Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 18: The physically-challenged community has demanded that Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly should extend the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2016 to the State.
“The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill passed by the Parliament this week should be extended to Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest possible,” Khursheed Ahmad Malik, vice president of the Voluntary Medicare Society which works with specially-abled persons, told Excelsior.
Malik, who suffered a spinal injury in a road accident in 1987, said the present environment in Jammu and Kashmir was unfriendly with disabled and the new bill passed by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha during the winter session can make a sea change.
“The provision of punitive action will definitely bring about the necessary change in making various facilities accessible to people with disabilities,” Malik, a retired IAS officer, said.
Farooq Ahmad, who was all set to join the Indian Air Force before a tragic accident in 2010 that shattered his dream, feels that the new legislation should not only be passed by the State Assembly when it meets for Budget session in Jammu from January 2 next but also be implemented on ground.
“We have seen so far that the Governments have only paid lip service to the welfare of people with disabilities. We are begging for just a conducive atmosphere that will enable us to on our own,” Ahmad said.
Ahmad said it was imperative that people with disabilities should have access to educational institutions and sports facilities. “You never know … Jammu and Kashmir might just produce a gold medal at Para Olympics,” he added.
Malik said even religious institutions like mosques, shrines and temples should be brought under this new legislation. “I want to pray in a mosque but I cannot find a mosque that has the facilities that will allow me to enter it,” he added.
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