Insensitivity continued

We welcome the two per cent education cess and the fact that more money will be made available for education. However, this will not address...

We welcome the two per cent education cess and the fact that more money will be made available for education. However, this will not address the issue of disabled children.

This is because the allocation goes to the department of education, ministry of human resource development and not to the ministry of social justice which handles the education of children with disabilities. Theseyuml;children will,yuml;therefore, continue to remain marginalised, irrespective of the cess. It is crucial to redress the balance by moving the education of children with disabilities from the ministry of social justice to the ministry of HRD.

Equity also requires that the education of all children should be the charge of a single ministry which should be responsible for guaranteeing 8216;eight years of school education and a nutritious cooked mid day meal8217;. Let us have a unified policy on education for all, regardless of their different abilities.

As far as the issue of price reduction for wheelchairs, crutches and rehabilitation aids is concerned, 98 per cent of the persons with disabilities are from low-income groups who generally cannot afford wheelchairs and crutches at any price. Merely reducing the excise duty will not remove the problem. This is alsoyuml;an illusion since the excise on steel has been increased. If those who need them are to have them, wheelchairs and other aids must be provided free of cost or at highly subsidised rates. The problem in India is of the ability to pay, not of need.yuml;A more meaningful and responsive distribution system would be welcome.

Ten years ago, a provision was introduced though our intervention in the Income Tax Act to help parents get a tax deduction on the savings that they made for the future of their disabled children upto Rs 20,000 a year. This would become available to the disabled child upon the death of the parent. This scheme was unilaterally removed by the present finance minister in his previous avatar. Will he now restore it?

The government has announced the establishment of a college of rehabilitation and a national institute for empowerment of persons with disability. Why is the government building more segregationist national institutes? In this budget, the finance minister has announced another national institute to be set up in Chennai.

This is a piecemeal response of professionals with their own vested interests. It amounts to institutionalising segregation and moving away from inclusion causing damage to the disabled and putting them away in a separate technical and medical framework.

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Dr Mithu Alur is the founder chairperson of the Spastics Society of India