New law on disability soon, says Mukul Wasnik
By IANSFriday, January 14, 2011
NEW DELHI - The old disability act will soon be replaced by a new legislation that will be suitably aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik said here Friday.
“Provisions of the present act do fall short of the provisions of UNCRPD in certain respects and, therefore, a high level committee of stakeholders is constituted to draft a new legislation to replace the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act,” Wasnik said at the inauguration of a seminar on disability in the capital.
“The committee is going about its work in a participative manner and its recommendations are due by March end this year. Once its recommendations become available, we would take prompt action to replace the PwD Act with a new legislation,” he added.
The minister further said that action was being taken separately to revise three other legislations which also concern persons with disabilities — the National Trust Act (for people with developmental disabilities), the Rehabilitation Council of India Act, and the Mental Health Act.
