Protests on Dec 3 to replace GOs with 2017 diff-abled rules

The protest had been planned on December 3, International Day of Disabled Persons. “We have planned to observe the International Day of Disabled Persons as a black day and to burn GOs framed against their welfare,” said Namburajan, State General Secretary, Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently-abled and Caregivers (TARATDAC), in a press meet, in Chennai, on Thursday.

Along with TARATDAC, three other organisations such as Tamil Nadu State Federation of the Deaf, National Federation of the Blind, and December-3 Movement, under the banner of Joint Action Committee of the Associations for the Disabled had planned for the protest.

Deepak, president, December-3 Movement, said that the Rights for Persons with Disabilities Act was passed in 2016 and the state government passed Draft Rules to implement the Act.

Initially, the Draft Rules had 68 rules under 14 chapters but later in 2018, the Draft Rules was withdrawn, and a set of new rules were framed in which there were only 25 rules.

“According to the new rules, the persons with disabilities were not given prominence in employment, education, social security, accessibility to voting and special court. The provisions were present initially in Draft Rules of 2017,” said Deepak.

He further said that a GO was passed in 2008, in which differently-abled persons working for two years under consolidated pay in government departments should be made permanent but even after 10 years the GO was not implemented. According to the new rules framed in 2018, there should be two commissioners for the welfare of differently-abled. First one is commissioner for the welfare of differently-abled and state commissioner for persons with disabilities. But the state government passed a GO in July and merged both the positions into one.

“By merging both the posts, the judicial power of the official had been robbed off and it is a blow to the welfare of the differently-abled. So, the rules of 2018, should be withdrawn and the Draft Rule of 2017, should be implemented,” demanded Deepak.