Disability Rights
What SLIC Does
DRI provides legal aid, takes up high-impact public interest litigation, provides access to the legal system and campaigns to improve facilities for persons with all types of disabilities. It engages in out-of-court advocacy and has initiated extensive work on law reform for people with disabilities.
Main Concerns
· Disability as a reason for discrimination and denial of reasonable accommodation;
· Lack of education opportunities both at the primary and higher levels and lack of support in the education system;
· Lack of skill development interfaced with market requirements, employment and livelihood opportunities, discrimination in promotions and emoluments;
· Lack of access in the built infrastructure, transport sector, services and products, communication and documentation;
· Denial of access to most Civil and Political rights
· Marginalisation and discrimination faced by women with disabilities
SLIC Impact
· In a matter of disability discrimination by airlines, the Supreme Court decision in Jeeja Ghosh vs UOI will now result in changing the entire system at airports to benefit hundreds of passengers with disabilities. Travelling by airlines is now non-discriminatory for passengers with disabilities with facilities such as kiosks at airport entrances functioning as help desks, facilitation of online bookings and check-in by making airline websites accessible, provisioning of facilities such as ambulifts, wheelchairs and floor walkers, making the security check procedures disabled-friendly, permitting the boarding of persons with disabilities, in-flight information and projection screens being made accessible.
· Around 1.5 to 2.0 lakh persons affected by leprosy who are newly identified annually benefit from the development of a new programme for the eradication of leprosy. In the writ petition, Pankaj Sinha vs Union Of India and Others, the Supreme Court on February 3, 2017 ordered the government to frame a new programme and formulate and adopt concrete measures for the eradication of leprosy. This order is significant since even though India claimed to have eliminated leprosy as a public health problem in 2005, it has the largest number of leprosy patients in the world and pockets of high endemicity report thousands of new cases every year. The campaign to identify new cases of leprosy conducted in 2016 also finds prominence in the website of the World Health Organisation.
· Institutions for care of intellectual and psychosocial disabilities are to be monitored for institutional reform by statutory bodies. In Reena Banerjee vs UOI, on the prevailing pathetic conditions and instances of ill-treatment, abuse and negligence resulting in regular deaths of intellectually impaired children in government homes across the country, the Supreme Court disposed the matter directing the Central Coordination Committee and the State Coordination Committees set up under the 1995 Persons with Disabilities Act to monitor, review, coordinate and evaluate the implementation of the programmes and the conditions of the Homes and for introducing welfare measures.
· Expanding the scope to include institutions being run for persons with psychosocial disabilities, the Supreme Court further directed the central and state authorities for Mental Health Services to inspect and evaluate the conditions of the psychiatric hospital and psychiatric nursing homes and other Mental Health Service Agencies and to submit reports to SC registry within six months.
· Army officers with a 100% dependent child with disability are now able to seek longer tenures in cities with necessary rehabilitation services. In Lt. Col. Anil Kumar Yadav v. Military Secretary Branch & Ors., SLP(C)351/2016, the Army Transfer Policy for Officer with dependant disabled children was challenged.
· Hundreds of hearing-impaired persons in Maharashtra who were denied driving licences are now entitled to get them.
· 124 suburban railway stations in the Mumbai railway system have been audited for accessibility features under directions of the Mumbai High Court.
· 20 persons with psychosocial disabilities who had been chained in a religious institution were provided relief.
· A key employment PIL achieved an order forcing Delhi University to honour the quota for disabled employees among lecturing staff.
· The Supreme Court, in Bashiruddin Qadri vs UOI, upheld the right of a person with cerebral palsy to employment and ordered that necessary accommodation be provided to the concerned person. This enshrined the concept of ‘reasonable adjustment’ to ensure that any disabled person can carry out their assignment without difficulty with the provisions of accommodations that are reasonable.
FACT FINDING REPORT ON RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN KALIYAGANJ AND RAIGANJ, DISTRICT – NORTH DINAJPUR, WEST BENGAL, INDIA
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“CRPD”) does not provide a definition of disability, ...read more
STATE CONSULTATION ON DISABILITY RIGHTS, PRISONERS RIGHTS, FOREST RIGHTS AND WOMEN’S JUSTICE.
DISABILITY RIGHTS Worldwide one billion individuals have a disability. Many people with disabilities ...read more
HOOGHLY DISTRICT MEETING
Disabled people face discrimination on a daily basis. In this competitive and overpopulated world, finding proper empl ...read more
NORTH DINAJPUR DISTRICT MEETING
Article 15(1) enjoins on the Government not to discriminate against any citizen of India (including disabled) on the ...read more
MALBAZAR DISTRICT MEETING
Trafficking in persons is a serious crime and a grave violation of Human Rights, every year, thousands of women and ch ...read more
HOOGHLY STUDENTS HUMAN RIGHTS MEETING
Sexual minorities are groups of people whose sexual orientation, gender identity, or sexual characteristics are differ ...read more
Kolkata Meeting
Census 2011 pegs the number of persons with disabilities in India at 26.9 million, which is 2.12% of the ...read more
North Dinajpur District Meeting
Census 2011 pegs the number of persons with disabilities in India at 26.9 million, which is 2.12% of th ...read more
State Level Meeting on Violation of Human Rights in West Bengal During Covid 19
Prior to the announcement of the National Lockdown on 25 March 2020, a number of courts had shut down in response to t ...read more
District Meeting on Disability Rights
Census 2011 pegs the number of persons with disabilities in India at 26.9 million, which is 2.12% of the popu ...read more
COVID-19 VACCINATION FOR PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS-WEST BENGAL
Covid Crisis Support Network & Ors vs. The Union of India & Ors W.P.A. (P) No. 159 of 2021
Pending
National Human Rights Commission Directs State Authorities to conduct Investigation into the missing of Physically Disabled person.
Ramachandra Rout- Case No. 1091 /2021-
Disposed off
Deficiencies in services causes death of girl with Physical Disability
Sushil Kumar Magar Vrs State of Odisha -W.P.(C) No. 16079 of 2021
Pending
Webinar on District Meeting on Disability Rights
Census 2011 pegs the number of persons with disabilities in India at 26.9 million, which is 2.12% of the populatio ...read more
PIL Filed for disabled person in Madhya Pradesh during COVID-19
WP (PIL) 7794/2020 Akhilesh V/S State Of MP
Disposed
Pension Scheme for person with disability
Shekh Ahmed Aman versus State of Jharkhand and ors. [WPC/1422/2020]
Disposed
Rights and Challenges faced by Students with Disability, Girl Students and Students from Scheduled Caste Community
"Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in bre ...read more
Challenging rejection of reservation for Persons with Disabilities
George Paily Vs. Union of India, W.P. (C) 2508/2020
Pending
Bombay High Court directs the State Government to conduct training and awareness programmes on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016
All India Handicapped Foundation v. State of Maharashtra
Pending
Disability and the Law
Edited by Shruti Pandey, Priyanka Chirimar A compilation of judgements enunciating and expanding the rights of persons ...read more
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protections of Rights and Full Participation) Act of 1995 (Training Mo ...read more
The Right to Health of Persons with Disabilities in India : Access to and Non-Discrimination in Health Care for Persons with Disabilities
Edited by Jayna Kothari, Rajive Raturi The right to health as covered under the UN Convention on the Rights of Person ...read more
A Handbook on Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 came into force with effect from 19 April, 2017. In this handbook, im ...read more
A Handbook on Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 (Hindi)
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 came into force with effect from 19 April, 2017. In this handbook, im ...read more
SLIC files PIL seeking implementation of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 for treatment of thalassemia patients
Socio-Legal Information Centre filed a fresh Public Interest Litigation (PIL), in the Supreme Court of India on Friday ( ...read more
Harmonizing Laws with the UNCRPD
Edited By Dr. Amita Dhanda, Rajive Raturi In order to assist the Indian Government to fulfill these obligations under ...read more
Delhi HC offers interim relief to dyslexic student who was denied opportunity to apply for bank position
W.P.(C) 5030/2018 & CM No. 19388/2018 ROHAN GUPTA Vs STATE BANK OF INDIA & Ors Rohan Gupta is a dyslexic d ...read more
Call for applications: Regional training for DPO’s and Lawyers on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016
Are you a young lawyer, law student or social activist who wishes to work in the defense of the rights of persons with d ...read more
Supreme Court directs reservation in promotion for disabled persons in Government jobs
In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court set aside Government of India instructions disallowing reservation in promotio ...read more