Pandey reports: Polio-afflicted fan Dharamveer Pal ‘lives for cricket’, BCCI wants him away from boundary

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/polio-afflicted-fan-lives-for-cricket-bcci-wants-him-away-from-boundary-4900688/

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Sexual assault on visually-impaired children: Delhi Police hand over case diary of British national to CBI

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Days after the Interpol approached the Delhi Police, via the CBI, to
share details of the sexual assault on three visually-impaired boys by
54-year-old
British national Murray Dennis Ward, south district police has
submitted the case diary to the CBI.
http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/sexual-assault-on-visually-impaired-children-delhi-police-hand-over-case-diary-of-british-national-to-cbi/
“The Interpol sought details from the Delhi Police as a suspect with a
profile similar to Ward’s, who was accused of child abuse four years
ago in the
UK, went missing under mysterious circumstances. They are verifying
both profiles,” police sources said.

Ward was arrested last month and charged under sections of the
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after being
accused of sodomising
three boys at a school.

In a statement, the school had said: “On Saturday, September 2,
evening, our staff spotted a regular volunteer sitting in an
objectionable position with
a few children. Our staff asked the person to leave immediately and
informed the management on phone, since the office had closed. The
senior management.
met on Sunday morning and, after verifying all facts, immediately
informed police. The police have since arrested the accused for child
sexual abuse.”

Investigation into the assault set police on the trail of 34 phone
numbers, which Ward frequently called. According to police, the
conversations had “sexual
overtones”. Police are probing if Ward was chatting with minors.

While police have so far probed 10 numbers, five yielded dead-ends as
the addresses they were registered under could not be traced. Police
did manage to
get in touch with the owners of the other five numbers — only to be
told that they did not want to file a complaint.

“On scanning Ward’s phone, police found he had been using it for the
last four months and had not deleted his chats. Police found that he
was chatting
with one person through an app that lets the visually impaired
communicate,” sources said.

According to sources, one of the boys Ward was chatting with is the
elder brother of one of the three alleged victims. “Ward exchanged
numbers with him
when they met during an interaction with students,” police sources said.

According to police, Ward hails from Gloucestershire in the UK, and
was working with a Gurgaon-based firm till April this year. In
February 2017, he suffered
a paralytic attack. Since then, he has been under treatment. Police
said the accused used to live in a rented accommodation in south
Delhi’s Vasant Kunj.


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] My paragraph: When universities make mockry of disability law:

[avinash shahi via Ai]

When universities make mockry of disability law: It has become a trend
in Indian universities where they don’t advertise posts for the blind
candidates or dilute the recruitment procedure and reject them despite
the seat reserved for them. And the negativity against disability is
heavily engrained in the mind of non-disabled university authorities
who are ignorant and illiterate about how blind people read and write?
They wonder during the interview that ‘are you PhD’? and embarrassing
shock: ‘is it really possible’? ‘will you be able to recognize the
students’ faces’? ‘how ‘will you manage to come to the class’? as if
these questions are very vital to judge one’s academic depth and
credentials. I feel all teachers of colleges/state /central
universities need to undergo very basic disability sensitization
workshops. And this arrangement should be institutionalised at every
university. The Human Resource Ministry needs to take a call before it
is too late? And the UGC should cut funds or stop funding of
institutions which violate the disability quota in recruitment. Out of
43 central universities around 35 universities have not recruited a
single disabled faculty in any of its department. And the scenario is
more scary at the state universities where their recruitment notices
exclude persons with disabilities from applying.  The latest
discrimination has been noticed at the Central University of Himachal
Pradesh where out of 84 seats no seat has been reserved for the blind
candidates? And there has been hardly any protests/demonstrations at
the UGC/MHRD for the emplementation of disability quota in the
appointments in the universities.  http://www.cuhimachal.ac.in/

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Rajasthan Netrheen Kalyan Sangh: not a single government teacher appointed to teach blind children in the current session

[avinash shahi via Ai]

https://www.patrika.com/jaipur-news/not-a-single-government-teacher-appointed-for-blind-students-1828495/

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Kota Rajasthan: awasthaaon ke karan chuttay 'divyangon' ke pasinay

[avinash shahi via Ai]

https://www.patrika.com/kota-news/diffusion-of-unique-disability-id-card-in-kota-1-1880161/

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] A blind girl talks to BBC Hindi's Divya Arya: 'my disability has nothing to do with my desires

[avinash shahi via Ai]

A blind girl talks to BBC Hindi's Divya Arya: 'my disability has
nothing to do with my desires
http://www.bbc.com/hindi/india-41106559

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Divya Arya reports for the BBC Hindi: 'you are disabled, why will anyone rape you'?

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://www.bbc.com/hindi/india-41149004?ocid=socialflow_facebook

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

Re: [Ai] 25th Foundation Day of the NHRC: Chief Justice Dipak Misra pitches for the rights of the disabled

[avinash shahi via Ai]

After the Chief Justice of India expressed his concern for the
disabled people at the NHRC Foundation Day event, it seems our Prime
Minister is taking stock of the 'accessible India' campaign. "With the
much hyped ‘Accessible India’ campaign limping, the Prime Minister has
expressed concern over it’s progress. Sensing that only nine months
were left for the deadline to end and the initiative was nowhere near
being accomplished, the Prime Minister decided to crack the whip and
in a high level meeting asked top government officials to ensure that
the scheme is completed in campaign mode".
http://www.asianage.com/india/all-india/151017/disabled-friendly-india-plan-in-limbo.html

On 10/14/17, mahendra via Ai  wrote:
> very good speach.
> At 12:05 PM 10/13/2017 +0530, you wrote:
>>When hopes and aspirations are "crucified",
>>human rights issues spring up, Chief Justice
>>Dipak Misra today said, while asserting that the
>>country should lay emphasis on rights of the
>>disabled and the underprivileged.Delivering a
>>speech at the 25th Foundation Day of the
>>National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the
>>CJI, quoted from ancient Indian texts, American
>>history and old court cases to underline the
>>message of equality and justice.He cited the
>>instance of Ashtavakra, an ancient Vedic sage,
>>who suffered from physical handicap, and made a
>>reference to an episode connected with King
>>Janak to emphasise the point. "Ashtavakra once
>>went to the kingdom of Janak. And, when the
>>kings procession was passing, a poor person was
>>thrown out of footpath... When the king sent his
>>prime minister to ask why he (sage) wouldnt come
>>to his palace, he replied that -- O king, you
>>have violated the fundamental principles of the
>>traffic rules," he said.Quoting the sages reply
>>in Sanskrit, the CJI said, "The sage told the
>>king -- You know who has the first right over
>>the road. The first right is that of the blind,
>>second of the deaf, then men who carry load,
>>fourth of women, and then comes the king.""I
>>hope I am able to communicate what the human
>>rights order should be," the 45th Chief Justice
>>of India said.He also quoted from the Vedas,
>>Kautilyas Arthashastra and other texts, and
>>said, it amazed him, how "how could they think
>>of these (human rights) concepts in those
>>days".Buttressing his point, he made reference
>>to the case in Madhya Pradesh High Court,
>>related to eye camps.The case related to
>>cataract operations and since the patients had
>>suffered, a compensation of Rs 10,000 was
>>announced and the (state) commission took
>>cognisance of the case and it came in the
>>court."We (court) realised Rs 10,000 was not
>>enough. So, the compensation was enhanced and we
>>granted Rs 1 lakh each to people who had lost an
>>eye. The case was that the government was
>>instrumental in giving hopes and aspirations to
>>the people that they shall be cured."And, when
>>hopes and aspirations are crucified, human
>>rights spring up. It is the duty of the human
>>rights commissions, including the NHRC to
>>agitate in court. And, obligation then is to see
>>if it is coming within the boundary of the
>>Constitution," the CJI said.Quoting an incident
>>related to Thomas Jeffersons drafting of the
>>Declaration of Independence, he said, the
>>American legend had replaced the word "subjects"
>>with "citizens"."And, if you come to our texts,
>>kings were not allowed to possess all powers.
>>They were constrained by Raj Dharma. And, if you
>>equated, it will stand today on the pedestal of
>>our Constitution and constitutional values,
>>norms, philosophy and morality," he said.The CJI
>>said the NHRC has done an "excellent job" in
>>spreading awareness on rights, as evidenced by
>>the increase in volume of complaints filed with
>>it.Justice (retd) H L Dattu, Chairperson of the
>>NHRC, in his opening address said, by adopting
>>human rights as a way of life, a fundamental
>>change can be brought about to eradicate the
>>scourge of poverty, ignorance, prejudices and
>>discrimination based on sex, caste, religion,
>>disability and other forms in society.The NHRC
>>has registered nearly 17 lakh cases from its
>>inception till September end this year, with
>>Uttar Pradesh recording the maximum of 39,087
>>cases in the last one year, the rights panel
>>said. PTI KND RCJÂ Read MoreThis is unedited,
>>unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India
>>wire. YOUTUBEDO YOU
>>http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/cji-pitches-for-emphasis-on-human-rights-of-the-disabled/1/1067705.html
>>
>>-- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for
>>Law and Governance JNU Celebrating International
>>sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct
>>15 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.. To
>>che

[Ai] Blind Relief Associations Diwali Mela: Blind students light up Diwali for Delhi’s residents

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Pradeep Jyoti Gogoi, 24, is not comfortable with his name. The problem
, he says, is Pradeep means lamp and Jyoti means light, and he is
completely blind.
“I do not like people asking my name, which is opposite to the reality
of my life. It is darkness, not light, that defines me,” he says, as
he folds a
colourful paper into a carry bag.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/blind-students-light-up-diwali-for-delhi-s-residents/story-VSPo9yrygQtUfpb4eW5DqI.html
After a silence of few seconds, he speaks again. “When I tell people
my name, generally there are no more questions, no further inquiry
into my life. People
are left speechless,” says Pradeep, his face pensive. He says he
suffered from a retinal degenerative disease and lost vision at 15.

“I cannot blame my parents for giving this name. I was not born blind.
I read , wrote, played football, saw all colours of life,” says
Pradeep sitting
at the end of a large table inside a high-ceiling hall where a multi
skill vocational training centre is run by The Blind Relief
Association, a 73-year
old non-governmental organization in Delhi.

For Arun Kumar Lohra, 18, who lost sight at 12 , Diwali is the only
time that reminds him of a life that once was full of light. (Sanchit
Khanna/HT PHOTO)

The ground floor of the multi-skill training centre, divided into
different sections, has hundreds of big plastic baskets filled with
candles, paper products,
cloth accessories made by the blind and visually impaired. And they
are selling like hot cakes at the Diwali Bazaar, one of the city’s
most famous festival
markets, organised at the Blind Relief Association’s campus.

There are about 30 youngsters at the paper products training section,
both boys and girls, some of them wearing dark glasses; most, like
Pradeep, fully
blind, and some partially sighted.

Diwali, the festival of light, brings a curious mix of memories and
feelings to the 400 visually impaired people—children and adults—who
live in the sprawling
2-acre campus of The Blind Relief Association, which also runs the JPM
senior secondary school for the blind and a college that imparts a
bachelor’s degree
in special education.

For Arun Kumar Lohra, 18, who lost sight at 12 , Diwali is the only
time that reminds him of a life that once was full of light. He says
he was in the
fifth class when one day he felt a loss of vision, and within the next
couple of days went completely blind. “Suddenly, my world turned dark.
It took me
a couple of months to come to terms with my blindness. Diwali is one
day when I wish I could get back my sight. I used to have lots of fun
with my friends,
lighting candles, bursting crackers,” says Lohra.

“It is particularly difficult when you remember it all, the world with
all its colours,” he says. Lohra who could only study up to Class 5,
wants to be
a computer operator.

Diwali, the festival of light, brings a curious mix of memories and
feelings to the 400 visually impaired people—children and adults—who
live in the sprawling
2-acre campus of The Blind Relief Association. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

The campus is full of the stories of blind children and youngsters
determined to reclaim their lives after the loss of vision that left
them a world without
shades, shapes and shadows, a world where the sound and touch are the
only signs of life.

Karan Singh, 19, who lost sight when he was 3, says he wants to be a
Collector. He will be appearing for Class 12 UP Board examination in
February. He
has studied through audio CDs and will write examination with the help
of a writer. Talking of his blindness, he says that he had developed
poor vision
in his eyes and his parents took him to a doctor, a quack, at Sitapur.

“He put some medicine in my eyes and bandaged them. My parents says
when I opened my eyes, I could not see anything. I had become blind,”
he says. Talking
of festival of light , he says , though he cannot see the light, he
can feel the gaiety and the celebrations. “At times my brother helps
me light a few
crackers, I love the rockets,” says Karan, who will be going to his
native Faizabad for Diwali. “I go alone, asking, touching and feeling
my way, though
it is humiliating at times.”

In fact, not many students—mostly from the underprivileged sections of
society-- know the real reason for their impaired vision. Ravindra
Singh Kanwar,
19, from Koriya district in Chhattisgarh, says he developed cataract
at the age of 10 . His parents took him to a doctor in Janakpur
village . “ Doctor
told us that I had cataract , which could not be treated because it
was too late,” says Ravindra, who has studied up to Class 10.

Vandana Gupta 18, from Vanarasi, does not know how she became blind. “
My mother told me I became severely ill at 4 and soon lost vision,”
she says. She
does not want to go home this Diwali because her father beats up her
mother, a vegetable vendor and takes her earnings, Vandana says.

Vandana Gupta 18, from Vanarasi, does not know how she became blind.
(Sanchit K

[Ai] Read on: I’m registered blind. That doesn’t mean you can assume things about me | Alex Lee

[avinash shahi via Ai]

There’s a belief that blind people can be identified by either a dog
or a stick. This ignorance is keeping us cut off from society
I’m standing in line waiting to get into a nightclub, bumping
shoulders with people who are already having a good time. As I reach
the front, a bouncer looks me up and down. Without a word, he places
his hand on my shoulder and pushes me forward. I’m pinballed from
security guard to security guard, fully expecting to be led directly
into the club. Instead, I’m guided out of the queue, confused as to
why I now find myself standing behind the metal barriers
“What’s going on?” I mean, I’ve had a few drinks but I’m certainly not drunk.
He asks me to blow into a breathalyser, and we wait a few moments. All clear
Why wouldn’t I be? And then the penny drops. The first bouncer must
have thought I was off-my-face drunk, simply because my eyes weren’t
looking in one particular direction.
“I’m visually impaired? Legally blind? I’m registered blind … Jesus! I
can’t see properly!”
But it is all too late. A fun night out had been soured by one tiny
assumption and a judge and jury who had decided to put me on trial
because I didn’t look them in the eye.
Read the full article at the Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/12/registered-blind-people-assume-things-dog-stick
-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Data of interest: 'in 54 departments of the Assam government with 680 disabled persons given employment but there is still a back log of 4, 285'

[avinash shahi via Ai]

In Assam, there are 4,80,065 disabled persons and the state government
has made a budgetary provision of Rs 225 crore for the year 2017-18.
The Assam government has also increased reservations for the disabled
to five per cent in education and four percent in the job sector.

Job opportunities for the disabled have been created in 54 departments
of the state government with 680 disabled persons given employment but
there is still a back log of 4,285, the minister added.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/centre-supports-assam-govts-proposal-to-grant-st-status-to-six-communities-ramdas-athawale-4880715/

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Siddharth Prabhakar reports: Madras University: 3% quota for disabled ignored in appointment of teachers

[avinash shahi via Ai]

CHENNAI: University of Madras recently processed orders increasing the
seats reserved for differently-abled students from 3% to 5%, but has
not been able to implement even the 3% reservation in the recruitment
of teaching staff. The situation is the same at other universities in
Tamil Nadu.
.
 In 2014, University of Madras called for and hired 95 professors, the
largest recruitment drive at a state university in recent times.
However, not a single post was filled under the 3% reservation due for
people with disabilities (PWDs).The notification for the posts
initially did not specify PWD or any fee concession and did not
mention that posts were reserved for the differently abled.
.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/3-quota-for-disabled-ignored-in-appointment-of-teachers-at-madras-university/articleshow/60966183.cms
 In response to an application filed under the Right To Information
(RTI) Act by C M Karunakkaran, a research scholar, the university
replied that it had followed a 200-point roster as per a 2009 Tamil
Nadu government order, whereby every department of the university was
treated as a single unit.
 As every department had only four or five professor posts, the turn
of a differently-abled person may not be due, it sa id. A senior
official in the state higher education department said this was why
universities were unable to implement the rule.

.

.
 Karunakkaran said this was erroneous as the whole university should
be seen as an establishment and not as an institution of individual
departments as per the PWD Act 1995 and the UGC Act 1956. "Also,
communal reservation procedure (university department wise) is not
applicable to PWD reservation," he said, quoting previous high court
and Supreme Court orders.
.


.
 In its response to the RTI query , the university circumvented a
direct question on appointments made under Section 33 of PWD (equal
opportunities, protection of rights and full participation) Act, 1995.
"Such candidates possessing high academic calibre would be definitely
considered for appointment to any duly advertised post," it said.
Universities hence have been recruiting PWD professors only on
compassionate grounds instead of following the reservation norms in
letter and spirit, Karunakkaran said.

.


.
 The government official said they would look into the issue and try
to iron out the inconsistencies, if any.

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] 25th Foundation Day of the NHRC: Chief Justice Dipak Misra pitches for the rights of the disabled

[avinash shahi via Ai]

When hopes and aspirations are
"crucified", human rights issues spring up, Chief Justice Dipak Misra
today said, while asserting that the country should lay emphasis on
rights of the
disabled and the underprivileged.Delivering a speech at the 25th
Foundation Day of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the
CJI, quoted from ancient
Indian texts, American history and old court cases to underline the
message of equality and justice.He cited the instance of Ashtavakra,
an ancient Vedic
sage, who suffered from physical handicap, and made a reference to an
episode connected with King Janak to emphasise the point. "Ashtavakra
once went to the kingdom of Janak. And, when the kings procession was
passing, a poor person was thrown out of footpath... When the king
sent
his prime minister to ask why he (sage) wouldnt come to his palace, he
replied that -- O king, you have violated the fundamental principles
of the traffic
rules," he said.Quoting the sages reply in Sanskrit, the CJI said,
"The sage told the king -- You know who has the first right over the
road. The first
right is that of the blind, second of the deaf, then men who carry
load, fourth of women, and then comes the king.""I hope I am able to
communicate what
the human rights order should be," the 45th Chief Justice of India
said.He also quoted from the Vedas, Kautilyas Arthashastra and other
texts, and said,
it amazed him, how "how could they think of these (human rights)
concepts in those days".Buttressing his point, he made reference to
the case in Madhya
Pradesh High Court, related to eye camps.The case related to cataract
operations and since the patients had suffered, a compensation of Rs
10,000 was announced
and the (state) commission took cognisance of the case and it came in
the court."We (court) realised Rs 10,000 was not enough. So, the
compensation was
enhanced and we granted Rs 1 lakh each to people who had lost an eye.
The case was that the government was instrumental in giving hopes and
aspirations
to the people that they shall be cured."And, when hopes and
aspirations are crucified, human rights spring up. It is the duty of
the human rights commissions,
including the NHRC to agitate in court. And, obligation then is to see
if it is coming within the boundary of the Constitution," the CJI
said.Quoting an
incident related to Thomas Jeffersons drafting of the Declaration of
Independence, he said, the American legend had replaced the word
"subjects" with "citizens"."And,
if you come to our texts, kings were not allowed to possess all
powers. They were constrained by Raj Dharma. And, if you equated, it
will stand today on
the pedestal of our Constitution and constitutional values, norms,
philosophy and morality," he said.The CJI said the NHRC has done an
"excellent job"
in spreading awareness on rights, as evidenced by the increase in
volume of complaints filed with it.Justice (retd) H L Dattu,
Chairperson of the NHRC,
in his opening address said, by adopting human rights as a way of
life, a fundamental change can be brought about to eradicate the
scourge of poverty,
ignorance, prejudices and discrimination based on sex, caste,
religion, disability and other forms in society.The NHRC has
registered nearly 17 lakh cases
from its inception till September end this year, with Uttar Pradesh
recording the maximum of 39,087 cases in the last one year, the rights
panel said.
PTI KND RCJ Read MoreThis is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press
Trust of India wire. YOUTUBEDO YOU
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/cji-pitches-for-emphasis-on-human-rights-of-the-disabled/1/1067705.html

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Delhi: 3 persons have been sentenced life-imprisonment for raping a blind women

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Can anyone help me in availing the full order?
It was 2015. In the garb of helping a blind girl at Delhi Railway
Station three men raped her. She recognized all the three through
their voices and the Court has handed them life imprisonment.
https://navbharattimes.indiatimes.com/metro/delhi/crime/3-sent-to-jail-for-life-for-gang-raping-blind-woman/articleshow/60899239.cms

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Celebrating International sight day Oct. 12 and World White Cane day Oct 15

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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Language as a battlefield: How we got from euthanasia to voluntary assisted dying

[avinash shahi via Ai]

If it were a train, this debate would have set off from Euthanasia
Central, stopped at Voluntary Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, moved
on to Medically Assisted Death and Assisted Dying, before arriving at
Voluntary Assisted Dying, the form of words that our parliamentarians
have settled on (and which some would further reduce to the neutral
acronym VAD).
Read the full article at Sydney Morning Herald:
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/language-as-a-battlefield-how-we-got-from-euthanasia-to-voluntary-assisted-dying-20171010-gyxwxb.html
-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] VIVIAN WANGOCT reports for the NyTimes: Blind Man’s Lawsuits Seek Access to College Websites

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Hofstra University on Long Island is one of eight New York colleges
named in lawsuits because, the suits say, their websites are
inaccessible to the plaintiff, who is blind, and therefore in
violation of the Americans
The lawsuits came one after the other, against Fordham University,
Manhattan College, Long Island University and other area colleges and
universities.

In all, eight suits have been filed in federal court in Manhattan over
the past two weeks, most recently against Hofstra University on Long
Island on Oct. 4. In each case, lawyers for Emanuel Delacruz, who is
blind, charged that the college’s website is inaccessible to their
plaintiff and therefore in violation of the Americans With
Disabilities Act.

The filings are part of a growing number of actions involving
accessibility and the internet. The federal law requires that public
accommodations be accessible to those with disabilities, and legal
battles have long revolved around physical spaces and therefore
physical solutions, such as elevators or wheelchair ramps. Now,
advocates and lawyers argue, websites are also public spaces and need
to be accessible, with things like captions or audio descriptions.

Since January 2015, at least 751 lawsuits have been filed over the
issue. The vast majority have focused on retailers and restaurants,
according to a legal blog that tracks such suits. Only seven of the
suits have been directed at academic websites. Mr. Delacruz’s suits
alone doubled that count. And another website, which includes not only
lawsuits but also government investigations into web or technological
accessibility, lists 37 schools that have been accused of
noncompliance with disability law.

Advocates for the deaf sued Harvard and M.I.T. in 2015 for failing to
caption online lectures, courses and other educational materials. In
2016, after a complaint by two deaf people, the Department of
Justice’s civil rights division found the University of California,
Berkeley, had violated disability law by not providing the appropriate
accommodations for its own free video lectures and podcasts.

 story






Advertisement
Continue reading the main story



“As more and more students are aware of their rights, and as websites
have become so much of what universities now focus on, in their
marketing materials for example, it’s not surprising to me that there
will be an increase in these types of lawsuits,” said Arlene Kanter,
director of the Disability Law and Policy Program at Syracuse
University’s law school.

Whether the plaintiffs will prevail is unclear. The Americans With
Disabilities Act, written in 1990, makes no mention of the internet.
The Department of Justice, which enforces the act, has issued
guidelines about web accessibility but no formal regulations on how to
achieve it — and they seem unlikely to materialize soon, after the
federal government in July placed web regulations on its list of
“inactive” agenda items.
The question has largely been left to judges, who have ruled both for
and against disabled plaintiffs. In March, for example, a California
judge dismissed a blind man’s suit against Domino’s Pizza, because the
chain offered an option to order by telephone. But in June, a Florida
judge ruled that the grocery store Winn-Dixie had to offer the same
accommodations on its website as it did in stores, and in July, a
judge in Brooklyn ruled that the website for Blick Art Materials had
to be readily accessible to a blind man.

The result of these conflicting rulings is a legal gray area ripe for,
depending on your viewpoint, either significant civil rights advances
or exploitation by lawyers looking to make a quick buck through
settlements, said Tom Stebbins, executive director of the Lawsuit
Reform Alliance of New York.

Absent clarity from the federal government, Mr. Stebbins said, some
lawyers have filed identical lawsuits against multiple businesses or
universities in the hopes of reaching a settlement with one or more of
them.

“These are cut-and-paste lawsuits,” he said. “You just have these
lawyers taking advantage of a good-intentioned law to make money.”

The lawsuits filed in New York on behalf of Mr. Delacruz are “all
similar,” his lawyer, Dana Gottlieb, wrote in an email. They state
that Mr. Delacruz tried to find information, such as tuition costs,
school location and academic calendars, but was unable gain access
because the websites were not readable by his screen-reading software.
A hyperlink in one complaint, against Hofstra, opens the website of
the College of New Rochelle. According to court records, Ms. Gottlieb
was ordered to refile one of the complaints because the wrong party
was selected as the defendant.
Ms. Gottlieb, of the Gottlieb & Associates law firm, declined to
comment further or to say anything more about her client, including
his age and what he hoped to study. But Jeffrey M. Gottlieb, the
founder of the firm, wrote in an email that private lawyers had to
step in to promote web accessibility, 

[Ai] Sydney Morning Herald reports: Government investigates 246 reports of abuse of disabled children in NSW schools

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/government-investigates-246-reports-of-abuse-of-disabled-children-in-nsw-schools-20171009-gyxatt.html

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Amie Slavin wrote: "I'm blind – and I'm a good mother "

[avinash shahi via Ai]

The practicalities of bringing up children without eyesight are not,
for the most part, nearly as hard as you might think. Changing nappies
isn't especially difficult if you're used to doing everything by
touch. There's no mystery about it. I don't explore faecal matter with
my fingers, neither do I leave my baby half-cleaned. I simply use a
combination of touch and smell to determine how cleaning is
progressing, and if it gets out of hand and I begin to lose the will
to live, well, 10 minutes suffices for a bath and change of clothes:
foolproof.
Read the full article:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/aug/08/blind-motherhood-disability


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Renate van der Zee reports from Vienna Austria: The bank that wants to employ more disabled workers: 'It's a win-win situation'

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Hope to hear more from Mr Galani who's austria-based about the bank.

In Austria, companies with more than 24 employees have to ensure 4% of
their personnel are people with a disability. But one bank there is
going much further
In Austria, the law requires companies with more than 24 employees to
ensure that 4% of their personnel are people with a disability.
Companies that do not comply have to pay a fine; severely disabled
people enjoy extra legal protection against dismissal.
Bank Austria actively tries to attract disabled employees (its job
advertisements all contain the phrase: “Applications from people with
disabilities are explicitly desired”). Around 7% of its 5,873
employees are people with some kind of disability – significantly more
than the law requires.
Austria isn’t the only country with a quota law regarding employment
of disabled people: Germany, France, Italy, Spain and many Asian
countries have similar legislation. Others such as Sweden, Norway and
the US believe anti-discrimination legislation is more effective, but
only the UK has actually abandoned a quota system (in 1995),
preferring to rely on anti-discrimination legislation since then.
There is another problem with the Austrian quota system: not everybody
complies. In fact currently, according to government statistics, only
23% of the companies meet the quota.

“Employers think the sanctions are relatively low, so many companies
prefer to pay the fine instead of hiring disabled people,” says
Michael Fuchs, from the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and
Research.
Read the full article:
https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/oct/04/austria-bank-wants-to-employ-more-disabled-workers-win-win-situation

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] May be of interest: Adobe invests in Aadhaar-based authentication for its ‘e-signature’ solution

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/adobe-invests-in-aadhaar-based-authentication-for-its-e-signature-solution/story-0EQDwOPX1hPjYguoVURvkK.html

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Paper of Interest: "People with visual impairment ‘watching’ television? Leisure pursuits of people with visual impairment in Ghana  "

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Abstract
Leisure pursuits of people with visual impairment is one of the
under-researched concepts in disability discourse. Employing focus
group discussions, this study explored the leisure pursuits of people
with visual impairment. Their leisure pursuits include chatting,
sleeping, listening to radio, meditation and watching television. The
watching of television is traditionally considered unconventional for
people with visual impairment; however, this was pursued for multiple
reasons including as a form of resistance to traditional stereotypes
on visual impairment as well as its educational and informative
values. Reasons underlying their leisure pursuits include availability
and accessibility, desire to obtain information and relaxation.
Read full paper:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2017.1381585


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] United Kingdom: Rebecca Ratcliffe reports: 'I don’t think employers see what disabled people can do'

[avinash shahi via Ai]

In the UK, only 46.5% of working-age disabled people are employed –
with the figure for adults with learning difficulties just 6%. In the
first of a two-part
series, jobseekers with disabilities describe the hassles and
heartache of finding work
For the past three years, Neal Patel has worked part-time in
supermarkets. He loves his job, which involves talking to members of
the public and dealing
with stock. “All the people and staff are nice to me. I like helping
customers,” he says.
https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/oct/03/i-dont-think-employers-see-what-disabled-people-can-do
But although Patel, who has learning difficulties, is in his second
supermarket job, he has never been paid for his work. His current role
at Waitrose,
where he works two shifts a week, has been a voluntary position for
the past year.

His disability, he says, doesn’t affect his ability to do the job. “I
normally do things by myself ... I don’t think about [my disability] –
I don’t really
know the difference. Sometimes I need help with big words when I’m
reading or writing, or help understanding something, but not often.”
Patel, who graduated from college this summer, knows how hard it is to
find paid work if you are disabled – and the statistics confirm this:
in January
2016, the UK employment rate among working-age disabled people
was 46.5%,
compared to 84% for non-disabled people.

For adults with learning difficulties, the numbers are even worse:
just 6% of people with a learning disability known to social services
are in paid employment,
despite more than 60% wanting to and being able to be in work,
according to the charity Mencap.

Patel, however –who is supported by the charity
Action for Kids
 – has just had some good news. During the writing of this article,
Waitrose decided to offer him a job with a salary.

“My family were pleased and proud when I found out,” he says. “I’ll be
working in the household cleaning section. I will go to the stockroom
in the morning
and then go to the shelves and fill them. It feels better to be paid.
I will work hard. I always work hard.”

Odds stacked against you

Despite the UK government’s pledge to get
one million disabled people into work
 by 2027,
analysis by the charity Scope
 shows more disabled people are currently leaving employment than
moving into jobs. If you’re disabled and trying to succeed at work,
the odds are stacked
against you in a host of ways, from a lack of careers support to
inaccessible transport and ignorance among employers.

And when a disabled person does get a job, they’re
likely to be paid less
 than non-disabled people. Research by the Equality and Human Rights
Commission found that, during the period 1997-2014, the disability pay
gap was 13%
for men and 7% for women.
Even the first task in a job application can exclude disabled
candidates. Amelia Forde, who is severely visually impaired, just
graduated from the University
of Derby, and hopes to work in sales in the drinks industry. But a
major barrier, she says, is getting past companies’ computerised
recruitment tests,
which often involve time-sensitive tasks.

“Normally there are 20 questions in 20 minutes, which is quite
difficult for me. You have to write to their HR department and say,
‘Would it be possible
to do something about this?’ I always worry that makes you look weak,
and that’s not something a company wants.”

Forde, 27, is now working part-time in a supermarket while she
searches for a graduate job. From her past experience in shops and
bars, she knows employers
lack an understanding of disability. Companies can abruptly change
their IT systems, making them inaccessible, and colleagues can make
offensive comments
without repercussions.
According to Forde, there’s very little quality training to help
managers understand the challenges disabled people face. “If I tell
somebody I have a
sight problem, they say, ‘Oh, but you have a job and you can get
yourself to and from work.’ But I can only read my phone if it’s three
to four inches
from my face, and if I want to pick a particular item from a shelf I
have to pick every item up first. I may have a job, but it’s taken me
a very long
time to feel comfortable there.”

Given how little disability awareness there is among employers, it’s
perhaps not surprising that companies can be reluctant to make even
the smallest of
adaptations. In Forde’s case, she would need an office computer with
accessible software – for example, a zoom magnifier and text-to-speech
programme.
But she worries that employers will consider this too time-consuming
to sort out.
In a damning report last month, the United Nations found the UK is
failing to uphold disabled people’s rights
 across a range of areas, including education and work.

The government’s
Disability Confident
scheme – which offers training to employers on how to attract and
retain disabled people – promises to help businesses think more
positively about disability.
But campaigners say it’s unclear how t

[Ai] The great laughter challenge 2017: first contestant was visually challenged from UP Abhay Kumar, watch the show!

[avinash shahi via Ai]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4-z9dAxhzQ

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] SHRUTI GANAPATYE reports in the asianage: Maharashtra set to get disabled-friendly transport, infrastructure

[avinash shahi via Ai]

State transport buses will be equipped with low platforms to make it
easy to climb.
http://www.asianage.com/metros/mumbai/290917/maharashtra-set-to-get-disabled-friendly-transport-infrastructure.html
Sumit Mullick
 Sumit Mullick

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government is all set to make transport,
buildings and toilets disabled friendly within a year’s time. The
decision was taken after
a meeting held with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, via
video conferencing. The Prime Minister instructed chief secretary
Sumit Mullick that
the state should make special provisions for physically challenged
people. He mentioned better modes of transportation, access to
government buildings
and special toilets at public places.

An official from Mantralaya said that India is  one of the signatories
to the United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities.

“It is mandatory for us to make provisions for the physically
challenged. The social justice and empowerment ministry has started a
campaign on this line
and we have extended our support to it. It is also true that
Maharashtra is lagging behind in fulfilling the parameters to have a
disabled friendly environment,”
the official said.

About 50 state government buildings will now have ramps and platforms
for the physically challenged and around 1,000 buses will be equipped
with low platforms
for easy access. Separate public toilets too are being planned at
various places.  The public works department has been already told to
chalk out a plan
for that, the official added.

State transport buses will be equipped with low platforms to make it
easy to climb. “We have asked for five seats to be reserved for the
physically challenged
in each state transport bus. The seats should have support bars and
velcro belts for the convenience of the physically challenged,” the
official said.
As for public toilets, one toilet seat would be constructed separately
for physically challenged persons, the official said.

Change is on the way


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Quota cry for IIM faculty

[avinash shahi via Ai]

What about quota for persons with disabilities? NGOs need to follow it up.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170929/jsp/nation/story_175440.jsp

New Delhi, Sept. 28: A global forum of IIM alumni has urged the
President, Prime Minister and all MPs to bring amendments for
reservation to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other
Backward Classes in the faculty of the B-schools.

The Global IIM Alumni Network, which wants the amendments included in
an IIM Bill pending in Parliament, has citied RTI-secured data to
claim the IIMs have violated repeated central advisories on faculty
quotas despite being under the administrative control of the Union HRD
ministry.

"Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology follow
affirmative (action) policies. They provide handholding to students
from under-represented sections. But the IIMs have never done that.
The present IIM Bill is silent on reservation in faculty. We demand
specific provisions for (such) quotas and their proper
implementation," said Arun Khobragade, a representative of the
network.

The network submitted a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and the MPs yesterday. According to the
memorandum, there are only two SCs, no STs and 13 OBCs among the 512
faculty members in the top 10 IIMs, including those in Ahmedabad,
Bangalore and Calcutta.




The network also wants the bill to specifically provide for quotas in
programmes for Fellows - equivalent to PhD - and executive courses.
The IIMs already provide reservation in their regular diploma (MBA)
courses.

The bill, pending in the Rajya Sabha after being passed by the Lok
Sabha, primarily seeks to designate the IIMs "Institutions of National
Importance" so they can award MBA degrees instead of diplomas.




-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] The Economist this week: Non-profit organisations are learning lessons from businesses. And businesses are learning from charities

[avinash shahi via Ai]

WITH 3,700 square metres of retail space, the Emmaus megastore on the
outskirts of Preston, a northern English city, is the biggest charity
shop in Britain. Customers wander among endless rows of sofas, testing
the cushions and examining the other wares, from bric-a-brac to
bicycles. Some staff are volunteers. Others were once homeless, and
the £250,000 ($337,000) the store makes a year goes towards their
housing, training and food.
https://www.economist.com/news/international/21729754-non-profit-organisations-are-learning-lessons-businesses-and-businesses-are-learning
Charity shops increasingly resemble other retail outlets, with
appealing layouts, professional customer service and managers who
honed their skills on the high street. Indeed, all kinds of non-profit
organisations have become more businesslike over the past few decades.
This shift is global, says Lester Salamon of the Johns Hopkins Centre
for Civil Society Studies. But it has progressed furthest in rich
countries, where the non-profit sector (which we generally take to
exclude hospitals, universities and religious groups) is a bigger part
of the economy.

In the 1980s governments began to fund charities less through grants
and more through contracts. The shift is continuing. According to the
National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), between 2001 and
2015 the share of state funding of British charities that was in the
form of contracts rose from 49% to 81%. The Economist’s analysis shows
that, of 12 American government departments with plentiful data, ten
increased the share of charities’ funding that came through contracts
over the same period. In 2010 the European Commission noted the same
trend.

Bidding for contracts has forced charities to find ways to undercut or
outbid rivals. Often, getting paid has meant hitting performance
targets, such as finding work for 100 jobless people within a month.
They have also had to employ more qualified staff. To win a contract
to care for disabled people, for example, a charity would need to
employ a certain number of staff with degrees in social work.

A further impetus to professionalise came from “voucher” schemes, in
which governments provided tokens to be exchanged for services. That
turned a charity’s clientele into customers with choices. To woo them,
it would have to make its offering sufficiently attractive.

With fewer grants, charities’ income streams became less predictable.
Many sought to smooth their revenues by selling more goods and
services. In America in 1982, such sales made up 48% of non-profit
income. According to Janelle Kerlin and Muhammet Coskun of Georgia
State University, by 2013 that figure (which includes government
contracts) had risen to 56%. The recession that followed the financial
crisis accelerated the trend. Between 2008 and 2015 British charities’
revenue from selling goods and services to the public rose from 18% to
23% of the total, according to the NCVO.

Managers from mainstream retailing brought a fresh eye to charity
shops, says David Borrett, the head of retail at Sue Ryder, a British
charity whose thrift shops help fund its hospices. After an IT update,
it now tracks how store layouts affect sales. Charity shops have
started selling new items, too. These typically make up 20-30% of
revenue. Belts and gloves are donated less often than trousers, so
charity shops buy them in to “round off the offer”, says Mike Taylor
of the British Heart Foundation, another charity. And vintage gear,
rather than always being sold in the shop that receives it, is now
often shipped to youthful towns where it is in greater demand. The
most valuable stuff, which might previously have mouldered on a
cluttered shelf, is sold online, often via eBay for Charity, which has
raised $725m.

Charity cases

As the non-profit sector becomes more professional, young people are
keener on qualifications tailored for it. According to Roseanne
Mirabella of Seton Hall University, the number of courses at American
universities in non-profit management and philanthropic studies rose
from 284 in 1986 to 651 in 2016. Charity work is also becoming more
popular among graduates who studied other subjects. In 1980, 8% of
newly minted Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s
Kennedy School of Government took jobs in the non-profit sector. By
2015 that had risen to around 30%.

More MBAs are going into charity management. While studying at the
Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Matt Forti
and Andrew Youn planned the One Acre Fund, a charity they launched in
2006 that lends to African smallholders so they can pay for
agricultural training, equipment and high-yield seeds. Techniques from
statistics classes helped them decide which interventions would
increase harvests most. The contacts they made also proved useful.
They raised about $36,000 from classmates and teachers for the pilot
programme, and still occasionally consult professors for advice before
expanding int

[Ai] Visually-challenged kids touch, smell paintings at art exhibition in Chandigarh

[avinash shahi via Ai]

FROM lines to textures, shapes to spaces, 25 visually-challenged
students from the Institute of Blind felt and touched the many
contours of art at an exhibition
of Modern Indian Art at the Punjab Kala Bhawan on Wednesday.
http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/visually-challenged-kids-touch-smell-paintings-at-art-exhibition-in-chandigarh-4864639/
The workshop organised by the Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi and DAG Modern
focused on making art accessible to all, including children with
special needs.

With the help of an expert Siddhant Shah, DAG runs a programme called
Abhaas, an initiative that focuses on providing a sensory experience
through the
use of audio and visual aids. Tactile aids that are created in
conjunction with the few selected art works invite the visitors to
touch and smell.

“The idea is to reach a space and point of reference which they can
connect to and are also familiar with. So, I made them visualize a
temple, its architecture,
the parikrama, and then made them touch lines, helping them form
shapes, like squares and rectangles, which the artist had created on
canvas, to give them
a feel of the work and the artist’s inspirations,” said Shah, who took
the students through 12 paintings.

Associating the sense of smell and sound to explain the many elements
of a work, be it a peacock, a woman wearing gajra, the smell of sweet
as well as
wild flowers, rough parts of a tree. “They loved feeling the features
of a face, and connecting the works with their own life and
experiences,” added Shah.

Each student was given an opportunity to feel the specially- prepared
tactile art works simulating the original in 3-D for the benefit of
the visually
impaired. For many, the experience was unique and the two-hour visit a
great outing as well.

“The effort is to bring them closer to a world of art indirectly so
that they understand and relate to the subject of the work, its many
facets, the mind
of the artist, his or her technique,”
said Shah.


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

Re: [Ai] Jeevan Prakash Sharma reports: Blind student’s suicide threat: MCI asks Karnataka college to provide counselling

[avinash shahi via Ai]

And what about the idea of accessible medical toolkit. Don't we have
talking thermometer?


On 9/26/17, George Abraham via Ai  wrote:
> There are blind doctors working as Psychiatrists in the US.  There are blind
> doctors working in the Indian system too.
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Ai [mailto:ai-boun...@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in] On Behalf Of
> avinash shahi via Ai
> Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2017 4:10 PM
> To: ai
> Cc: avinash shahi
> Subject: [Ai] Jeevan Prakash Sharma reports: Blind student’s suicide threat:
> MCI asks Karnataka college to provide counselling
>
> Dont' we have blind doctors in any of the western countries? any info?
> anyone?
> http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/blind-student-s-suicide-threat-mci-asks-karnataka-college-to-provide-counselling/story-yliQkaGBCxLvdrOSAGywEL.html
> The country’s medical education regulator has asked a Karnataka college to
> provide counselling to a second year MBBS student who has threatened suicide
> after his admission was cancelled because of a severe visual disability.
>
> The Medical Council of India (MCI) was examining if Suresh could be cured
> though on face of it, the condition seemed incurable, an official told
> Hindustan Times on Monday.
>
> “If so, then there is no way we can allow the student to continue MBBS
> because our norms are very clear as far as physical disability is
> concerned,” the official said.
>
> As reported by Hindustan Times, 19-year-old Suresh, who hails from Raichur
> in Karnataka, can’t see beyond 8cm.
>
> He threatened suicide after the MCI found his condition too severe for an
> aspiring doctor and cancelled his admission to the Raichur Institute of
> Medical Sciences.
>
> He was given admission against seats set aside for disabled students.
>
> In its letter, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times, the MCI has asked
> the college and Raichur district magistrate to handle the case sensitively.
>
> The cancellation order came on June 26, 2017 after Suresh had completed the
> first of the five years of the medical programme.
>
> MCI rules say the only disability allowed in medical colleges is of the
> lower limbs, and a candidate has to fall under the 50%-70% severity to be
> eligible for a reserved seat. Someone with more severe condition is not
> eligible for admission.
>
> Parliament in December 2016 passed a bill providing 5% reservation without
> exception to the disabled in all educational institutes.
> Suresh can’t benefit
> from the law as it came into force in April 2017, almost a year after he
> joined the college.
>
> “…we want this matter to be settled early so that he does not waste more
> time on a career option that is practically not possible for him to pursue,”
> the MCI official said.
>
> Suresh wrote a “Notice of Death” to the MCI on August 28, detailing his
> struggle to get into a medical college.
>
> The Kalaburagi bench of Karnataka high court, where Suresh challenged the
> cancellation, has allowed him to continue the course till its final
> decision, expected in February 2018.
>
> The court had earlier allowed him to sit his first year examination.
>
> When contacted, Suresh said he was determined to fulfil his childhood dream
> of being a doctor.
> article end
>
>
> --
> Avinash Shahi
> Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
> 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..
>
>
>
> To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
> https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
> ___
>
>
> Ai mailing list
> Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
> http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai
>
> 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..
>
>
>
> To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
> https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
> ___
>
>
> Ai mailing list
> Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
> http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai
>


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
Disclaime

[Ai] Roman holiday: how Chester became the most accessible city in Europe

[avinash shahi via Ai]

For disabled people, the difference between being able to visit a
place and not often comes down to small details. Cities around the
world are taking notes from the ancient centre of Chester. Frances
Ryan experiences it for herself
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/sep/20/chester-europes-most-accessible-city




-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Jeevan Prakash Sharma reports: Blind student’s suicide threat: MCI asks Karnataka college to provide counselling

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Dont' we have blind doctors in any of the western countries? any info? anyone?
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/blind-student-s-suicide-threat-mci-asks-karnataka-college-to-provide-counselling/story-yliQkaGBCxLvdrOSAGywEL.html
The country’s medical education regulator has asked a Karnataka
college to provide counselling to a second year
MBBS student who has threatened suicide
after his admission was cancelled because of a severe visual disability.

The Medical Council of India (MCI) was examining if Suresh could be
cured though on face of it, the condition seemed incurable, an
official told Hindustan
Times on Monday.

“If so, then there is no way we can allow the student to continue MBBS
because our norms are very clear as far as physical disability is
concerned,” the
official said.

As reported by Hindustan Times, 19-year-old Suresh, who hails from
Raichur in Karnataka, can’t see beyond 8cm.

He threatened suicide after the MCI found his condition too severe for
an aspiring doctor and cancelled his admission to the Raichur
Institute of Medical
Sciences.

He was given admission against seats set aside for disabled students.

In its letter, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times, the MCI has
asked the college and Raichur district magistrate to handle the case
sensitively.

The cancellation order came on June 26, 2017 after Suresh had
completed the first of the five years of the medical programme.

MCI rules say the only disability allowed in medical colleges is of
the lower limbs, and a candidate has to fall under the 50%-70%
severity to be eligible
for a reserved seat. Someone with more severe condition is not
eligible for admission.

Parliament in December 2016 passed a bill providing 5% reservation
without exception to the disabled in all educational institutes.
Suresh can’t benefit
from the law as it came into force in April 2017, almost a year after
he joined the college.

“…we want this matter to be settled early so that he does not waste
more time on a career option that is practically not possible for him
to pursue,” the
MCI official said.

Suresh wrote a “Notice of Death” to the MCI on August 28, detailing
his struggle to get into a medical college.

The Kalaburagi bench of Karnataka high court, where Suresh challenged
the cancellation, has allowed him to continue the course till its
final decision,
expected in February 2018.

The court had earlier allowed him to sit his first year examination.

When contacted, Suresh said he was determined to fulfil his childhood
dream of being a doctor.
article end


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] TABASSUM BARNAGARWALA reports: Cancer: Hair loss, disfigurement, abandonment take toll on women

[avinash shahi via Ai]

WHEN THE Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, studied cancer
patients in Odisha in 2014, the findings were stark. While average
expenditure on treatment
for a male patient was Rs 1.16 lakh, the mean treatment expenditure
for a female patient was considerably lower, at Rs 83,626. Also, not
surprisingly,
they found that women patients reach tertiary care hospitals when the
cancer is at a much more advanced stage in comparison to male
patients.

Doctors at India’s largest cancer care institute, the Tata Memorial
Hospital (TMH) in Mumbai, concur. For every two males, there is one
female diagnosed
with cancer in the general population, according to statistics. But
for every three or four male patients, only one female reaches the
hospital. “The gender
bias starts there,” observes Dr Shripad Banavali, head of medical and
pediatric oncology at Tata Memorial.

Even as Indians grapple with the ever more common incidence of cancer,
in cancer-care shelter homes, stories of abandonment of women patients
abound. In
a room at the Ghadge Maharaj Dharamshala in Dadar, central Mumbai, six
members of the Shaikh family occupy a room, having migrated from a
village near
Patna in 2016 for daughter Parveen Khatoon Shaikh’s treatment.
Parveen, 26, has breast cancer. Her husband, an auto rickshaw driver
in Delhi, abandoned
her soon after the diagnosis. Her father Mohammed Iqbal is physically
challenged. Son Shahanawaz, 7, is curled up in a corner. “My life
would have been
different if my husband was around,” says Parveen. Married off at the
age of 15, she was diagnosed with breast cancer five years later, in
2010. Once she
informed her husband over the phone, he never returned to the village
to meet her. He changed his telephone number. Her parents-in-law broke
off all contact
too. Her father has since supported her by loaning money from other villagers.

Parveen needs six chemotherapy cycles, each costing Rs 17,000. Iqbal
has Rs 200 in his pocket, but is limping from one charity to another,
hopeful. When
her cancer relapsed in 2016, she received a call from her husband. “He
told me I should commit suicide.” The repeated trips to Mumbai and the
toll of the
treatment have meant that Shahnawaz has never been to school.

Saurabh Rai, a research scholar in public health, says rural
households in India still debate whether a woman patient has to be
treated at all, for cancer
or any other disease. In urban areas, gender disparity remains, though
parents are generally more willing to invest time and money on
daughters. “Discrimination
is highest against married women because they rely on parents-in-law
for finances,” says Rai. Dr Sudeep Gupta, secretary of the Women
Cancer Initiative,
says poor women in government hospitals have neither a source of
income nor bank accounts. A research report by Dr Banavali and his
colleagues also found
the number of men completing cancer treatment higher than among women patients.

To illustrate, in India, 1.5 lakh women are diagnosed with breast
cancer each year, with a 45 per cent fatality rate. In Western
countries, the fatality
is only 25 per cent. “Cancer hits a woman badly — hair loss, cosmetic
disfigurement, weakness and loss of livelihood are just a few,” Dr
Gupta says. The
Women Cancer Initiative has seen that about 20 per cent of the women
it aids have no family support at all.

If women cancer patients suffer discrimination, the bias is sharper
among young girls. “Parents fear about their daughter’s marriage if an
organ has to
be removed. We don’t hear them asking the same question for a son,”
says Dr Banavali. It’s little wonder, then, that gender bias is most
commonly witnessed
in treatment for retinoblastoma, a cancer that affects children’s
eyes, and in bone cancer, where amputation is common.

In May, a two-year-old girl with retinoblastoma from rural Maharashtra
passed away at TMH after her father refused to remove her eye. “We see
a 95 per
cent cure rate if we just remove the eye. The parents were counselled
over multiple sessions but they were worried about her marriage in the
future,” says
Dr Girish Chinnaswamy, paediatric oncologist.

About 75-100 children with retinoblastoma come to TMH every year, of
which 40 per cent require removal of an eye. “A boy’s parents are more
willing to
amputate or remove the organ because of the general belief that a boy
will earn for the family later,” says Dr Chinnaswamy. In general,
TMH’s paediatric
department data from 2010 till 2017 (August) shows that admission of
boys for cancer treatment is twice that of girls — 7,859 boys as
opposed to 3,873
girls. Refusing treatment and subsequent abandonment were higher in
girls. Over seven years, 6.89 per cent girls (267) dropped out of
cancer treatment
from TMH, compared to 4.7 per cent boys (377).

In addition, women are also more susceptible to certain kinds of
cancers. Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, cancer surgeon and anti-tobacco
activist, says rising alcohol
consumption and smoking among urban women and co

[Ai] Lucknow: UP Governor Ram Naik at NAB India's event" blind people should campaign for eye-donation.

[avinash shahi via Ai]

I wonder, if NAB representatives had posed questions to the governor
about the recent lathi-charge on blind students at DR Shakuntala
Mishra Rehabilitation University.
https://m.patrika.com/news/lucknow/ram-naik-says-blind-people-run-more-effective-movement-1401759

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] 188-year-old Kerala State Central library to be blind-friendly

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/188-year-old-kerala-state-central-library-to-be-blind-friendly-117092500286_1.html
The 188-year-old Kerala  State Central Library here, one of the oldest
book houses in the country will soon have a separate wing for visually
challenged bibliophiles.

An exclusive 'Braille wing' will be opened soon adjacent to the main
library building, located in the heart of the state capital, as part
of the authorities' plans to make the 19th century institution
differently-abled friendly.





Popularly known as 'Trivandrum Public Library,' the heritage
structure, housing one of the finest collections of rare titles
starting from 16th century, was established in the year 1829.

According to authorities, steps are already on to convert a room of
the three-storey new building, being set up in front of the heritage
Gothic style main structure, into the Braille wing.

The Braille wing is envisaged to provide all modern amenities to help
make visually impaired visitors comfortable.

State librarian P K Sobhana said they would join hands with various
outfits and organisations including Dehradun-based National Institute
for the Visually Handicapped and Kerala Blind Association for the
initiative.

"Our new building is getting ready.. One of the major features of it
will be the Braille section.. We are planning to open it in a room in
the ground floor of the building," she told PTI.

Besides books in Braille format, the new wing would also have an
impressive collection of talking and audio books in various languages
including English and Hindi besides Malayalam.

"We think, the audio books will be more useful for the visually
challenged people.. Not only that, it will also be a solution for the
space constraints issues.. Usually Braille books will consume more
space which we cannot afford," she said.

The official said she would soon visit institutions including the
National Association for the Blind in New Delhi  which offer advanced
facilities before giving a final shape to the plan.

"In future, we also have plans to prepare audio books in Malayalam
with the support of outfits in this regard," Sobhana added.

An integral part of the state's cultural landscape, the Central
Library has over five lakh titles and subscribe 300 periodicals.

The book house had amazed several people including world renowned
English writer William Somerset Maugham.

Astonished by seeing the wide collection of world classics and
continental literature, including his own works there, the writer,
during his visit to the princely state of Tranvacore in 1938 had
scribbled in the visitors' book that he was 'pleased and flattered.'

Historians say, the library was ordered to be set up in 1829 by the
Travancore royal Swathi Tirunal and renamed as State Central Library
in 1958.

Interestingly, the visionary ruler took the initiative to build one of
the first public libraries in India, before even the famed Imperial
Library of Calcutta was established.

The task of organising the library was assigned to Col Edward Cadogan,
the then British Resident and the grand son of Sir Hans Sloan, the
founder of British Museum.

The library was shifted to the present building in 1900 under the
reign of Sri Moolam Thirunal, who built a structure of architectural
beauty in the Gothic style in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of
Queen Victoria.

While the Public Library was handed over to University of Travancore
in 1938, it was taken over by the government in 1948 after a
resolution was passed by State Legislature.

The library, in the year 1988, was granted the status of a minor
department under the administrative control of Higher Education
Department with the State Librarian as its head.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is
auto-generated from a syndicated fee


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Himachal upcoming Assembly Elections: Visually impaired singer is youth icon for elections

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/visually-impaired-singer-is-youth-icon-for-elections/472369.html
Tribune News Service



Shimla, September 23
Muskan Thakur, a Blind girl and a budding singing talent, will be the
youth icon face of the Election Commission of India for the upcoming
Assembly elections in Himachal.
Muskan, a first semester student of MA (music) in Himachal Pradesh
University, hailing from remote Chirgaon area in Rohru subdivision of
Shimla district, has been a meritorious student throughout. She was
given laptop by the government for figuring in merit in class XII
examinations.
Runner-up of the Voice of Himachal (junior category), Muskan has been
the winner of HPU Youth festival twice and has also been an ace
performer during the summer festival. She completed her BA from RKMV,
Shimla and is pursuing higher studies with the help of electronic
gadgets and wishes to become a professor in the university.
Nodal officer in Himachal Pradesh University Ajai Srivastav said he
had received a letter in this regard from the Election Commission of
India and hoped that Muskan would inspire the youth of the state to
exercise their franchise in the upcoming elections.
This is the first time in the state that a blind person has been given
such honour. Muskan wou

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Delhi: Blind school teacher acquitted of sodomising charge

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-blind-school-teacher-acquitted-of-sodomising-charge-4858567/

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] The Economist this week: Online matchmaking businesses in India have many ways to woo

[avinash shahi via Ai]

“IT WAS 2012…I was number 37,” says Ashwini, referring to the badge
that was pinned on her shirt pocket. Her task was to go onto the stage
and introduce herself to around 70 eligible bachelors and their
parents. Families then conferred and, provided caste and religious
background proved no obstacle, would approach the event’s moderator
asking to meet number 37. At midday girls would wait for prospects to
swing by, again with parents on either side. A brief exchange might
establish the potential bride’s cooking skills or her intention to
work after marriage. If the two sides hit it off, they would exchange
copies of their horoscopes. Nearly 50 men lined up to meet Ashwini
that day, speed-dating style. No one made the cut. She later married a
colleague.
https://www.economist.com/news/business/21729571-only-tenth-people-seeking-spouse-use-internet-set-rise-online
Such gatherings form an important part of the wedding industry, worth
around $50bn a year, in a country where arranged marriages continue to
be the norm. India has 440m millennials—roughly, the generation born
between 1980 and 1996—and a further 390m youngsters have been born
since 2000, so there are plenty of anguished parents for marriage
facilitators to pitch to. KPMG, a consultancy, estimates that out of
107m single men and women, 63m are “active seekers”. For now, only a
tenth surf the internet to find a spouse. But the number who do is
about to explode, argue executives in the marriage-portal business
(India has 2,600 such sites). “After Facebook [took off], people are
more open about their lives than ever before, which has had a great
knock-on effect,” says Gourav Rakshit of Shaadi.com, one of India’s
oldest matrimonial sites

t airports


Gulliver



























See all updates

Take Matrimony.com, the country’s biggest online matchmaker, which
raised $78m in its initial public offering on September 13th. Its
shares began trading this week. It runs 300-odd websites in 15
languages, catering to different castes and religions. It has sites
for divorcees, the disabled, the affluent (“Elite Matrimony”) and for
those with unfavourable astrological charts, which make it difficult
to find a match. All online firms run a “freemium” model: upload your
profile at no charge and let an algorithm match horoscope details with
potential partners filtered by age, caste, education, income and
sometimes (alas) complexion. Or you can pay for features like instant
chat or a colourful border around your profile to ensure the algorithm
returns you as a top search result.

Such a long list of options means that finding a match on the web can
be time-consuming and tedious. “It’s like looking for a needle in a
haystack,” says one suitor. Predictably, many also complain that
online profiles often do not reflect reality. Outright fakes remain a
scourge. This month a man was arrested in Delhi for extorting over 5m
rupees ($77,700) from 15 women by luring them on matrimonial websites.
And no amount of artificial intelligence can yet identify what will
make two youngsters click.

Spouseup, a south Indian startup, is undaunted. It trawls social media
to determine a candidate’s personality and recommends matches by
calculating a “compatibility score”. Nine-tenths of its 50,000 users
are non-resident Indians who usually fly to India for a month or so,
scout for partners, settle on one, get hitched and fly back together.
For these time-starved travellers, the machine-led scouring “provides
an insight that would come from five coffee dates,” says Karthik Iyer,
the firm’s founder. Banihal, which is based in Silicon Valley, relies
on a long psychometric questionnaire of around 100 questions to match
like-minded partners.

Real-world complements to online efforts can help secure a match. Some
services, such as IITIIMShaadi.com, aimed at people graduating from
prestigious universities, also act as conventional wedding-brokers, by
meeting prospects on their clients’ behalf. The job is no different
from that of a headhunter, says Taksh Gupta, its founder. He charges
anywhere between 50,000 and 200,000 rupees for the service. His most
recent catch, after a search lasting over two years, was a husband for
a 45-year-old woman from a prestigious university who would settle for
no less than an Ivy League groom. Matrimony.com, too, has over 400
“relationship managers” and 140 physical outlets.

“The opportunity is huge”, enthuses Murugavel Janakiraman, boss of
Matrimony.com. Around four-fifths of new customers now come via
smartphones, lured by instant alerts about new potential matches and
services that match up people in the same town. But the spread of
smartphones also brings competition. Casual-dating apps are spreading
fast. Tinder, on which decisions about eligibility rarely benefit from
parental advice, now counts India as Asia’s largest, fastest-growing
market.

This article appeared in the Business section of the

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law a

[Ai] Balod Chatisgarh: 'ek matr blind school ko chalanay mein sarkar ke foolay haanth pair

[avinash shahi via Ai]

https://m.patrika.com/news/balod/balod-the-only-divya-school-in-the-district-the-government-s-hands-and-feet-loose-in-the-handling-of-it-1539261/

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Siwan Bihar: 'divyangon ki padhai ke liye jamin aur bangalo donate kar diya'

[avinash shahi via Ai]

The story from very far-flung village of Siwan Bihar.
http://www.jagran.com/news/national-donate-banglow-and-land-for-disabled-16322975.html


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

Re: [Ai] Representation to RBI for accessible Indian Currency, an update on meeting with RBI

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Lets go back to the maiden budget speech of Arun Jaitely in July 2014,
He promised to make notes and coins more accessible. The Hindu did a
very canded and powerful editorial over the proposal. And the
government reneiged from its commitment and introduced Rs 2000 and Rs
500 notes to complicate the problem.  You can bring finance Ministry
under the scanner in the next hearing. Please find the edit published
on 26th July 2014. You can also cite the Finance Budget 2014.
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/a-commendable-move/article6234690.ece


On 9/22/17, Kanchan Pamnani via Ai  wrote:
> Case is pending. RBI has filed a reply. Finance Ministry has been sent a
> notice. Next date 30 or 31 October 2017.
> Don’t know anything about theCommittee.
> Kanchan
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Ai [mailto:ai-boun...@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in] On Behalf Of
> avinash shahi via Ai
> Sent: 22 September 2017 14:16
> To: Share, empower &Enrich
> Cc: avinash shahi
> Subject: Re: [Ai] Representation to RBI for accessible Indian Currency, an
> update on meeting with RBI
>
> I'm interested to know the outcome of the case filed by the NAB Mumbai in
> the Bombay HC against the government and the RBI. And what has happened to
> the committee constituted by the Finance Ministry two years ago to look into
> the issue of accessible currency.
>
>
> On 9/22/17, George Abraham via Ai 
> wrote:
>> Do you think we should file a case with the Court?
>>
>> -Original Message-
>> From: Ai [mailto:ai-boun...@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in] On Behalf
>> Of Ketan Kothari via Ai
>> Sent: Friday, September 22, 2017 12:08 PM
>> To: Share, empower &Enrich
>> Cc: Ketan Kothari
>> Subject: Re: [Ai] Representation to RBI for accessible Indian
>> Currency, an update on meeting with RBI
>>
>> Dear Friends,
>>
>> Extremely good work.   I remember having participated in at least 2
>> meetings of this nature.  Unfortunately, not much has yielded.  Also,
>> the problem of coins is equally challenging and is getting worse.
>>
>> Actually, I feel that we must take up this issue with the minister of
>> finance as at a certain level, RBI is also bound by executive orders.
>>
>> With best wishes,
>>
>> Ketan
>>
>> On 9/20/17, Blind Graduates' Forum of India (BGFI) via Ai
>>  wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> Here is a brief update on our meeting with RBI authorities.
>>> We had Kanchan Pamnani, Suhas Karnik, Amar Jain and myself Vishal
>>> Kumar Jain attending the meeting. First of all thanks a lot for all
>>> those who have supported with a lot of ground work and those who
>>> wrote to the authorities which enabled us have this meeting in the
>>> first place.
>>>
>>> We discussed on each of the points highlighted in the representation.
>>> The RBI team was relatively new to the subject and unfortunately they
>>> were not updated with earlier conversations on it. Overall it was a
>>> much needed discussion and the team was receptive to listen to our
>>> suggestions. However the team avoided making any commitments. Below
>>> are the key highlights:
>>> 1.  The longest conversation was on size variation which remains a
>>> major issue. If RBI goes ahead with their plan, the size variation of
>>> notes will come down from 10mm to around 4mm with the introduction of
>>> new Rs. 100, Rs. 20 and Rs. 10 notes. More over the width of all the
>>> notes is expected to be the same (66mm). This will make it close to
>>> impossible for us to identify the notes. While the team understood
>>> our concerns, they expressed their own challenge of maintaining
>>> variation due to reduction in overall size of the notes.
>>> 2.  The team was taken aback to understand that the bleed line and
>>> tactile markings are not perceivable. They accepted the fact and
>>> confirmed to prioritize on finding a solution to make it perceivable.
>>> They also expressed technical challenges in making it happen.
>>> 3.  Inputs on low vision friendly features was welcomed and they plan
>>> to continue with contrast color, color variation, font size, etc.
>>> 4.  Fake notes issue was acknowledge and they thought of focusing on
>>> perceptible tactile markings and keeping the texture of notes
>>> different from normal paper.
>>> 5.  The team confirmed to pass on inputs related to issues other than
>>> currency notes to relevant departments and discussion on accessible
>>> websites and apps was in brief.
>>> 6.  Most imp

Re: [Ai] Representation to RBI for accessible Indian Currency, an update on meeting with RBI

[avinash shahi via Ai]

I'm interested to know the outcome of the case filed by the NAB Mumbai
in the Bombay HC against the government and the RBI. And what has
happened to the committee constituted by the Finance Ministry two
years ago to look into the issue of accessible currency.


On 9/22/17, George Abraham via Ai  wrote:
> Do you think we should file a case with the Court?
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Ai [mailto:ai-boun...@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in] On Behalf Of
> Ketan Kothari via Ai
> Sent: Friday, September 22, 2017 12:08 PM
> To: Share, empower &Enrich
> Cc: Ketan Kothari
> Subject: Re: [Ai] Representation to RBI for accessible Indian Currency, an
> update on meeting with RBI
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> Extremely good work.   I remember having participated in at least 2
> meetings of this nature.  Unfortunately, not much has yielded.  Also, the
> problem of coins is equally challenging and is getting worse.
>
> Actually, I feel that we must take up this issue with the minister of
> finance as at a certain level, RBI is also bound by executive orders.
>
> With best wishes,
>
> Ketan
>
> On 9/20/17, Blind Graduates' Forum of India (BGFI) via Ai
>  wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Here is a brief update on our meeting with RBI authorities.
>> We had Kanchan Pamnani, Suhas Karnik, Amar Jain and myself Vishal
>> Kumar Jain attending the meeting. First of all thanks a lot for all
>> those who have supported with a lot of ground work and those who wrote
>> to the authorities which enabled us have this meeting in the first
>> place.
>>
>> We discussed on each of the points highlighted in the representation.
>> The RBI team was relatively new to the subject and unfortunately they
>> were not updated with earlier conversations on it. Overall it was a
>> much needed discussion and the team was receptive to listen to our
>> suggestions. However the team avoided making any commitments. Below
>> are the key highlights:
>> 1.   The longest conversation was on size variation which remains a
>> major issue. If RBI goes ahead with their plan, the size variation of
>> notes will come down from 10mm to around 4mm with the introduction of
>> new Rs. 100, Rs. 20 and Rs. 10 notes. More over the width of all the
>> notes is expected to be the same (66mm). This will make it close to
>> impossible for us to identify the notes. While the team understood our
>> concerns, they expressed their own challenge of maintaining variation
>> due to reduction in overall size of the notes.
>> 2.   The team was taken aback to understand that the bleed line and
>> tactile markings are not perceivable. They accepted the fact and
>> confirmed to prioritize on finding a solution to make it perceivable.
>> They also expressed technical challenges in making it happen.
>> 3.   Inputs on low vision friendly features was welcomed and they plan
>> to continue with contrast color, color variation, font size, etc.
>> 4.   Fake notes issue was acknowledge and they thought of focusing on
>> perceptible tactile markings and keeping the texture of notes
>> different from normal paper.
>> 5.   The team confirmed to pass on inputs related to issues other than
>> currency notes to relevant departments and discussion on accessible
>> websites and apps was in brief.
>> 6.   Most importantly we discovered that RBI had interactions with NGOs
>> and teams like us in the past. However the inputs and suggestions have
>> not been valued given the fact they have gone ahead with lower size
>> variation and unperceivable tactile markings in the new notes.
>>
>> So on the whole the meeting was productive in sensitizing the team on
>> our needs. At the same time it doesn’t assure of our issues getting
>> sufficiently addressed any time soon. Unless we intensify our voice
>> and raise the issue on all possible forums, we will end up having
>> notes with very little size variation making it highly inaccessible.
>> We will continue our effort on this. However we would need more active
>> involvement from each of you and your network to really get them to
>> act on our suggestions.
>>
>> Thanks and regards,
>> Team BGFI.
>>
>>
>>
>> On 9/18/17, Blind Graduates' Forum of India (BGFI)
>>  wrote:
>>> Dear all,
>>>
>>> Please find below the representation that we intend to share and
>>> discuss with RBI during our meeting in person. Have incorporate
>>> recommendations considering short term and long term needs of persons
>>> with visual impairment. The meeting is tomorrow, so please share your
>>> feedback if any by today night.
>>>
>>> ---
>>>
>>> To
>>> Governor
>>> Reserve Bank of India
>>> Mumbai.
>>> Subject: Representation to make Indian Currency notes easily
>>> identifiable for the blind citizens
>>>
>>> Respected sir,
>>> Blind Graduates Forum of India brings to your kind notice the issue
>>> of difficult-to-use Indian currency notes. We, the blind citizens
>>> face some genuine inconveniences in identifying various currency
>>> notes in circulation including the newly introduced ones. Th

[Ai] Paper of Interest: Personal assistance from family members as an unwanted situation, an optimal solution or an additional good? The Swedish example

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Full paper: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2017.1375900
Abstract

In many countries, such as Canada, the Netherlands, the Nordic
countries and the United Kingdom, the right to personal assistance for
disabled people has been developed and incorporated into legislation
(Autio and Sjöblom 2014 Autio, Anu and Stina Sjöblom. 2014.
“Vammaislainsäädännön kansainvälinen selvitys. Katsaus tilanteeseen
kuudessa maassa.” [Report on International Disability Legislation.
Review of the Situation in Six Countries] Discussion paper 38/2014,
National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland. In
Sweden, the Act Concerning Support and Services to Persons with
Certain Functional Impairments, including the right to personal
assistance, came into force in 1994. The intention was to advance
individual support, self-determination and participation in society
for disabled people with comprehensive support needs (SCS 1993 SCS
(Swedish Code of Statutes). 1993:387. Act concerning Support and
Services to Persons with Certain Functional Impairments. Stockholm:
Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. Sweden, as well as many other
western countries, is described as an individualistic society where
the importance of individual independence, or autonomy, is stressed.
Accordingly, individuals are expected to be self-sufficient and
welfare rights are ascribed to the individual to promote his or her
autonomy and lessen dependency on families. In spite of this, research
has shown patterns of extensive informal support for older people and
strong norms of family solidarity in Sweden as well as the other
Nordic countries (Daatland and Lowenstein 2005 Daatland, S. O., and
A. Lowenstein. 2005. “Intergenerational Soli- Darity and the Family
Welfare State Balance.” European Journal of Ageing 2: 174–182. Support
needs long served as a basis for conceptualizing disabled people as
passive and dependent (Fine and Glendinning 2005 Fine, Michael, and
Caroline Glendinning. 2005. “Dependence, Independence or
Inter-Dependence? Revisiting the Concepts of ‘Care’ and ‘Dependency’.”
Ageing and Society 25 (04): 601–621. 10.
Read the full paper:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2017.1375900
-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

Re: [Ai] Disabled students Lathicharged in Lucknow; Yogi Adityanath is complicit, will Illahabad High Court take suoo motive cognigence?

[avinash shahi via Ai]

The VC met with the students on Monday. The SHO got transfered and the
warden has been suspended. The university has given written assurance
to resolve the demands of the students within 4 months.



On 9/20/17, Arun dua  wrote:
> Dear all instead of waiting for suo moto action by the HC, i wish some
> advocacy group should have taken up the matter. It is three weeks now. I
> have made an attempt by writing to the PM (Twitter), the CCPD, the NHRC and
> the Director, Disability affairs, Government of India. The request is pasted
> below for the support of all contentious citizens:  Disabled
> students Lathicharged in LucknowSir,It is indeed shocking and painful to
> learn about the plight of disabled students of Shakuntala Mishra National
> Rehabilitation University Lucknow. Media has already highlighted the
> atrocities on the students during the past 20 days.Will you, sir, take Suo
> Moto notice and issue necessary directions to the University Authorities,
> the State Government and Central Ministry. Will you also consider the
> need to constitute a frame work to regulate institutions for the Education,
> Rehabilitation, Training and Hostels for the disabled!Thanking youYours
> sincerelyA K Dua+919876727460www.ourcivilsociety.comFrom: avinash shahi via
> Ai <ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in>Sent: Mon, 18 Sep 2017
> 11:09:07To: Amit Bhatt <misterbh...@gmail.com>Cc: avinash shahi
> <shahi88avin...@gmail.com>, "Share, empower &Enrich"
> <ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in>Subject: Re: [Ai] Disabled
> students Lathicharged in Lucknow; Yogi Adityanath is complicit, will
> Illahabad High Court take suoo motive cognigence?Certainly, such activisms
> are merely meant for iv league seminars. Anordinary blind women need
> constant support from those big sisters whoclame to have owned the mantal to
> lead from the front for the blindwomen's  empowerment. I however
> see a silver lining wish to appreciateone blind woman based in Lucknow who
> is some times skipping her officetime and visiting the protest venue
> frequently. She's the one whoalong with her friend doing all video
> recordings and bringing forthall woes of blind students to us.On 9/18/17,
> Amit Bhatt <misterbh...@gmail.com> wrote:> What to expect from
> others when our so called public welfare departments and>> people
> belong to social secters including those NGO's are sitting in the>
> lull.>> I've heard on the news that visually impaired girls in the
> hostel of this> University are also inhumanly treated.>> Where are
> the women activists who talk a lot about women safety and their>
> welfare?>> Thanks,>> Amit Bhatt> - Original Message
> -> From: "avinash shahi via Ai"
> <ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in>> To: "ai"
> <ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in>;
> "disability-studies-india">
> <disability-studies-in...@googlegroups.com>> Cc: "avinash
> shahi" <shahi88avin...@gmail.com>> Sent: Sunday, September 17,
> 2017 12:26 PM> Subject: [Ai] Disabled students Lathicharged in Lucknow;
> Yogi Adityanath is>> complicit, will Illahabad High Court take suoo
> motive cognigence?>>>> I’m perturbed to know that blind
> girls and boys studying at>> Shakuntala Mishra National Rehabilitation
> University were demanding>> their rights for safe and conducive
> ambiance in the campus and their>> demonstration was delth with heavy
> lathi-charged on 31 August. No>> prominent media houses went to air
> their angst and agony. Over the>> last fortnight, The students
> predominantly blind girls have been in>> open protesting against the
> ruthless administration and demanding>> better educational facilities
> for themselves and upcoming students. No>> Braille books,
> unavailability of readers, No computer lab, substandard>> food and
> constant verbal humiliation by the warden and other>> administrators
> has caused irreparable damage to their esteem and>> dignity. The
> students are being forcefully denied access to media and>> threatened
> with expulsion notices. The Vice Chancellor of the>> university claims
> that the university has adequate facilities and hhad>> hosted HRD
> Minister Prakash Javadekar for its convocation ceremony.>> The
> students however rebuff such claim and are bravely confronting the>>
> mighty administration which is hell bent in silencing
> students’>> voices. I therefore, request the media fraternity to
> please visit the>> university and report factual sufferings of the
> students so that>> nation comes to know the inhumane tr

[Ai] Blind lady with swachh vision

[avinash shahi via Ai]

- Open defecation meant snakebites & tumbles, recalls Lohardaga braveheart
Vijay Deo Jha





Biglahai Kumari stand near her new toilet at her home in Pandra,
Lohardaga, and attends an awareness programme against open defecation
at her village community hall organised by the district and Unicef on
Friday. Pictures by Vijay Deo Jha

Lohardaga, Aug. 25: She is blind, alone and unlettered. She's so
marginalised that when Swachh Bharat Mission surveyors first came to
her Pandra village in Lohardaga's Kuru block last December to check
how many homes needed toilets, they missed her.

Yet, 50-year-old Biglahai Kumari didn't give up and showed indomitable
will power to succeed getting a toilet at her home in Lohardaga, which
its administration claims to be Jharkhand's first open-defecation-free
district in both rural and urban segments.

Biglahai's quest for a toilet was also one linked with her identity as
a physically challenged person and dignity as a woman. Without a
toilet, she had been compelled to go to the fields all her life,
stumbling, falling into ditches and getting bitten by snakes.




Deserted by her brother Nagendra Mahto, Biglahai lives alone and
survives on a monthly disability pension of Rs 600. Two square meals
are a luxury.

But, today, at a function where officials of Lohardaga district and
Unicef, the state drinking water and sanitation department's knowledge
partner, came to encourage Pandra villagers to use their new toilets
and not defecate in the open, Biglahai's face radiated confidence.

"All villagers (Pandra has 500 households) got toilets in April but
only I was left out, so yes, I felt bad that the surveyors left me
out," she said. "I resolved to get my own toilet."

She stressed she hated open defecation.

"I had been saving small change for my toilet for some time but when I
learnt that the government is giving money (Rs 12,000) for a toilet at
home, obviously I wanted one."

What made her a winner was that she didn't stop with wishing for one.
She approached educated youths in the village to write an application
in her name to Kuru block office for a toilet. Armed with the
application, she went to the block office on her own and explained her
pain.

"She is very poor and has never been to school. We were all surprised
at her determination," said Rajesh, one of the villagers who helped
her.

So impressed were block officials that they released the funds
immediately and directed a self-help group, Saheli Mahila Mandal, to
complete constructing Biglahai's toilet within a week in May under
Swachh Bharat Mission.

Today, when journalists asked her whether she was happy with a toilet
at home, she said simply, "It has changed my life. I wish I had it
always."

She added that she still had to fetch water from elsewhere. "I just
wish the government arranges a bore well at my home," she said.

Kuru BDO Santosh Kumar promised he would.

Lohardaga district still has some way to go before getting the ODF
district tag, as the state drinking and sanitation department needs to
verify its claim before the Jharkhand government officially proclaims
it.

Lohardaga DC Binod Kumar said only a few thousand households were left
out but they would get toilets by August-end.

Heaping praise on Biglahai, he said, "She is simply an inspiring lady.
Earlier, an 85-year old woman Parvatia Devi sold her goats to build a
toilet at her house at Korambe village in Senha block. These are
inspiring women."

https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170826/jsp/jharkhand/story_169101.jsp







-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Paper of Interest: Stephanie Hannam-Swain: "The additional labour of a disabled PhD student  "

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Abstract

This is a personal account of the challenges I have faced during the
first year and a half of my PhD, solely due to my identity as a
disabled student. I address issues such as a lack of representation
when researching PhD life, the impact of the services which are meant
to be there to help and the complexities of juggling the additional
time-consuming events which occur when you are disabled, with PhD
time, a home life and work. This is especially relevant in the United
Kingdom at this time as the Disabled Students Allowance has recently
been cut back, meaning there is less support available for disabled
students, and with the increased marketisation of higher education it
could be argued that there is less impetus for universities to support
those who have non-standard needs.
Read full article:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2017.1375698

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

Re: [Ai] Disabled students Lathicharged in Lucknow; Yogi Adityanath is complicit, will Illahabad High Court take suoo motive cognigence?

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Certainly, such activisms are merely meant for iv league seminars. An
 ordinary blind women need constant support from those big sisters who
 clame to have owned the mantal to lead from the front for the blind
 women's  empowerment. I however see a silver lining wish to appreciate
 one blind woman based in Lucknow who is some times skipping her office
 time and visiting the protest venue frequently. She's the one who
 along with her friend doing all video recordings and bringing forth
 all woes of blind students to us.



On 9/18/17, Amit Bhatt  wrote:
> What to expect from others when our so called public welfare departments and
>
> people belong to social secters including those NGO's are sitting in the
> lull.
>
> I've heard on the news that visually impaired girls in the hostel of this
> University are also inhumanly treated.
>
> Where are the women activists who talk a lot about women safety and their
> welfare?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Amit Bhatt
> - Original Message -
> From: "avinash shahi via Ai" 
> To: "ai" ; "disability-studies-india"
> 
> Cc: "avinash shahi" 
> Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2017 12:26 PM
> Subject: [Ai] Disabled students Lathicharged in Lucknow; Yogi Adityanath is
>
> complicit, will Illahabad High Court take suoo motive cognigence?
>
>
>> I’m perturbed to know that blind girls and boys studying at
>> Shakuntala Mishra National Rehabilitation University were demanding
>> their rights for safe and conducive ambiance in the campus and their
>> demonstration was delth with heavy lathi-charged on 31 August. No
>> prominent media houses went to air their angst and agony. Over the
>> last fortnight, The students predominantly blind girls have been in
>> open protesting against the ruthless administration and demanding
>> better educational facilities for themselves and upcoming students. No
>> Braille books, unavailability of readers, No computer lab, substandard
>> food and constant verbal humiliation by the warden and other
>> administrators has caused irreparable damage to their esteem and
>> dignity. The students are being forcefully denied access to media and
>> threatened with expulsion notices. The Vice Chancellor of the
>> university claims that the university has adequate facilities and hhad
>> hosted HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar for its convocation ceremony.
>> The students however rebuff such claim and are bravely confronting the
>> mighty administration which is hell bent in silencing students’
>> voices. I therefore, request the media fraternity to please visit the
>> university and report factual sufferings of the students so that
>> nation comes to know the inhumane treatment meted out to disabled
>> students by the university officials. The National Human Rights
>> Commission and the Lucknow Bench of the Illahabad High Court should
>> also be informed about such cruel misdoings of the UP Police and the
>> administration. Wil India’s likeminded citizens stand with the most
>> marginalized disabled students?
>>
>> --
>> Avinash Shahi
>> Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
>> 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..
>>
>>
>>
>> To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting,
>> reach:
>> https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
>> ___
>>
>>
>> Ai mailing list
>> Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
>> http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai
>>
>
>


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Rajyavardhan Rathore: TOP athletes to get monthly stipend of Rs 50, 000

[avinash shahi via Ai]

19 para players are also in the list. I'm unsure if any blind is also included.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/top-athletes-to-get-monthly-stipend-of-rs-5/articleshow/60532146.cms


NEW DELHI: The ministry of sports and youth affairs has decided to pay
a monthly stipend of Rs 50,000 to each elite athlete preparing for the
coming Commonwealth
and Asian Games as well as
Tokyo Olympics.
The amount would be used by the athletes for their out of pocket
expenses, sports minister
Rajyavardhan Rathore
announced on Friday...
Read this story in Marathi.
.Rathore's announcement meant that the sports ministry has accepted
the recommendation of the Olympic Task Force, that submitted its
recommendations to
the government on August 11. The extensive report has a slew of
path-breaking recommendations to improve India's performance in
Olympics...And given that
an Olympic medal winner, Rathore, is himself now the sports minister,
there is greater hope that the key recommendations would be accepted
and implemented
in letter and in spirit...The government has selected 152 elite
athletes under the
Target Olympic Podium scheme.
All the athletes will get benefit from this decision. The stipend will
be paid with effect from September 1..."MYAS @IndiaSports announces Rs
50k/month
pocket allowance for 152 elite athletes preparing for Tokyo/CWG/Asian
Games. Athletes first, always!" Rathore wrote on the official Twitter
handle.


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

Re: [Ai] Television show: episode one: 'Sab Dikhta Hai': News Nation's special campaign for visually impaired in India

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Watch episode II.
http://www.newsnation.in/videos/india/watch-news-nation-special-programme-sab-dikhta-hai-on-rights-of-differently-abled-people-8/33383

On 9/13/17, Akash Gupta via Ai  wrote:
> nice link avinash.
>
> On 12/09/2017, avinash shahi via Ai 
> wrote:
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx6tIi9dkoI
>>
>> --
>> Avinash Shahi
>> Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
>> 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..
>>
>>
>>
>> To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting,
>> reach:
>> https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
>> ___
>>
>>
>> Ai mailing list
>> Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
>> http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai
>>
>
>
> --
> With Warm Regards,
> Akash Gupta
> Rajasthan
> Skype: akash.gupta2412
>
> 
> The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.
> By "Helen Keller".
> --
> 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..
>
>
>
> To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
> https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
> ___
>
>
> Ai mailing list
> Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
> http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai
>


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Disabled students Lathicharged in Lucknow; Yogi Adityanath is complicit, will Illahabad High Court take suoo motive cognigence?

[avinash shahi via Ai]

 I’m perturbed to know that blind girls and boys studying at
Shakuntala Mishra National Rehabilitation University were demanding
their rights for safe and conducive ambiance in the campus and their
demonstration was delth with heavy lathi-charged on 31 August. No
prominent media houses went to air their angst and agony. Over the
last fortnight, The students predominantly blind girls have been in
open protesting against the ruthless administration and demanding
better educational facilities for themselves and upcoming students. No
Braille books, unavailability of readers, No computer lab, substandard
food and constant verbal humiliation by the warden and other
administrators has caused irreparable damage to their esteem and
dignity. The students are being forcefully denied access to media and
threatened with expulsion notices. The Vice Chancellor of the
university claims that the university has adequate facilities and hhad
hosted HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar for its convocation ceremony.
The students however rebuff such claim and are bravely confronting the
mighty administration which is hell bent in silencing students’
voices. I therefore, request the media fraternity to please visit the
university and report factual sufferings of the students so that
nation comes to know the inhumane treatment meted out to disabled
students by the university officials. The National Human Rights
Commission and the Lucknow Bench of the Illahabad High Court should
also be informed about such cruel misdoings of the UP Police and the
administration. Wil India’s likeminded citizens stand with the most
marginalized disabled students?

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Cafe Dissensus Current Issue: Narrating Care: Disability and Interdependence in the Indian Context

[avinash shahi via Ai]

(Issue 39
https://cafedissensus.com/2017/09/16/contents-narrating-care-disability-and-interdependence-in-the-indian-context-issue-39/

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Disabilities bill: AAP says delay because ‘status of state unclear’

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Three days after the BJP attacked AAP for allegedly delaying the
implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2016,
the Delhi government
said the delay was because Delhi’s “status as a state is still unclear”.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/disabilities-bill-aap-says-delay-because-status-of-state-unclear/
Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta Tuesday urged L-G Anil Baijal to
“ensure that the Delhi government urgently adopt the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities
Bill 2016”, passed by the Parliament last year. “There is an urgent
need to formulate disabled-friendly schemes to promote the rights of
persons with disabilities.
But the Delhi government has not initiated the process for
introduction of the bill in the Assembly,” he said.

After the Act came into force on April 19, 2017, the Centre had
notified the Central rules for the Act on June 15. The Union Ministry
of Social Justice
and Empowerment had on June 13 directed that “state governments/ UTs
may frame their own rules… subject to condition of previous
publications by notification
not later than six months from date of commencement of this Act”.

A government official said, “The Act says that state governments or
UTs may frame their own rules — but this doesn’t apply to Delhi and a
case regarding
this is in the Supreme Court. As things stand right now, this doesn’t
extend to us, hence the delay.”

The Delhi government wrote to the L-G on Friday, “seeking permission
to approach the Ministry of Home Affairs”. The official explained,
“Once we get that
permission, the MHA will have to write to the L-G so that they can, in
turn, give us permission to frame the rules.”

Officials added that the Delhi government had drafted the state rules
along the lines of the model on July 26.


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Upcoming national conference: Vocational Rehabilitation and Economic Inclusion of persons with disabilities

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Two-day National Conference on 24th and 25th October, 2017 (Tuesday
and Wednesday)



Conference Theme: Vocational Rehabilitation and Economic Inclusion of
persons with disabilities in India



Conference Organizers



The conference is being organized by National Centre of Disability
Studies, IGNOU, supported by National Handicapped Finance and
Development Corporation (NHFDC).



Conference Venue:  Baba Saheb Ambedkar Convention Centre, Indira
Gandhi National Open University, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068.



Concept Note



As per NSSO (2003) about 26% of the persons with disabilities were
employed.  The Census 2011 highlighted that, nearly one third of the
total disabled persons were working.  At all India level, 36% of the
total disabled persons are workers. Among the male disabled persons,
47% are working and among female disabled, only 23% are working.
Among the persons with disabilities who were workers, 31% were
agricultural labourers.  Thus, there has been no change in the
employment rate in a decade among the persons with disabilities.
However, analysis of disability wise and age wise distribution of
employment may show some variations.​ Comparison with the non-disabled
population in terms of nature of employment could also be an area of
study.





The Rights of Persons with Disability Act (2016) in Chapter IV which
deals with Skill Development and Employment provides for formulations
of schemes and programmes including provision of loans at concessional
rates to facilitate and support employment of Persons with
Disabilities especially for their vocational training and
self-employment.



The said schemes and programmes shall provide for –
a.inclusion of person with disability in all mainstream formal and
non-formal vocational and skill training schemes and programmes;
b.to ensure that a person with disability has adequate support and
facilities to avail specific training;
c.exclusive skill training programmes for persons with disabilities
with active links with the market, for those with developmental,
intellectual, multiple disabilities and autism;
d.loans at concessional rates including that of microcredit;
e.marketing the products made by persons with disabilities; and
f.maintenance of disaggregated data on the progress made in the skill
training and self-employment, including persons with disabilities.





The United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(UNCRPD) makes provision for persons with disabilities with regard to
inter alia, employment, independent living, economic and social
self-sufficient.  The new RPD Act has been aligned with UNCRPD.



Against this background a two day National Conference on Vocational
Rehabilitation and Economic Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in
India is being organized for making an assessment of the opportunities
available for persons with disabilities for vocational rehabilitation
and economic inclusion.  The brain storming deliberations and action
oriented intellectual discourse will help the policy makers in
formulating schemes and programmes as per the provision of the rights
of persons with disabilities Act of 2016.



The conference will bring various stakeholders of disability sector at
one platform to discuss various issues related to vocational
rehabilitation and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities in
the country.  For any progressive society, it is vital to provide
conducive environment to the adult persons with disabilities to become
economically self-reliant through gainful employment/self-employment.
This National conference is intended to make practical and
implementable recommendations which will be of immense benefit to the
persons with disabilities, policy makers and other stake holders.





Themes for the National Conference are:


•Job Identification and Employable skills
•Vocation/skill training
•Employment/Self-Employment in Urban and Rural Areas
•Role of Financial Institutions
•Role of Technology
•Role of Distance Education in Vocational Training
•Access to Work Place
•Advocacy for Vocational Rehabilitation and Economic Inclusion




Abstract and Paper Submission


•The presenters should submit an abstract of around 350-500 words that
provides the summary of the paper with key words, author’s name,
designation, postal address, e-mail, telephone/mobile no.  Abstracts
and Papers should be submitted using MS Word, font Times New Roman for
English, font size 12, Mangal for Hindi font size 14 with 1.5 line
spacing on A4 size.  Submission of abstract and full paper in PDF,
image format will not be accepted.


•Full paper should have around 2500-3000 words including figures and
tables etc.  (Paper will be accepted in Hindi or English)



Abstracts of the papers are to be submitted on the following address
positively by 27th September, 2017:



Dr. Hemlata

Director

National Centre for Disability Studies (NCDS)

New academic Block “G”

IGNOU, Maidan Garhi

New Delhi-110068

E-mail: n...@ignou.ac.in

[Ai] Book Review: Disabled childhoods: monitoring differences and emerging identities:

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2017.1372945

I am delighted to have read Disabled Childhoods: Monitoring
Differences and Emerging Identities by McLaughlin, Coleman-Fountain,
and Clavering. Not least of all because it makes a significant
contribution to the limited amount of texts which explore issues that
impact upon disabled childhoods. The authors engage with conflicting
and consolatory theoretical perspectives from disability studies,
youth studies, childhood studies, branches of geography and sociology,
in particular medical sociology. This book now sits on my bookshelf
alongside Curran and Runswick-Cole’s 2013 Disabled Children’s
Childhood Studies: Critical Approaches in a Global Context. Together
these have motivated me to write an undergraduate module about
Disabled Childhoods and I suggest that collectively they have paved
the way for a new, exciting and long overdue discipline in ‘Disabled
Childhood Studies’.

There are seven chapters to Disabled Childhoods plus a very helpful
introduction, which is almost a chapter in its own right. Here the
reader is left very clear about the disability politics which shape
the work of the authors and their qualification to make this
contribution to the field. The reader is then introduced to the four
distinct parts to the book: ‘theoretical and methodological
practices’, ‘monitoring institutions’, ‘relational identity’ and
‘practice and implications’. What I absolutely love about this book is
the sense that McLaughlin et al. are writing around the voices of
disabled children – young people are absolutely at the centre of it in
every way. As a reader I was confident the work is evidence based; it
is soaked in inclusive research and outstanding data.

In part one the authors acknowledge that, in much the same way as
criticisms have been levied at sociology for ignoring disability,
Childhood Studies has also failed to recognise the experience of
disabled children. Despite the important contribution Childhood
Studies has made to improving debates about, for example, children’s
rights and agency, the failure of this major discipline to include
disabled children has arguably contributed to their oppression and
marginalisation. McLaughlin et al. explore ‘entanglements’ which shape
disabled childhoods by foregrounding the experiences of disabled
children and young people. They do this whilst acknowledging the usual
bureaucratic systems which cause dilemmas for reflexive, inclusive
researchers, who wish to work in ways that enable participation
through non-paternalistic methodologies.

Discussion about inclusive research is largely located in chapter two,
where the writers open their methodological tool kit and share their
experiences of researching with disabled children and young people,
their families and carers. I really enjoyed this chapter from start to
finish and wanted more as I was led through specific projects with
children and young people into a discussion about problematic issues
which challenge and often prevent research with children and young
people. The writers call for flexible approaches to working with
children and young people to ensure projects are able to appreciate
their capacity as both research participants and social agents. This
chapter in particular was deeply reflexive on the part of the
researchers, which makes it essential reading for anyone considering
research with children or young people. It forces questions about the
validity of work claiming to be about children and young people which
fails to engage them as active and respected participants. They make a
clear, strong case that ethically sound approaches to constructing
knowledge about the lives of children and young people must be
achieved through participatory channels of research which position
children and young people as capable social agents who can not only
contribute to research but, to ensure their protection, should also be
engaged in the process. They affirm the idea that the role of the
adult researcher is as an ‘atypical adult’ who is there not to impart
knowledge to children and young people but to learn from them and the
worlds they inhabit.

In part two the writers acknowledge and challenge notions of ‘normal’
within the context of institutions. In the broadest sense they look at
structural, cultural, social and professional discourses including
family, society, education and medicine. Here I found much to help me
teach disability studies, in particular models of disability, as the
two chapters in this section of the book provide examples to enable
sense-making around psycho/emotional disablism and in particular ideas
around ‘independence’. Such discussions are explored with regard to
transitions to adulthood and examine the complicated and often complex
relationships between young people and their families. McLaughlin et
al. look towards socio-cultural and institutional discourses to
understand the ‘relational dynamics around interactions’, whi

[Ai] Paper of Interest: From isolated fence to inclusive society: the transformational disability policy in China

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Abstract
China’s disability policies are changing, some of which are gradually
closer to the requirements of the Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities. Based on the social model of disability, this
article explains the driving forces of disability policy reform, and
especially adopts the critical policy analysis approach to evaluate
the revised education policy along with the rehabilitation policy of
disabled people. The inclusive education policy is improving
disability policy issues the most compared with others because of the
disability advocacy by disabled persons’ self-help organizations.
Meanwhile, the nascent rehabilitation policy is typically top-down
oriented by the government. Public participation may be the main way
forward, especially with the growth of the disability movement in
China. It is hoped that scholars pay more attention to the
transformational disability policy in non-western settings.
Read the full paper at:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2017.1375246

Driving forces of disability policy reform in China

Improving the lives of people with disabilities formally became a
government commitment as the China Disabled Person’s Federation was
set up in 1988. Then a lot of laws and policies for people with
disabilities were promulgated by the Standing Committee of the
National People’s Congress and The State Council of the People’s
Republic of China, most of which were made based on the
individual-oriented medical model (Yang 2015 Yang, Z. 2015.
“Institutions and Life for People with Disability: From ‘Individual
Model’ to ‘Universal Model’.” Chinese Journal of Sociology 35 (6):
85–115.
 [Google Scholar]
). When China became one of the state parties of the CRPD, the central
government gradually began to revise disability policies and make new
ones. The newly issued disability policies in China are obviously a
positive step forward, but they do not necessarily address the first
of the general principles of the CRPD, which is about the right to
autonomy. The reason for this is that the government’s unclear
understanding of the basic principles in the CPRD made disability
policies seem more like social welfare relief rather than social right
protection (Fisher and Jing 2008 Fisher, K., and L. Jing. 2008.
“Chinese Disability Independent Living Policy.” Disability & Society
23 (2): 171–185.10.1080/09687590701841216
[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
). Meanwhile, the Chinese government always put high efficiency and
low cost as the policy priority, over local practice innovations and
policy experiments (Mei and Liu 2014 Mei, C., and Z. Liu. 2014.
“Experiment-Based Policy Making or Conscious Policy Design? The Case
of Urban Housing Reform in China.” Policy Sciences 47 (3):
321–337.10.1007/s11077-013-9185-y
[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
). Above all, disability policy changes based on the social model were
vague without the participation of disabled people. Essentially,
policies do not always give disabled people the right to have a
choice.

Disabled persons’ self-help organizations (DPOs) also play an
important role in promoting disability policy reform. The DPOs in
China have been emerging through promotion by experts and
international non-profit organizations since 2008, some of which have
been actively trying to conduct disability policy advocacy. On this
condition, the design ideas, supporting resources, supervision and
enforcement mechanism of policies were slowly closer to the
requirements of the CRPD’s general principles and obligations (Zhang
2017 Zhang, C. 2017. “‘Nothing about Us without Us’: The Emerging
Disability Movement and Advocacy in China.” Disability & Society 32
(7): 1096–1101.10.1080/09687599.2017.1321229
[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
), such as inclusion and accessibility. The involvement of DPOs has
already been shown to be effective in some issues for which they are
advocating, such as education policy.


The transformational disability policy

In 2017, two important disability policies were issued by the State
Council of the People’s Republic of China. One policy is the revised
‘Regulation on the Education of Disabled Persons’ (first issued in
1994，recently revised in 2017), and the other is the ‘Regulation on
the Prevention and Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons’ (first issued
in 2017), which is the first specific health and rehabilitation policy
for disabled people. These newest policies are the most critical cases
for the analysis of the transformational disability policies in China.


Converting an inclusive education policy

The revised ‘Regulation on the Education of Disabled Persons’ is the
basic education policy for people with disabilities based on China’s
laws for education. According to the general principles of the CRPD,
we can find some policy changes compared with the old version. The
most obvious change is the idea of inclusive 

[Ai] Kenny Fries writes in the NyTimes: "The Nazis’ First Victims Were the Disabled "

[avinash shahi via Ai]

I sit facing the young German neurologist, across a small table in a
theater in Hamburg, Germany. I’m here giving one-on-one talks called
“The Unenhanced: What Has Happened to Those Deemed ‘Unfit’,” about my
research on Aktion T4, the Nazi “euthanasia” program to exterminate
the disabled.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/13/opinion/nazis-holocaust-disabled.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_ty_20170913&nl=opinion-today&nl_art=8&nlid=72237246&ref=headline&te=1
“I’m afraid of what you’re going to tell me,” the neurologist says.

I’m not surprised. I’ve heard similar things before. But this time is
different — the young man sitting across from me is a doctor. Aktion
T4 could not have happened without the willing participation of German
doctors.

I have a personal stake in making sure this history is remembered. In
1960, I was born missing bones in both legs. At the time, some thought
I should not be allowed to live. Thankfully, my parents were not among
them.

I first discovered that people with disabilities were sterilized and
killed by the Nazis when I was a teenager, watching the TV mini-series
“Holocaust” in 1978. But it would be years before I understood the
connections between the killing of the disabled and the killing of
Jews and other “undesirables,” all of whom were, in one way or
another, deemed “unfit.”

The neurologist does not know much about what I’m telling him. While
he does know that approximately 300,000 disabled people were killed in
T4 and its aftermath, he doesn’t know about the direct connection
between T4 and the Holocaust. He doesn’t know that it was at
Brandenburg, the first T4 site, where methods of mass killing were
tested, that the first victims of Nazi mass killings were the
disabled, and that its personnel went on to establish and run the
extermination camps at Treblinka, Belzec and Sobibor.
Three years earlier, when I first arrived in Germany, I was
consistently confronted with the treatment of those with disabilities
under the Third Reich. But I soon realized I had to go back even
farther. In the 1920s, the disabled were mistreated, sterilized,
experimented on and killed in some German psychiatric institutions. In
1920, the psychiatrist Alfred Hoche and the jurist Karl Binding
published their treatise, “Permitting the Destruction of Unworthy
Life,” which became the blueprint for the exterminations of the
disabled carried out by the Third Reich.

In Dr. Ewald Melzer’s 1923 survey of the parents of the disabled
children in his care, they were asked: “Would you agree definitely to
a painless shortcut of your child’s life, after it is determined by
experts that it is incurably stupid?” The results, which surprised
Melzer, were published in 1925: 73 percent responded they were willing
to have their children killed if they weren’t told about it.

I am also Jewish. At the Karl Boehhoffer psychiatric hospital in the
Berlin suburb of Wittenau, where the exhibition “A Double Stigma: The
Fate of Jewish Psychiatric Patients” was held, I learned about, as the
exhibition title suggests, how Jewish patients were doubly stigmatized
by being separated from other patients, denied pastoral care, and were
cared for not at the expense of the Reich but by Jewish organizations.
Jewish patients were singled out for early extermination; by December
1942, the destruction of the Jewish patient population at Wittenau was
complete.

The young neurologist in Hamburg did not know this history.

It is only at the end of my talk with the neurologist that I notice he
wears a hearing aid. I want to ask if he knows about “100 Percent,”
the film produced by deaf Germans to show they could assimilate and be
productive citizens who worked. Did he know the hereditary deaf were
singled out not only by the German authorities but also by those with
acquired deafness who tried to save themselves? Too often, even those
of us with disabilities do not know our own history.











































Not many people know about disability history in the United States.
They do not know that in the United States in 1927, Justice Oliver
Wendell Holmes wrote that “three generations of imbeciles are enough”
as part of his opinion in Buck v. Bell, in which the Supreme Court
ruled that compulsory sterilization of the “unfit” was constitutional.
This decision has never been expressly overturned.

Many Americans still do not know about the so-called “ugly laws,”
which in many states, beginning in the late 1860s, deemed it illegal
for persons who were “unsightly or unseemly” to appear in public. The
last of these laws was not repealed until 1974.

Why is it important to know this history? We often say what happened
in Nazi Germany couldn’t happen here. But some of it, like the
mistreatment and sterilization of the disabled, did happen here.
A reading of Hoche and Binding’s “Permitting the Destruction of
Unworthy Life” shows the similarity between what they said and what
exponents of practical ethics, such as Peter Singer, say a

Re: [Ai] Television show: episode one: 'Sab Dikhta Hai': News Nation's special campaign for visually impaired in India

[avinash shahi via Ai]

The News Nation channel will telecast its second episode at 6 PM IST today.

On 9/13/17, Akash Gupta via Ai  wrote:
> nice link avinash.
>
> On 12/09/2017, avinash shahi via Ai 
> wrote:
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx6tIi9dkoI
>>
>> --
>> Avinash Shahi
>> Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
>> 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..
>>
>>
>>
>> To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting,
>> reach:
>> https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
>> ___
>>
>>
>> Ai mailing list
>> Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
>> http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai
>>
>
>
> --
> With Warm Regards,
> Akash Gupta
> Rajasthan
> Skype: akash.gupta2412
>
> 
> The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.
> By "Helen Keller".
> --
> 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..
>
>
>
> To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
> https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
> ___
>
>
> Ai mailing list
> Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
> http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai
>


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Kodarma Jharkhand: BJP MP: 'divyaango ki sewa hi asli manaavta'

[avinash shahi via Ai]

For the first time, Kodarma district gets Rs 12 lakhs to distribute
equipments meant for the disabled people. Read more to know the full
report published in the Jharkhand edition of jagran on 11 September
2017.
http://www.jagran.com/jharkhand/koderma-service-of-disable-is-real-huminity-16691977.html?src=Search-ART-disability


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Television show: episode one: 'Sab Dikhta Hai': News Nation's special campaign for visually impaired in India

[avinash shahi via Ai]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx6tIi9dkoI

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Windfall for disabled

[avinash shahi via Ai]

ter the Supreme Court directed banks to deposit the excess interest
charged from borrowers since 1991, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
informed the court recently that a sum of over Rs 210 crore has been
collected as part of this exercise. This amount has come as a windfall
for the disabled as the apex court ruling of April 16, 2004 had set
aside apart the amount to be spent on welfare of the disabled.

For now, the apex court has entrusted the amount with a Trust chaired
by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that will comprise
members from RBI, Indian Banks Association, Small Industries
Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and Central Government.

The amount is expected to swell as out of the list of 100 scheduled
commercial banks prepared by the RBI, some banks are yet to deposit
the excess interest collected. The Trust will oversee the
implementation of the court order and allocate the total money into
the National Fund under Section 86 of the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities Act.

As per the 2004 decision, all banks (commercial, cooperative and
rural) had to contribute a sum of Rs 50 lakh to the fund and
separately also deposit into it the excess interest charged from
borrowers on loans taken after 1991. RBI filed an affidavit before the
apex court information that in all, 100 commercial banks were asked to
provide details of their deposit under the separate heads of Rs 50
lakh contribution and the excess interest received.

Of the 100, two banks (Siam Commercial Bank and Overseas Chinese
Banking Corporation Ltd) closed operations in 2003. Eight other banks
stated they had not collected excess interest. Among the remaining 90
banks, 71 banks deposited the money under both heads. 14 banks
deposited the contribution but not the excess interest collection. The
total amount deposited by these banks in the Trust Fund was to the
tune of Rs 210,21,15,152 (rupees two hundred and ten crore and twenty
one lakh).

ING Vysya Bank contributed Rs 50 lakh to the trust fund but claimed it
had no records available of excess interest as it entered the picture
only in 2002 taking over operations in India from ING Bank NV. Four
remaining banks out of the list of 90 failed to make any payment.
These are Sikkim Bank (now merged with Union Bank of India), Sonali
Bank Ltd, Commerzbank AG, and Dresdner Bank AG.

The RBI further sought permission from Court to exempt Primary
Co-operative Banks, Rural Co-operative Banks (District Central
Co-operative Banks and State Co-operative Banks), and Regional Rural
Banks from the ambit of Court order as these banks do not have
sufficient means to provide the money. The bench accepted the
suggestion and exempted all banks under these categories from the
order passed in 2004. However, the amount collected from them will be
utilized by the Trust. The cooperative banks had deposited a total of
Rs 1.06 crore while rural banks collected a sum of Rs 52.21 lakh.
 
http://www.dailypioneer.com/sunday-edition/sunday-pioneer//windfall-for-disabled.html


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Finally, a Place in the Sun for Italians With Disabilities

[avinash shahi via Ai]

“There isn’t willingness to accept someone who is different,” he said.
“In summer, many people want to go on holiday and shut off their
brains. They don’t want to see a disabled person who makes them face a
reality that they don’t want to see.”
Read more: 
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/03/world/europe/disabilities-italy-beaches.html
-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] EPW Perspective section: Disabled Schoolchildren and Their Challenges: A Case Study of Sipajhar

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Baharul Islam Laskar (blaska...@gmail.com) and Archana Sarma are with
the Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Science and
Technology, Meghalaya.





Disability, a socially defined global phenomenon, varies from state to
state in India, and is based on gender and rural–urban backgrounds. A
study conducted in Sipajhar block of Assam shows that physically and
mentally challenged schoolchildren face severe discrimination. As the
existing policies and programmes are insufficient to wipe out the
stigma attached to their lives, we need widespread awareness
programmes to give the persons with disabilities a dignified life and
to include them in the mainstream development processes.




Disability is a socially defined phenomenon. It has all-encompassing
social consequences for individuals, and has a significant impact on
societies (Barnartt 2005). The social reality of disability is
characterised by “considerable variation in the experience of
impairment by large numbers of people who nonetheless share common
conditions of exclusion, marginalisation, and disadvantage” (Williams
2001: 141). Historically, different societies have elucidated the
place of disability in the social order. The Neolithic tribes believed
that disabilities were caused by spirits, and they used to perform
skull surgeries to discharge the evil spirits (Albrecht 1992). The
ancient Greeks considered disabled persons not as human beings, and
hence, abandoned them to die (DePoy and Gilson 2004). Romans also left
children with rigorous disabilities to die, but provided help to
persons with disabilities with an anticipation that they would be
positive and satisfied (Morris 1986).

Similarly, in ancient days, persons with disabilities in Asia were
also treated most inhumanely by society and often such persons had no
other options for their daily bread except begging. Ancient
Zoroastrian scripture dating back 2,500 years in Persia envisioned an
ideal world with no disabilities. However, the attitude towards
persons with disabilities gradually changed after the Enlightenment
period in the mid-17th and 18th centuries. In rural agrarian
societies, family and communities used to integrate those who were
unusual. Slowly, the number of institutions that housed the
unproductive, including disabled people, also proliferated. The
original intent of some of these organisations was to improve the
status of the disabled, but frequently these institutions had turned
into warehouses with subhuman conditions due to lack of resources
(Foucault 2006).

Discrimination against children with disabilities can be observed in
terms of exclusion from education and healthcare, limited
opportunities for play or access to cultural life, denial of family
life, vulnerability to violence, poverty, and exclusion from
participation in decision-making. It also undermines self-esteem and
self-confidence among children, and particularly among girls with
disabilities (WHO 2011). Accordingly, disability has been
conceptualised and addressed as a human rights issue in different
forums. It is observed that persons with disabilities who belong to
poor families are more marginalised and disadvantaged by various
factors, such as lack of access to productive resources and to
opportunities, and lack of information and skills that could have
enabled them to participate in social, economic and political
processes. It is also found that disabled women and girls are more
vulnerable to elimination (Kodali and Sitaramacharyulu 2011).

Data on Disabled Persons

Globally there are around 785–975 million (15.6%–19.4%) persons above
15 years of age living with disability. The number of disabled people
varies depending upon age, sex, stage of life, exposure to
environmental risks, socio-economic status, culture and available
resources; all of which vary markedly across locations (WHO 2011). As
per this data, 2.9% people are severely disabled all over the world,
and 15.3% are moderately and severely disabled. More females than
males generally belong to both the severe disability and moderate and
severe disability categories, with the exception of males belonging to
the age group of 0–14 years who number slightly higher in the moderate
and severe disability category. In high-income countries, the
proportion of severe disability is 3.2% and moderate and severe
disability is 15.4%. Among the low- and middle-income regions, the
proportion of severe disability is highest in Africa (3.1%) and lowest
in Americas (2.6%); while the proportion of moderate and severe
disability is highest in Europe (16.4%) and lowest in the Eastern
Mediterranean (14%).

Among children (0–14 years), 0.7% suffer from severe disability and
5.1% suffer from moderate and severe disability. It is further
observed that the percentage of severe disability among boys and girls
is equal (0.7%), while the percentage of moderate and severe
disability among boys (5.2%) is more than girls (5.0%). On the other
hand, among those

Re: [Ai] [DKIM Failure] Re: Restrict discussion on the NAB Delhi incident

[avinash shahi via Ai]

As we lambast government for its failure, So we have equal rights to
dwell deep into wrong-doing in the NGO sector also. They afterall seek
money in the name of blind people's welfare.The recent incedent which
surfaced at National Association for the blind Delhi is just a tip of
the iceberg. Over the last two years the sexual assaults faced by
children and female residents have been widely reported in the media.
I remember, the female students at NAB Bangalore complaint harassment
against the NAB Bangalore officials, and the Karnataka CCPD took  some
action after being pressured by the civil society. The Panch Koyaan
school in Delhi which is also known as 'andh Maha vidyalay' was also
in the news recently where scenior students continued abusing junior
students sexually for years and the administration of the school took
no action. I also remember couple of years back, A reporter working
with Manorma magazine has brought forth the issue of sexual assaults
faced by women residents at Sant Nagar hostel by the donors and the
administration didn't barred donors from visiting hostels.
notwithstanding the unreported harassments which go unnoticed in
hostels where blind children/female students reside, The above cited
case studies paint a very scary portrayal of insecure atmosphere which
impede the overall development of blind children. Donation is the key
to sustaining these institutions but putting at stake the
psychological and physical well-being of young students raises several
burning questions about day-to-day functioning of such institutions.


On 9/7/17, Asudani, Rajesh via Ai  wrote:
> I think antecedents of volunteers also must be checked.
> However, not checking antecedents is different from deliberately allowing
> bad people to come in and volunteer.
> Whatever, management should learn lessons for future.
>
>
> From: Ai [mailto:ai-boun...@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in] On Behalf Of r
> k sarin via Ai
> Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2017 2:13 PM
> To: Share, empower &Enrich
> Cc: r k sarin
> Subject: [DKIM Failure] Re: [Ai] Restrict discussion on the NAB Delhi
> incident
>
> I do not know whether mail will be covered or not, but still writing with
> few questions. Is NAB Delhi not a voluntary organisation running a school
> for the blind students and is it not the fact that it is not an individual
> business? Why personal then and why indirect threat of police under the term
> 'perhaps'. Nab did well by lodging an FIR against person but are we not
> interested to go beyond in the interest of organisation who such incident
> took place in the hostel and we cannot save our skin by saying that it is a
> sudden incidence. Nothing happens suddenly. Nothing hhappens suddenly in
> this world and with a person who is cclaimed to be physiccally and mentally
> unfit. Voluntary work never means to permit the worstt of the society to the
> blind persons and that is why I used to talk about the pathetic condition of
> the blind in terms of the outlook towards them by the society at large and
> the administrators of the majority of the voluntary organisations. Are we
> not interested in bettter image of this prestigious institution and do we
> not need to peep into facts in a genuine manner to see the better future of
> this institutions. If today, we make use of the useless tactics by avoiding
> discussion or making inquiry about these things, I strongly feel that we are
> the enemy of this institution and it will wither away with its misdeeds. to
> - Original Message -
> From: Prashant Ranjan Verma via
> Ai
> To: 'Harish Kotian via Ai'
> Cc: Prashant Ranjan Verma
> Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2017 9:54 AM
> Subject: [Ai] Restrict discussion on the NAB Delhi incident
>
> Dear Harish,
> The incident reported in the newspapers and by Radio Udaan is under the
> POCSO act where peple are forbidden to reveal anything which  could lead to
> the identity of the victims.
> The way peple discuss things on the AI list, I am afraid it could invite
> legal action  by the police.
> So, please do not allow this to go through. I am ofcourse availableto
> answer fquestions on phone or personal email.
> Yesterday Radio Udaan has done a very disturbing show on this already and
> they got  lot of complains already.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Prashant Verma
>
> Creating the Best way to Read and Publish
> http://www.daisy.org
>
> 
> 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..
>
>
>
> To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
> https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
> __

Re: [Ai] Official statement of Radioudaan pertaining to the discussion on latest incident in Nab Delhi

[avinash shahi via Ai]

As we lambast government for its failure, So we have equal rights to
dwell deep into wrong-doing in the NGO sector also. They afterall seek
money in the name of blind people's welfare.The recent incedent which
surfaced at National Association for the blind Delhi is just a tip of
the iceberg. Over the last two years the sexual assaults faced by
children and female residents have been widely reported in the media.
I remember, the female students at NAB Bangalore complaint harassment
against the NAB Bangalore officials, and the Karnataka CCPD took  some
action after being pressured by the civil society. The Panch Koyaan
school in Delhi which is also known as 'andh Maha vidyalay' was also
in the news recently where scenior students continued abusing junior
students sexually for years and the administration of the school took
no action. I also remember couple of years back, A reporter working
with Manorma magazine has brought forth the issue of sexual assaults
faced by women residents at Sant Nagar hostel by the donors and the
administration didn't barred donors from visiting hostels.
notwithstanding the unreported harassments which go unnoticed in
hostels where blind children/female students reside, The above cited
case studies paint a very scary portrayal of insecure atmosphere which
impede the overall development of blind children. Donation is the key
to sustaining these institutions but putting at stake the
psychological and physical well-being of young students raises several
burning questions about day-to-day functioning of such institutions.


 On 9/7/17, r k sarin via Ai  wrote:
> Shalini ji, sorry to say that if we are doing something goodd, why do we
> afraid of anything. To discover something one is supposed to be brave. If we
> cover the filth, it will be revealed--may be after some time. Why not to be
> honest and peep in the deep. It is not necessary that things are happening
> due to the administration but its basic reason is supposed to be traced.
> Hope you do not mind it because I am saying all this with good intention as
> I am also running a small NGO within my limitation and it hurts me if an NGO
> is defamed but, at the same time, if something is going wrong in any
> institution, it should provoke all sensible citizens to approach the
> authorities to find its roots.
>
> R.K. Sarin
>   - Original Message -
>   From: NAB India Centre For Blind Women Delhi via Ai
>   To: Share, empower &Enrich
>   Cc: NAB India Centre For Blind Women Delhi
>   Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2017 6:51 PM
>   Subject: Re: [Ai] Official statement of Radioudaan pertaining to the
> discussion on latest incident in Nab Delhi
>
>
>   I think the only concern right now in the mind of NAB should be the
> victims and their emotional balance and that of other kids. Rest has been
> done with the police complaint.
>
>
>   It should just be a road map for other organizations to keep a check on
> visitors. And there's no room for slain and slander here. The case details
> have been given to police and media.
>
>
>   Some discussion at Radio udaan did go out of sync yesterday and was not
> required. It's a sensitive issue and let's handle it sensitively for the
> benefit of the kids.
>
>
>   Our objective to have been on the show was to take a direction forward for
> society to be more aware and not for blame game.
>
>
>   While such shows are important,  they must be handled in a more planned
> approach.
>
>
>   NAB shall make plans to empower itself with better policies to secure kids
> even further in the wake of the changing face of society.
>
>
>   Regards
>
>
>   Shalini Khanna
>   Director
>   NAB India Centre For Blind Women and Disability Studies
>   L25 Hauz Khas Enclave
>   New Delhi 110016
>
>
> --
>
>
>   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..
>
>
>
>   To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting,
> reach:
>
> https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
>   ___
>
>
>   Ai mailing list
>   Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
>   http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai
>


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___

Re: [Ai] Arrest of a British national for sexual abuse of blind children on NAB Delhi complain

[avinash shahi via Ai]

The Hindustan Times quotes Mr Prashant Verma and reports today
Delhi blind kids knew of ‘sexual abuse’ but stayed mum in awe of
British ‘uncle’
By Shiv Sunny

Before you go on to read the HT story there is a update from the
Police published in The Hindu today. The accused has told the police
that he was imparting sexual education to those students.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/delhi-blind-kids-knew-of-sexual-abuse-but-stayed-mum-in-awe-of-british-uncle/story-DjE0MfpUbD4C8PxqXOiWCO.html
They could tell ‘good touch’ from ‘bad touch’ and knew that the man
they considered a respectable figure was allegedly sexually assaulting
them.

But the minors, inmates of National Association for the Blind, did not
tell anybody about it because they were in awe of the accused, NAB
general secretary
Prashant Ranjan Verma told Hindustan Times on Tuesday. They called him
uncle who often got them books and study material.

Murray Dennis Ward, a British man,
taught communication skills to the children on Saturday. His crimes
would have gone unreported if an NAB staffer had not caught him in the
act. The staffer
first recorded the act for a few seconds, as evidence, and then
alerted the authorities.

Ward was arrested on Sunday from his flat in Vasant Kunj Enclave.

All his three victims belong to poor families and have come from
remote corners of the country. “The parents of these boys are yet to
reach Delhi since
they had to raise money to buy train tickets,” said a senior NAB staff member.

Throughout Tuesday, the children remained with the police and
counsellors, who tried to ascertain if the victims had been abused in
the past too. Ward
had been visiting the NAB centre in RK Puram for the last eight years,
raising suspicions that he may have been abusing children for long.

After the row emerged on Sunday, NAB barred the entry of volunteers
and parents into the hostels. “We will set up special gates near
dormitories to restrict
entry. We will also have to rethink if even well-meaning volunteers
should be allowed into the classrooms,” said Verma.

While the NAB officials are in shock, a few kilometres away in Vasant
Kunj Enclave residents are in disbelief on learning about the
allegations against
Ward. They saw Ward as a “calm and peaceful man” who was mostly
immersed in his laptop and mobile phone.

“He (Ward) lived with a young Indian man whom he would refer to as his
son. We could not interact much with him because of the language
barrier, but we
still cannot believe he abused children,” said Amarnath, caretaker of
the apartment building where Ward lived since February.

Having suffered a paralytic attack earlier this year, Ward is still
receiving treatment for an affected hand. “He could not even more
around on his own.
Two policemen had to help him get into the van on Sunday afternoon,”
said Gul Mohammad, a resident.

Belonging to Gloucestershire in the United Kingdom, Ward had been
working with a multinational company in Gurgaon at an annual salary of
Rs 1.5 crore until
paralysis forced him to quit the job in April. His wife and children
live in the UK.

On 9/6/17, Amit Bhatt via Ai  wrote:
> Being a former student of NAB Delhi, I am perturbed by this unfortunate
> insidence.
>
> I am thankful to NAB Delhi for highlighting this issue and filing complain
> to the Police, however, We all would anticipate an impartial investigation
> and an effective enquiry of this entire eppisode as various media channels
> are considering it as sex racket.
>
> I am more concern about those innocent children and their future.
>
> Meanwhile, I have got this another updated version of NEWS today from Indian
>
> Express:
>
> Delhi Police focus on 23 chats recovered from Murray Dennis Ward's phone |
> The Indian Express
>
> Written by
>  Alok Singh
>
> New Delhi | Updated: September 6, 2017 4:01 am
>
> A day after a 54-year-old British national was arrested for allegedly
> sexually assaulting three visually impaired minor boys at a blind school in
>
> south Delhi, police have found that the accused, Murray Dennis Ward, was
> allegedly chatting with 23 others over the phone. Police are now trying to
> ascertain who these phone numbers belong to and if any of them are minors. A
>
> police officer claimed that many of the chats had "sexual overtones".
> "Our teams will go to their homes and meet them and their families. The
> chats suggest that Ward would try to initiate conversations with sexual
> overtones," claimed a senior police officer. A senior officer told The
> Indian Express that over chats on WhatsApp, he would ask the person he was
> talking to his or her age.  "Some of these numbers are saved with names
> while others don't identify the person," said the officer.
> Soon after arresting Ward, police had seized his mobile phone and laptop.
> "Ward has not revealed the password of his laptop. His phone was not
> password protected and we could get into it," said a police officer. Police
>
> are now seeking help from IT pr

[Ai] Alok Singh in Indian Express today: NAB: "Delhi Police focus on 23 chats recovered from Murray Dennis Ward’s phone"

[avinash shahi via Ai]

A day after a 54-year-old British national was arrested for allegedly
sexually assaulting three visually impaired minor boys at a blind
school in south
Delhi, police have found that the accused, Murray Dennis Ward, was
allegedly chatting with 23 others over the phone. Police are now
trying to ascertain
who these phone numbers belong to and if any of them are minors. A
police officer claimed that many of the chats had “sexual overtones”.
http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/delhi-police-focus-on-23-chats-recovered-from-murray-dennis-wards-phone-4830639/
“Our teams will go to their homes and meet them and their families.
The chats suggest that Ward would try to initiate conversations with
sexual overtones,”
claimed a senior police officer. A senior officer told The Indian
Express that over chats on WhatsApp, he would ask the person he was
talking to his or
her age.  “Some of these numbers are saved with names while others
don’t identify the person,” said the officer.

Soon after arresting Ward, police had seized his mobile phone and
laptop. “Ward has not revealed the password of his laptop. His phone
was not password
protected and we could get into it,” said a police officer. Police are
now seeking help from IT professionals to look into his computer. On
Monday, Ward
was arrested from his residence in south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj Enclave,
where he was staying for the past seven months. His wife and two
children, however,
live in England.

A security guard at the three-storey residential complex where Ward
lived told The Indian Express, “He used to be busy on his mobile
phone. He used to
live alone but a person, who he said was his adopted son, came to his
house on a daily basis.” Ward’s neighbours refused to talk to the
media. Police said
Ward had employed a youth, who he called his adopted son, for
assistance after he suffered a paralytic attack in February this year.
Sources said the youth
has also been questioned by investigators.

Ward, who has been living in India since October 2016, used to work at
an multinational company in Gurgaon. After suffering a paralytic
attack in February,
he quit his job in April. Police said Ward started going to the school
about 10 months ago and used to donate books, etc to children there.
Police have
also recovered a five-second video recording when Ward was allegedly
sitting in a hostel room with the three boys. The purported video was
recorded by
a staffer of the school.
A case has been registered under Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences (POCSO) Act. Ward was produced before a city court on Monday,
which sent him
to police custody for two days. Sources said that since Ward is
unwell, he has been put under 24-hour watch by the policemen in the
lockup.

Police said the British High Commission has been informed about his
arrest and further inquiry is being conducted. The three boys who were
allegedly assaulted
by Ward are being counselled by a team of professionals, including
police officers.


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Banaras Hindu University: ‘Homosexual’ blind student asked to leave girls’ hostel

[avinash shahi via Ai]

AN UNDERGRADUATE student of Mahila Maha Vidhyalaya, affiliated to the
Banaras Hindu University (BHU), was allegedly asked to leave a girls’
hostel last
week, as she showed “tendencies” of homosexuality and indiscipline.
She, however, has not been asked to leave the college. While college
authorities maintained
that the student was suspended from the hostel because she had been
harassing her fellow boarders, a professor — a member of the
institute’s disciplinary
committee — claimed on condition of anonymity that the first-year BA
Honours student was “showing tendencies of being homosexual” and had
to be suspended
to maintain peace and discipline.

Assistant professor and chief coordinator of the five hostels in the
college, Neelam Atri — who took disciplinary action against the
student — said: “Around
16 boarders had given me in writing that the student was harassing
them and scaring them with her activities and indiscipline. The
student was also threatening
fellow boarders with suicide if they did not yield to her demands.”

Atri, however, refused to comment on “charges of homosexuality”
against the student. “There is nothing like this… students alleging
this want to bring
the university a bad name. This is an internal matter,” she said. Last
week, the student’s parents were called to the college and asked to
get her treated
for the “disease”.

“The student used to threaten to harm herself if her fellow boarders
did not help her out with her homework or other such things… She is
not well. She
has been depressed and had tried to harm herself. So, we asked her
family to show her to a good doctor… We told them that if she
recuperates, she can return
to the hostel.”

When contacted, a professor, said: “The tendencies she was showing
were at a nascent stage. We cannot really pin-point if it is really
homosexuality. But
we had to suspend her to maintain peace and discipline in the hostel.”
“Students submitted written complaints to us saying that her behaviour
was making
them uncomfortable. We asked the students to adjust but when the
complaints kept coming over the last few weeks, we had to take
action,” the professor
added.
A fellow student, who did not wish to be named, said: “The student was
blind in one eye. She was disabled. The college authorities should
have been extra
attentive towards her. Instead, they suspended her without an inquiry
or counselling. How is she going to face her class now? She has to
study with the
same women students.” “The girls and her parents, who are from rural
Uttar Pradesh, are traumatised,” the student added.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/banaras-hindu-university-homosexual-student-asked-to-leave-girls-hostel-4828990/

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] National Association for the Blind complaint: British man held for sexual assault of three blind boys

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/british-man-held-for-sexual-assault-of-three-blind-boys-4829076/

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Allahabad: "drishtihino ki zindagi mein bhar rahin ujala".

[avinash shahi via Ai]

This is a story of Harpreet Kaur who is Allahabad-based, learnt
Braille and now writing books for blind children in Allahabad. NAB
Mumbai has agreed to publish her books free of cost. She also wants to
open a Braille library in Allahabad.
http://www.jagran.com/news/national-light-filled-up-in-the-life-of-blind-16470985.html

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Benita Chacko reports in the Indian Express: Sparsh Vinayak: An idol for visually challenged to touch and feel

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Amol Karche gently moved his hand over the Ganesh idol in front of him
as he felt the form and shape of the deity. The 22-year-old visually
impaired cricketer
was at Sparsh Vinayak pandal specially designed for people like him.
Launched by TATA Nx, the pandal at Growels Mall in Kandivali has a
specially crafted
three-and-a-half-feet idol with tactile sensory aid to help the
visually challenged touch and feel their Ganpati Bappa.

“Until today, I had only heard from friends and family how Bappa looks
like. But today, I myself felt him from the ‘mukut’ to his feet and
can visualise
him. It is very different to hear about something and feel it
yourself,” said Karche, who, along with Swapnil Wagh, Sunil Rathod and
a few other members
of the World Cup-winning India National Blind Cricket Team, was
invited to conduct the morning aarti on Friday.

‘The Unseen Idol’ was specially made by an Raj Baide, an artist based
in Chembur, using materials like cotton, nylon and wax to provide
tactile aids for
the visually challenged. Nylon ropes were also used for the decor.

“When we celebrate Ganeshotsav every year, a significant section of
our society cannot be a part of it. Generally, people are not
encouraged to touch the
idol. That is when we decided to create the first ever blind-friendly
Ganpati idol. Ganeshotsav is an inclusive festival and everybody
should be able to
participate,” said Aniket Sharma, Managing Partner, 121 Experiences,
who was behind the idea of the unique pandal.

Organised in association with the Eye Bank Association of India, the
National Association for the Blind and the Cricket Association of the
Blind, the organisers
reached out to all blind schools in the city to ensure maximum
participation by the visually challenged. Through the pandal, they
also aimed at increasing
awareness regarding eye donation and have already received 1.3 lakh
pledges from people to donate their eyes.

The organisers do not plan to immerse the idol at the end of the
11-day celebrations, and instead will donate it to an NGO for the
blind. “We will donate
the idol to an NGO that works for the blind so that more people can
come forward to experience it and more people are made aware about
it,” said Sharma.

Dr Arup Basu, President, New Businesses and Innovation Centre, Tata
Chemicals Limited, said the Sparsh Vinayak campaign has been specially
designed for
them, to help them get a chance to admire and participate in the
joyous Ganpati festival, breaking barriers of limitations.
http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/sparsh-vinayak-an-idol-for-visually-challenged-to-touch-and-feel-4824675/

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Patrick Butler reports: UN panel criticises UK failure to uphold disabled people's rights

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Charities say report is grim reality check and Labour says it
highlights how disabled people are bearing brunt of austerity

The UK government is failing to uphold disabled people’s rights across
a range of areas from education, work and housing to health, transport
and social
security, a UN inquiry has found.

The UN committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities examined
the government’s progress in fulfilling its commitments to the
UN convention on disabled people’s rights,
to which the UK has been a signatory since 2007.

Its report concludes that the UK has not done enough to ensure the
convention – which enshrines the rights of disabled people to live
independently, to
work and to enjoy social protection without discrimination – is
reflected in UK law and policy.

Although it praises some initiatives by the Scottish and Welsh
governments to promote inclusion, it is scathing of the UK
government’s inconsistent and
patchy approach to protecting disability rights and its failure to
audit the impact of its austerity policies on disabled people.

It says ministers have failed to show that measures will be in place
to protect disability rights when the UK leaves the European Union.

Charities and campaigners said the report was a “grim reality check”
for ministers, while Labour said it highlighted how disabled people
were bearing the
brunt of Tory austerity policies.

Areas of concern highlighted by the report, which contains more than
60 recommendations for the UK government, include:

list of 1 items
The rising numbers of disabled children educated in segregated
“special schools” in the UK. The report calls for legislation to
ensure mainstream schools
provide “real inclusion” for disabled children.
list end
list of 1 items
High levels of poverty for disabled people and their families and
reduced standards of living as result of multiple welfare reforms and
benefit cuts. It
calls for a review of benefit sanctions, which it says have a
detrimental effect on recipients.
list end
list of 1 items
The failure of the UK government to recognise the rights of disabled
people to live independently in the community. It calls on ministers
to provide sufficient
resources to support disabled people to live at home.
list end

In November the same UN committee issued a
scathing report
on austerity policies pursued by the UK government in welfare and
social care, which it described as “systematic violations” of the
rights of people with
disabilities. The government
dismissed that report
 as patronising and offensive.

Kamran Mallick, the chief executive of
Disability
 Rights UK, said: “The committee’s final observations and comments
represent a grim reality check for the UK government and its record on
ensuring the
human rights of disabled people.”

Ellen Clifford, of the campaign group Disabled People Against Cuts,
said the report showed the UK government was going backwards on
disability rights.
“It is utterly shameful that this should be happening in one of the
richest nations in the world. We all now need to take a stance that
enough is enough
and demand that the government acknowledge reality,” she said.

Debbie Abrahams MP, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said: “The
UN committee has found that this Tory government is still failing sick
and disabled
people. Their damning report highlights what many disabled people
already know to be true: that they are being forced to bear the brunt
of failed Tory
austerity policies." A government spokesperson said: “We’re
disappointed that this report does not accurately reflect the evidence
we gave to the UN, and fails to recognise
all the progress we’ve made to empower disabled people in all aspects
of their lives.

“We spend over £50bn a year to support disabled people and those with
health conditions – more than ever before, and the second highest in
the G7.

“We’re committed to furthering rights and opportunities for all
disabled people, which is why it is encouraging that almost 600,000
disabled people have
moved into work in the UK over the last four years.

“We’re also a recognised world leader in disability rights and
equality, which is why we supported the development of the UN
convention.”
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/31/un-panel-criticises-uk-failure-to-uphold-disabled-peoples-rights

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Kate Sang writes: Without accessible conferences, we lose the voices of disabled academics

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Conferences are an essential part of academic life. But disabled
attendees can struggle with accessibility, socialising and fatigue

Kate Sang is professor of gender and employment studies at Heriot-Watt
University

Academic conference season is in full swing. For early-career
researchers, conferences offer opportunities to share ideas and build
networks. More established
academics attend to meet with colleagues, old friends and learn about
the latest work in their field. But they can also be a stressful,
distressing and
exhausting experience, particularly for disabled academics. Their
first thought will not be the speaker line-up, but the
accessibility
 of conference buildings. This includes the location of the conference
venue – is it within easy reach of the closest airport? Are there
wheelchair accessible
hotels nearby? Even once answers to these questions have been
obtained, there can still be barriers. I recently interviewed over 60
disabled academics in the UK for a research project. One participant,
Anne*, told me that she had researched a recent conference carefully,
sourced finance to support her carer’s attendance and hired a
motorized wheelchair. The conference organisers insisted that the
venue was wheelchair accessible. Arriving at the hotel, Anne found
that there were steps to enter the building and she had to use the
delivery entrance. Once inside it was clear that the
lecture halls were not wheelchair accessible. Having spent
considerable amounts of money, she had to sit outside the venue while
her carer attended the
sessions and took notes. Some academics love networking, others hate
it, but for disabled academics the challenges go beyond personal
preference. Anne said she was unable to fully
take part in informal research discussions as she had missed the
sessions with her project team. Susan, an academic recently diagnosed
with an autism spectrum
disorder, finds networking very tiring, and at times impossible.
Equally, attending the conference dinner is a key part of the
conference experience, but for some academics it isn’t an option.
Conferences may start at
8am, going through to 6pm, by which time disabled academics can be too
tired to continue working at the conference dinner. Dinners can also
be problematic for academics with specific dietary needs. Alison, a
researcher with a neurological disorder that is partially managed
through a strict diet, has to miss conference dinners, returning to
her self-catering accommodation to prepare food. If an academic with
coeliac disease
accidentally eats wheat in conference catering, the consequences can
be embarrassing. Not least given the inaccessibility or lack of
availability of bathroom
facilities, which were reported to be a significant barrier to
conference participation.

Fatigue is one of the other primary barriers for disabled academics
attending conferences. Academics told me they had fallen asleep at tea
breaks or during sessions. For some, end of day socialising was
impossible, with researchers returning to their
rooms to sleep. Fatigue also extended beyond the conference. Laura
told me she needed to take time off work after a conference to
recover, a pattern shared
by many of the participants in the study. For some participants,
conferences were attended but at considerable risk to their health.
Difficulty accessing conferences and the informal networking makes it
harder for academics to build their networks and raise the profile of
their work,
which may negatively affect career progression. Promotion and
recruitment panels should consider the effects of disability in their
decision making.

Conference organisers need to make sure that all venues are wheelchair
accessible, that bathrooms are nearby and that the conference venue
and accommodation
are on accessible transport routes. The provision of quiet areas where
delegates can relax can also aid participation. It’s worth considering
the usefulness
of long conference days with a late-night social networking event
after, too. When conferences are held on university premises,
hospitality teams can ensure accessibility information is clearly
provided, including details of accessible
taxis and hotels.

Conference organisers are under increasing pressure to ensure space
for childcare provision, but it’s time for this to
extend to accessibility.
Otherwise we are missing out on the
contributions disabled academics
 have to make to our discussions.
https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2017/aug/31/without-accessible-conferences-we-lose-the-voices-of-disabled-academics
* Names have been changed











-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reache

[Ai] Paper of interest: Identity challenges and social experiences of higher education students with disabilities in Slovenia:

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Abstract




This article focuses on the experiences and experiencing of
disability, policies of self-understanding, and the life plans and
aspirations of students with disabilities. The article draws on the
results of a qualitative survey of students with disabilities taking
courses in various faculties of the University of Ljubljana. The
results show that students with disabilities are able to reshape their
identities in a way that does not consist of the disability
experienced, but is independent of it, and they are able to accept
their disability as the reality of life without losing their own
purpose of living and life plans.

Narratives of Slovenian higher education students with disabilities


Development of educational policies for children with disabilities

Developing and educating children with disabilities in Slovenia has a
tradition going back more than 170 years. The first specialised school
for hearing-impaired children in Slovenia was opened in 1840, the
first classes for children with intellectual disabilities in 1911, and
the first specialised school for blind children in 1919 (Krek and
Metljak 2011 Krek, J., and M. Metljak, eds. 2011. Bela knjiga o
vzgoji in izobraževanju v Republiki Sloveniji 2011 [White Paper on
Education in Slovenia 2011]. Ljubljana: Zavod RS za šolstvo.
 [Google Scholar]
). The origins of categorising children with disabilities date back to
1958 in Slovenia with the adoption of the General Law on Education,
which stated that all citizens have equal rights to education and
development. However, education for children with disabilities was
based on segregation into special schools that had specially adapted
programmes for particular types of disability.

The abandonment of categorisation and segregation occurred only
recently, in the last two decades. Major changes were brought about by
the 1995 White Paper on Upbringing and Education in Slovenia, which
formed the basis for reorganising and reforming education in Slovenia.
In the context of these reform efforts, in 2000 the Placement of
Children with Special Needs Act (2000 “Placement of Children with
Special Needs Act [Zakon o usmerjanju otrok s posebnimi potrebami].”
2000. Accessed February 1, 2014.
https://www.pisrs.si/Pis.web/pregledPredpisa?id=ZAKO2062


) was adopted. The key purpose of the Act was to reduce segregated
forms of education and implement inclusive and more flexible forms of
schooling for children with disabilities (Krek and Metljak 2011
Krek, J., and M. Metljak, eds. 2011. Bela knjiga o vzgoji in
izobraževanju v Republiki Sloveniji 2011 [White Paper on Education in
Slovenia 2011]. Ljubljana: Zavod RS za šolstvo.
 [Google Scholar]
). The Act of Long Duration Treatment, Insurance for Long Duration
Treatment and Personal Assistance (2008 “Act of Long Duration
Treatment, Insurance for Long Duration Treatment and Personal
Assistance [Zakon o dolgotrajni oskrbi, osebni asistenci in
zavarovanju za dolgotrajno oskrbo].” 2008. Accessed February 1, 2014.
https://www.pisrs.si/Pis.web/pregledPredpisa?id=ZAKO6858


), which was adopted in 2008, ensures that children with disabilities
have the option of full integration and participation in the
community, and that they do not need to live in a special environment.
Ten years after launching the programme for inclusion in primary and
secondary forms of education with additional individual assistance
programmes in learning and life, the results of these reform measures
are already becoming visible in increased enrolment levels in tertiary
education.

According to internal university reports in 2016, students with
disabilities at the three public universities in Slovenia accounted
for approximately 0.50% of the total student population: the
University of Ljubljana had 308 or 0.56% of students with disabilities
(University of Ljubljana 2016 University of Ljubljana. 2016.
Poslovno poročilo in poročilo o kakovosti [Business and Quality
Report] (internal report). Ljubljana: University of Ljubljana.
 [Google Scholar]
); the University of Maribor had 38 students or 0.24% of students with
disabilities (University of Maribor 2016 University of Maribor.
2016. Letno poročilo [Annual Report] (internal report). Maribor:
University of Maribor. Internal Material.
 [Google Scholar]
); and the University of Primorska had 21 or 0.41% of students with
disabilities (University of Primorska 2016 University of Primorska.
2016. Letno poročilo [Annual Report] (internal report). Koper:
University of Primorska.
 [Google Scholar]
).

According to the Placement of Children with Special Needs Act (2000
“Placement of Children with Special Needs Act [Zakon o usmerjanju
otrok s posebnimi potrebami].” 2000. Accessed February 1, 2014.
https://www.pisrs.si/Pis.web/pregledPredpisa?id=ZAKO2062


), students with disabilities include those students who are blind and
visually impaired, deaf and hard-of-hearing students, students with
speech and language impairments, students with 

[Ai] Zoo visit a wildlife class for blind students

[avinash shahi via Ai]

LUCKNOW: As many as 35 visually
challenged children
 and youths were taken for an excursion to the city
zoo
 on Saturday. The children learnt about wild animals by touching their
statues and talking to
zoo keepers.
For 18-year-old
Ashish,
who is visually impaired since birth, it was no less than an
adventure. "A swamp deer has so many antlers, I thought animals have
only two horns," he said.
The group was also taken on a toy train ride..
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/zoo-visit-a-wildlife-class-for-disabled/articleshow/60242853.cms

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

Re: [Ai] Delhi HC observed: Differently-abled don’t have substantive equality

[avinash shahi via Ai]

As far as I know, majority of examination conducting agencies clearily
stipulate in the advertisements that the agencies will not be
responsible if candidates miss the exams at any cost and in any
circumstances. I don't know whether the DU's call for application had
this clause or not.



On 8/25/17, George Abraham via Ai  wrote:
> But the real question is whether the court and the people would respond the
> same way if the candidate who missed the interview/exam was a nondisabled
> individual.
>  I am sure hundreds of people miss important exams/interviews etc. due to
> break down of public services.
> -Original Message-
> From: Ai [mailto:ai-boun...@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in] On Behalf Of
> avinash shahi via Ai
> Sent: Friday, August 25, 2017 10:16 AM
> To: Share, empower &Enrich
> Cc: avinash shahi
> Subject: Re: [Ai] Delhi HC observed: Differently-abled don’t have
> substantive equality
>
> The Delhi High Court should have taken stringent action against the Railways
> which was the real culprit.
>
>
> On 8/24/17, George Abraham via Ai 
> wrote:
>> I tend to agree at my own risk.
>>
>>
>>
>> From: Ai [mailto:ai-boun...@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in] On Behalf
>> Of Kotian, H P via Ai
>> Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2017 4:06 PM
>> To: Share, empower &Enrich
>> Cc: Kotian, H P
>> Subject: Re: [Ai] Delhi HC observed: Differently-abled don’t have
>> substantive equality
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi
>>
>>
>>
>> While reading this, I get a weary feeling. I am wondering, is this not
>> taking disability as an excuse and would a judgement would be given to
>> an able bodied in a similar circumstance?
>>
>>
>>
>> If the exam would be so very important, would anyone take a journey
>> for exam with such a thin margin with no backup plan. If the train
>> would have got delayed, it is still the railway problem? How about an
>> ablebodied taking the same train would it be perceived the same way?
>>
>>
>>
>> I suppose, these are questions which are best unanswered. My fear is
>> such rulings would misfire against us when we need it the most. This
>> has made a precedence. The good part of this episode, no one
>> approached the court and the court took it on to itself.
>>
>>
>>
>> Harish.
>>
>>
>>
>> From: Ai [mailto:ai-boun...@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in] On Behalf
>> Of Arun Kumar Dua via Ai
>> Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2017 2:09 PM
>> To: ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
>> Cc: Arun Kumar Dua 
>> Subject: [Ai] Delhi HC observed: Differently-abled don’t have
>> substantive equality
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi all
>> The detailed report of NDTV is pasted below as required by Avinash
>> shahi
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> The bench said the obstruction to the student in accessing the
>> reserved compartment of the train "was in violation of his
>> constitutional right to equality and non-discrimination, and a breach
>> of statutory duty of the respondent (Railway)".
>>
>>
>> New Delhi:  Despite the constitutional guarantee of equality before
>> law, the harsh reality is that disabled persons do not have any
>> substantive equality, the Delhi High Court observed on Tuesday.
>>
>> A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar
>> further said it was the responsibility of every authority and person
>> to ensure social justice and equality to the marginalised as well as
>> implement the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act,
>> 2016.
>>
>> "Despite the constitutional guarantee by Article 14 of equality before
>> law and equal protection of the laws, it is a harsh reality that
>> substantive equality has not been ensured to such disabled persons. It
>> is the responsibility of every authority and person to facilitate the
>> compliance with the constitutional mandate ensuring social justice and
>> equality to marginalised and that the spirit, intendment and purpose
>> of the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016
>> are ensured," the court said.
>>
>> The observations came on a PIL initiated by the bench itself on the
>> issue of a visually-impaired man missing his M.Phil entrance exam as
>> he could not board a reserved compartment of a train since it was locked
>> from inside.
>>
>> The bench said the obstruction to the student in accessing the
>> reserved compartment of the train "was in violation of his
>> constitutional r

Re: [Ai] Delhi HC observed: Differently-abled don’t have substantive equality

[avinash shahi via Ai]

The Delhi High Court should have taken stringent action against the
Railways which was the real culprit.


On 8/24/17, George Abraham via Ai  wrote:
> I tend to agree at my own risk.
>
>
>
> From: Ai [mailto:ai-boun...@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in] On Behalf Of
> Kotian, H P via Ai
> Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2017 4:06 PM
> To: Share, empower &Enrich
> Cc: Kotian, H P
> Subject: Re: [Ai] Delhi HC observed: Differently-abled don’t have
> substantive equality
>
>
>
> Hi
>
>
>
> While reading this, I get a weary feeling. I am wondering, is this not
> taking disability as an excuse and would a judgement would be given to an
> able bodied in a similar circumstance?
>
>
>
> If the exam would be so very important, would anyone take a journey for exam
> with such a thin margin with no backup plan. If the train would have got
> delayed, it is still the railway problem? How about an ablebodied taking the
> same train would it be perceived the same way?
>
>
>
> I suppose, these are questions which are best unanswered. My fear is such
> rulings would misfire against us when we need it the most. This has made a
> precedence. The good part of this episode, no one approached the court and
> the court took it on to itself.
>
>
>
> Harish.
>
>
>
> From: Ai [mailto:ai-boun...@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in] On Behalf Of
> Arun Kumar Dua via Ai
> Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2017 2:09 PM
> To: ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
> Cc: Arun Kumar Dua 
> Subject: [Ai] Delhi HC observed: Differently-abled don’t have substantive
> equality
>
>
>
> Hi all
> The detailed report of NDTV is pasted below as required by Avinash shahi
>
>
>
>
> The bench said the obstruction to the student in accessing the reserved
> compartment of the train "was in violation of his constitutional right to
> equality and non-discrimination, and a breach of statutory duty of the
> respondent (Railway)".
>
>
> New Delhi:  Despite the constitutional guarantee of equality before law, the
> harsh reality is that disabled persons do not have any substantive equality,
> the Delhi High Court observed on Tuesday.
>
> A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar
> further said it was the responsibility of every authority and person to
> ensure social justice and equality to the marginalised as well as implement
> the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
>
> "Despite the constitutional guarantee by Article 14 of equality before law
> and equal protection of the laws, it is a harsh reality that substantive
> equality has not been ensured to such disabled persons. It is the
> responsibility of every authority and person to facilitate the compliance
> with the constitutional mandate ensuring social justice and equality to
> marginalised and that the spirit, intendment and purpose of the provisions
> of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 are ensured," the court
> said.
>
> The observations came on a PIL initiated by the bench itself on the issue of
> a visually-impaired man missing his M.Phil entrance exam as he could not
> board a reserved compartment of a train since it was locked from inside.
>
> The bench said the obstruction to the student in accessing the reserved
> compartment of the train "was in violation of his constitutional right to
> equality and non-discrimination, and a breach of statutory duty of the
> respondent (Railway)".
>
> In the case, the court said that while the Railway was responsible for the
> impairment of the rights of the disabled student, the Delhi University (DU)
> cannot isolate itself from taking measures to secure his rights.
> It said that DU will have to grant the student a chance to participate in
> the entrance exam for M.Phil (Sanskrit) course for the academic year 2017-18
> like all other candidates.
>
> The court said it was issuing the direction "to ensure equality and
> non-discrimination of a disabled person who is visually impaired and has
> been exposed to the most callous treatment because the respondents (DU and
> Railway) did not take effective steps as mandated under the Rights of
> Persons with Disabilities Act".
>
> It directed DU to conduct, within 10 days from Tuesday, an entrance exam for
> the student for admission to the M.Phil (Sanskrit) 2017-18 session and
> declare his result.
>
> The bench said that if the student qualifies in the exam and "is placed
> appropriately in the merit list", he shall be granted admission to the
> course.
>
> It listed the matter on September 5 for a report indicating that its orders
> have been complied with.
>
>
>
>   _
>
>
> Caution: The Reserve Bank of India never sends mails, SMSs or makes calls
> asking for personal information such as your bank account details,
> passwords, etc. It never keeps or offers funds to anyone. Please do not
> respond in any manner to such offers, however official or attractive they
> may look.
>
>
> Notice: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and

[Ai] Blind Professor has assumed charge as the head of the law department in Allahabad University

[avinash shahi via Ai]

As per the Jagran report, Prof Sidhnath Sonkar who's totally blind has
begun discharging his duty as the head of the law department at
Allahabad University. He did his LLB and LLM in early 1980s. He's an
expert in corporate/company laws and currently supervising more than 7
doctoral candidates. Read more in Hindi
http://www.jagran.com/uttar-pradesh/allahabad-city-blind-professor-is-hod-in-allahabad-university-16465036.html
-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Ray Bareli: 'bhukhe pyase divyang, samasya jass ki tass'

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Disabled people are sitting on hunger strike since early August, their
demands are yet to be heard by the district administration. Insofar,
Three strikies have been admitted in the hospital.
http://www.jagran.com/uttar-pradesh/raebareli-disableds-problem-not-hearing-16586310.html?src=Search-ART-disability

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Delhi HC observed: ’Differently-abled don’t have substantive equality’

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Can we get to know more about this observance? The Hindu has not
covered it in detail.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/differently-abled-dont-have-substantive-equality/article19542884.ece


Despite constitutional guarantee of equality before law, the harsh
reality is that differently-abled persons do not have any substantive
equality, the
Delhi High Court observed on Tuesday. It said that it was the
responsibility of every authority and person to ensure social justice
and equality to the
marginalised.


-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Blind entrepreneur Caroline Casey is travelling 1, 000km through Colombia to raise awareness of disability exclusion in the business worl

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Caroline Casey didn’t know she had been born legally blind until she
was 17. It seems remarkable, but she insists she had no idea that
other people could see better than she could – no further than a
blurry three feet in front of her. She found out on her 17th birthday,
after telling an optometrist that she was going to learn how to drive.
He turned to her mother and said incredulously: “You haven’t told her”
The Irish entrepreneur is the founder of business inclusion company,
Binc, and is demonstrably passionate about the need to put disability
on the global business agenda. Her story – told in 2007 at a Ted Talk
now watched by two million people – is one of defiance. As an adult,
she kept her disability hidden for 11 years, jumping from careers in
archeology, to restaurants, to being a masseuse, to a landscape
gardener. She went to business school and worked as a management
consultant with Accenture, but eventually her eyesight declined to
such as degree that she had to admit she needed help. “I came out of
the closet,” she says. “I realised these eyes aren’t going to get
better. It doesn’t matter if I work harder. I am me. And I’m
responsible for the life that I lead. Casey is about to embark on a
1,000km horse ride through Colombia to launch her global business
campaign on disability, #valuable. It’s not her first extreme
adventure – she trekked 1,000km through India on an elephant in 2001
after leaving Accenture, and took part in Around the World in 80 Ways
with double amputee Mike McKenzie and blind adventurer Miles
Hilton-Barber in 2002. However, she is keen to emphasise that “this is
not a blind endurance story”, but rather the first spark of a
conversation. “There are a billion people in the world that experience
disability. If businesses could see the value of those people as
consumers, as suppliers and as talent in the community … I think we
could go a very long way in eradicating exclusion. Because the issue
of disability [in the world] is not improving, not really." As part of
the campaign, Casey is asking 500 businesses to put disability on
their boardroom agendas at least once before the end of 2018. She’s
also looking for “the Sheryl Sandberg, or Bono, or Al Gore of
disability” – someone outside the community who will champion the
cause. “We can find people to stand for water. And we can find people
to stand for gender. And we can find people to stand for race. Why not
us?” Partner charity One Young World, which is hosting its summit in
Bogotá where Casey will end her journey, is also launching an
ambassador programme.
https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/aug/21/disability-is-uncomfortable-caroline-casey-valuable-binc-one-young-world
The benefits of engaging with the disabled community should be
obvious. US-based Return on Disability Group found the disability
market to be the size of China (pdf), with an estimated 1.3 billion
people and a combined disposable income (including family members,
friends, and caregivers) of $8 trillion (£6.2 trillion). Recent
findings also suggest that the US is losing more than $150bn (£116bn)
in tax revenue annually because of the number of people with
disabilities not in work. Up to half of the businesses across the OECD
pay fines (pdf) rather than meet quotas on disability in employment.
In the UK, the Disabled Living Foundation estimates only half of
disabled people of working age are in work, compared with 80% of the
non-disabled population. It’s estimated that a 5% improvement in those
figures would increase GDP by £23bn and add £6bn to the Exchequer by
2030. Despite only 17% of people being born with their disability, and
the vast majority acquiring it later in life, it’s still seen by many
as a sideline issue. “I’ve been in this space for 18 years, Casey
says. “I’ve raised a lot of money, I’ve set up not-for-profits and
methodologies. I’ve spoken to thousands of business leaders – and half
a million people around the world – on this topic. I never thought
when I began this, that the issue of disability in business wouldn’t
really change in 18 years.

When asked why she thinks progress in this area has been slow – at a
time when there are government initiatives to improve gender
diversity, for instance – she says there are several factors: “The
uncomfortable truth about disability is it’s uncomfortable. Most of us
are worried we’ll handle it wrong, say the wrong thing, do the wrong
thing,” she says. “I still think there’s a lot of sympathy and a lot
of charity,” she continues. “That’s not very empowering, although we
do need the services charities provide. The other part of it – and
it’s such a horrible thing to say – is the idea that the disability
market is not seen as valuable. I think businesses don’t see they can
do business with disability." Casey admits she’s only had three horse
riding lessons and is woefully unprepared for the physical strains of
the journey ahead. But she’s determined to show she’ll “go to the ends
of the ea

[Ai] Now Rs 3000 per month: Central govt doubles child care allowance for women with disabilities.

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://www.jagran.com/news/national-govt-doubles-child-care-allowance-for-women-with-disabilities-16566268.html?src=Search-ART-disability

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Shaju Philip reports: More than religion, society needs humanism: Muslim woman who married paralysed Dalit under fire from kin, community

[avinash shahi via Ai]

He is a Hindu Dalit, paralysed below the waist and wheelchair-bound
for 10 years. She is from an orthodox Muslim family. They met and fell
in love on
Facebook.
Despite the odds, M B Pramod, 36, and I Meharunnisa, 30, registered
their marriage on Wednesday at his home at Poonjar in Kottayam
district.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/kerala-muslim-woman-who-married-paralysed-dalit-under-fire-from-kin-community-more-than-religion-society-needs-humanism-4801928/
Meharunnisa, from Guruvayur in Thrissur district, has been under fire
from her community for the past three months. Relatives and community
members wanted
her to leave Pramod, telling her to “get out of the trap”. However,
she stuck to her philosophy: “We healthy persons should fill with joy
the lives of
the physically disabled ones. More than religion, society needs humanism.’’

Pramod was a cable TV operator. In 2007, he fell into a small water
body near his house. The injuries left him paralysed below the waist.
After doing the
rounds at a number of hospitals, he returned home in a wheelchair.

In the meantime, Pramod’s parents Mangattukunnel Balakrishnan and
Saraswati were diagnosed with cancer. Balakrishnan, a BSNL employee,
died in 2013. Saraswati
became the lone support for Pramod. The family survived on a meagre pension.

Pramod said, “I would frequent social networking sites on my phone. I
met Meharunnisa on Facebook two years ago. At the outset, I told her
about my condition
and other family matters, which should have made any woman keep away from me.’’

Meharunnisa said that as they became closer, she sought the opinion of friends.

“Most of them dissuaded me. They told me my life would be spoiled. But
I always felt it would be a great thing to contribute to the happiness
of others.
When Pramod spoke about his mother’s disease, I decided I should step
into their lives,’’ she said.

The two were married in May. It was a simple ceremony at Pramod’s
house. The marriage was registered under the Special Marriage Act on
Wednesday.

Meharunnisa, a graduate in education, said she has been targeted
online by members of her community. “My family and others thought I
was trapped. They
spread messages on social media groups that a Muslim woman had eloped
with a Hindu man. There were audio clips saying I should be brought
back. However,
there was no threat from anyone.”

She said her community saw the marriage only from a religious angle.
“People consider this love affair a crime. At home, no one speaks
about conversion
to Hinduism. I haven’t changed any customs because of the marriage,’’
said Meharunnisa.

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Disabled denied HPU seat in violation of Act

[avinash shahi via Ai]

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 16

Indu is feeling shattered. Having completed her BA from RKMV College,
Shimla, she had applied for admission to MA (Pol Sc) in the Himachal
Pradesh University.
However, she failed to get admission as under the old rules, only one
seat out of 40 is reserved for disabled students and that seat went to
some other
student.A meritorious visually challenged girl, Indu had moved from a
remote area of Chamba to Shimla to pursue higher studies but denied
admission to
MA under the 5 per cent reservation quota for the disabled.The same
thing happened to Jitender Kumar and Vijay Kumar, visually challenged
students from
poor families, who were denied admission to B Ed, citing old rules.
Another glaring example is of the Department of Economics where no
seat has been reserved
for the disabled, resulting in denial of admission to Ravinder Thakur
of Sirmaur.The provisions of reservation to disabled students as per
the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWD Act), have not been
implemented by the university.Apart from Indu, many other disabled
students like Jitender,
Vijay Kumar and Ravinder Thakur are running from pillar to post to get
justice but nobody is there to listen to their plight, said Ajai
Srivastava, a university
teacher and chairman of the Umang Foundation, fighting for the rights
of disable.The Act was passed by Parliament in December 2016 and after
receiving
the assent of the President, it was implemented on April 19, 2017.The
newly formed Disabled Students Association’s convener and a Ph.D
scholar Satish Kumar
said 5 per cent reservation was mandatory in each class and every year.
article end
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/himachal/disabled-denied-hpu-seat-in-violation-of-act/452694.html

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai

[Ai] Farukhubad Uttar Pradesh: "janpad mein divyang Kalyaan aur vikas Kendra khulega"

[avinash shahi via Ai]

http://www.jagran.com/uttar-pradesh/farrukhabad-disables-rehabilitation-center-to-be-opened-in-the-16533498.html?src=Search-ART-disability

-- 
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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..



To check if the post reached the list or to search for old posting, reach:
https://www.mail-archive.com/ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/maillist.html
___


Ai mailing list
Ai@accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in
http://accessindia.inclusivehabitat.in/mailman/listinfo/ai