NEW DELH: Participants in a meeting of disabled government employees expressed dismay over the fact that in the latest version of the Draft of the Bill to replace the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, the issue of reservation in promotions and other issues related to employees with disabilities that were contained in the earlier draft have been left out.
The meeting of employees with disabilities working in the central & state governments, banks, posts and public sector undertakings held in New Delhi on July 7, 2013 was organised by the Northern Railways Physically Handicapped Employees Welfare Association (NRPHEWA) in association with the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) to discuss issues concerning disabled employees.
The meeting noted with dismay that there is a huge backlog of vacancies against the 3 per cent quota for persons with disabilities in various government departments. The government is the largest employer and employment in the private sector is negligible. Reservation in Promotions; Posting near home-town; Enhanced pension for disabled employees on retirement; Disabled friendly environment at workplace; harassment of women employees at workplace etc were some of the issues that were taken up for discussion.
Employees with disabilities from various central and state government departments, PSUs, Banks, Postal department, teachers etc who participated in the meeting expressed displeasure over the fact that unions in their respective establishments were not raising issues concerning disabled employees. Against this background the meeting resolved to fight for their rights. They decided to form an association of disabled employees to represent them and place their grievances before the concerned authorities. It would be an organisation cutting across disabilities and would provide a united platform for such employees.
Various disability rights organisations and associations participated in the meeting held at the DSIIDC Hall, Connaught Place, New Delhi.