He was speaking on the occasion of Inauguration of seminar on Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Commonwealth, here today. The Seminar was jointly organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat, and National Human Rights Commission of India.

The Minister said that provisions of the present act do fall short of the provisions of UNCRPD in certain respects and therefore, a high level committee of stakeholders to draft a new legislation to replace the PwD Act has been set up by the Government. “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, which would be suitably aligned with the UNCRPD” Shri Wasnik added.

Shri Wasnik also informed that action is being taken separately to revise other three legislations also which concern persons with disabilities, viz The National Trust Act (for people with developmental disabilities), The Rehabilitation Council of India Act and The Mental Health Act. The revision is aimed at bringing them in tune with the UNCRPD.

Shri Wasnik said that he firmly believes that it is our collective responsibility to ensure that all human beings including those with disability get equal opportunities to lead their lives with dignity. He said that India is committed to uphold the rights of people with a disability and the Government fully supports the need to shift attitudes in the way people with disability are viewed and treated, and to focus on disability as a rights issue. “The essence of our government’s policies can be put into three core issues - inclusion, independence, and empowerment. All Along, people with disabilities have endured isolation and segregation because of discrimination. Now, we strive to promote inclusion for people with disabilities in all aspects of the society. In the past, we presumed that disability meant a life of dependence. Now, we recognize that people with disabilities are differently –abled and want to - and can - lead independent lives and contribute to our nation's prosperity” the Minister added emphatically.

Shri Wasnik said that in the Commonwealth, a vast number of people are disabled and lack basic support services such as access to social safety nets, education, health services, and gainful employment. “To handle the disability issues in a better manner we all need to join hands and cooperate and coordinate with each other and learn from each other’s successes”, he added.

Shri Wasnik said that we have seven National Institutes in India for various types of disabilities which have over the years, developed expertise in their respective fields. Offering the services of these Institutes to participating representatives of the Commonwealth countries, the Minister said “At present these institutes are catering to our domestic needs, but we will be happy to share these facilities for training and exchange programmes for the individuals and organizations working in this field in the Commonwealth region”.