THOUSANDS of disabled people from various parts of the country representing fourteen organisations met at Jantar in a Disabled People’s Assembly, on February 10. The Assembly was convened by the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD).
The focus of the Assembly was on the issue of the meager amount disbursed through the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension, which remains at a paltry Rs 300 since 2012.
The following Members of Parliament spoke expressing their solidarity with the cause and promising to take up the issue during the discussion on the Union Budget: John Brittas, V Sivadasan, Bikashranjan Bhattacharjee, AA Rahim (all CPIM)); Tiruchi Siva (DMK), Javed Ali Khan (SP), Fouzia Khan (NCP), Masum Noor (TMC), P Santosh Kumar (CPI), Jose K Mani (KC-M), Haris Beeran (IUML), Ajithkumar Buyan (Ind) and Mahua Maaji (JMM).
Various office bearers of the NPRD and also representatives from state organisations spoke at the meeting.
A memorandum containing the issues discussed at the Assembly was submitted to the Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, Virendra Kumar.
The Assembly also strongly condemned the Delhi Police for cancelling the permission granted for holding the Assembly at the Major Dyan Chand Stadium at the last minute, forcing the NPRD to hold it at Jantar Mantar.
The Assembly noted that the eligibility criteria for the pension scheme itself is exclusionary in nature. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 recognises persons with 40 per cent or more of a disability as Persons with Benchmark Disabilities and makes them eligible for various entitlements. However, to be eligible for the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDS) one has to have a disability of 80 per cent or above and be in the BPL category. Also they have to attain 18 years of age. No wonder the scheme covers only 3.84 per cent of the disabled population identified by the 2011 census.
Taking this into account the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment in a report had recommended that pension amount be increased to a “reasonable amount with the provision for periodic revision so that the poor and needy disabled persons get a decent amount of pension to fulfill their basic needs”.
While states have their own schemes, paucity of funds acts as a hindrance in many states. In such a situation, it is incumbent upon the central government to increase budgetary spending for pension for the disabled, who encounter multiple levels of marginalisation.
The Assembly called on the Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment to impress upon the Ministry of Rural Development to: enhance the central share of pension to Rs 5,000 to ensure persons with disabilities can live with dignity and support their basic needs; enact a law guaranteeing disability pension as a legal right in Parliament on the lines of the Rajasthan Act of 2021; give pension to all those with 40 per cent and above of disability and removal of the other exclusionary criteria; and provide jobs to all disabled who register for MNREGA. Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act under Sec. 24(1) has the following provision: “Provided that the quantum of assistance to the persons with disabilities under such schemes and programmes shall be at least twenty-five per cent higher than the similar schemes applicable to others.
