Relevance: GS-2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions, and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

Key Phrases: Draft of the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities, United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016, Incheon goals, Political participation of persons with disabilities.

Why in News?

• The Department of Empowerment of Person with Disabilities (DoEPwD) recently released the Draft of the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities (“Policy”).

Need for the New Policy:

• The necessity for a new policy that replaces the 2006 policy was felt because of:
  • India’s signing of the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
  • Enactment of new disability legislation (Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016) which increased the number of disabilities from seven conditions to 21 and
  • Being a party to the Incheon Strategy for Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities, 2013-2022 (“Incheon commitment”).

Changing the discourse around disability:

• The above mentioned commitments have changed the discourse around disability by shifting the focus from the individual to society, i.e., from a medical model of disability to a social or human rights model of disability.
• The principle of the draft policy is to showcase the Government’s commitment to the inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities by providing a mechanism that ensures their full participation in society.
• In furtherance of this commitment, the policy document highlights a detailed commitment to
  • education,
  • health,
  • skill development and employment,
  • sports and culture,
  • social security,
  • accessibility, and
  • other institutional mechanisms.

Political participation:

• Article 29 of the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities mandates that State parties should “ensure that persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in political and public life on an equal basis with others, directly or through freely chosen representatives.”
• The Incheon goals also promote participation in political processes and decision-making.
• The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 embodies these principles within its fold.
• The anti-discrimination commitment under this Act recognises the political domain wherein disabled people should be allowed to realise their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

India’s failure of cognisance of political participation mandates:

• The goal of the policy document — of inclusiveness and empowerment — cannot be achieved without political inclusion.
• Political empowerment and the inclusion of the disabled are an issue that has not found traction in India’s democratic discussion.
• India does not have any policy commitment that is aimed at enhancing the political participation of disabled people.
• The exclusion of disabled people from the political space happens at all levels of the political process in the country in different ways.
• For instance, the inaccessibility of the voting process, barriers to participation in party politics, or a lack of representation at the Local, State, or National levels have all aggravated the marginalisation of the disabled.

Ground realities of political marginalisation:

• Inaccessible electoral processes:
  • Section 11 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act prescribes that “The Election Commission of India and the State Election Commissions shall ensure that all polling stations are accessible to persons with disabilities and all materials related to the electoral process are easily understandable by and accessible to them”.
  • Although this mandate has been in existence for a few years, disabled people still report accessibility issues before and on election day(s).
  • There is often a lack of accessible polling booths in many locations.
  • There is still no widespread adaptation of braille electronic voting machines and even wheelchair services at all polling centres.
• Small vote bank:
  • Political parties in India still do not find the disabled as the large electorate to specifically address their needs.
• Lack of data:
  • The lack of live aggregate data on the exact number of disabled people in every constituency only furthers their marginalisation.
• Inaccessible politics:
  • The lack of accessible space for party meetings, inaccessible transport for campaigning, or an attitudinal barrier among voters and party leaders can be termed as contributing factors.
  • The disability is seldom highlighted in the manifestos of parties.

Inadequate representation

• Representation plays an imperative role in furthering the interests of the marginalised community.
• Our Constitution makers recognised this when they provided for reservation for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes in the legislature.
• Disabled people are not represented enough at all three levels of governance.

Welcome Initiatives from the States:

• Few States have begun the initiative at local levels to increase participation of disabled people. For instance, Chhattisgarh started the initiative of nominating at least one disabled person in each Panchayat.
• If a disabled person is not elected then they are nominated as a panchayat member as per changes in the law concerned.
• This is a step that has increased the participation of the disabled in the political space at the local level.

Need for a four-pronged approach:

• Capacity building:
  • Building the capacity of disabled people’s organisations and ‘empowering their members through training in the electoral system, government structure, and basic organisational and advocacy skills’.
• Legal and regulatory frameworks:
  • The creation, amendment, or removal of legal and regulatory frameworks by lawmakers and election bodies to encourage the political participation of the disabled.
• Inclusion of civil societies:
  • To conduct domestic election observation or voter education campaigns.
• Framework for outreach by political parties:
  • To ‘conduct a meaningful outreach to persons with disabilities when creating election campaign strategies and developing policy positions’.

Conclusion:

• The document emphasises the point that Central and State governments must work together with other stakeholders to “make the right real”.
• Despite the Draft of the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities being lauded for its objectives and intent, the aspects such as political participation and representation must be included in the policy as the inclusiveness and empowerment of Persons with Disabilities cannot be achieved without political inclusion.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question:

Q. Unless there is political inclusion of the disabled, the goal of inclusiveness and empowerment will remain elusive. Critically examine the statements in light of the recent draft policy for persons with disabilities.