 Good evening and welcome to NewsClick. Today we have with us Mr. Murli Dharan. He is the General Secretary of the National Platform for Rights of the Disabled. Welcome Mr. Murli Dharan. Yesterday the Finance Minister presented the union budget. For the fourth consecutive year in a row, the budget neglects and excludes persons with disability. So, can you tell us a little bit about why is it that persons with disabilities and also so many disability rights activists are so unhappy and so disappointed at the latest budget? Disappointment, yes it is a huge disappointment actually it is not a small issue it is a huge disappointment. See we were looking for allocations especially after the passage of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act in 2016. It is a very very positive act in sense that is why it is a act based on the rights based framework. The various provisions they are they contain the act to implement those provisions adequate budgetary support is required. The act as such does not contain financial this thing. So, budgetary provisions or allocations are required for the implementation of the act. This as far as that is concerned it has been a huge disappointment because unless those unless allocations are made those provisions cannot be this this will just remain on paper the act will remain on paper. This is one of the things. See the various schemes that are there this schemes for implementation of persons with disabilities act that is there like this actually flows from 1995 act this is not a new scheme it is there from 95 onwards. So, the allocations for that has actually only increased marginally around 200 300 crores actually and now this thing is there. So, is now all those schemes accessible India campaign this government after coming to power has made various announcements actually. It is been huge on rhetoric and less on implementation the ground level. Now this budget last year they talked about making 500 railway stations actually providing lifts and escalators and all the elevators and escalators in 500 stations. This this time they said it to 600 railway stations. Now what implementation part what the prime minister has said in the annexure of that budget speech it says that around 300 odd stations I have been I am not correct figure it but above 300 odd. But the better this is actually after the last last budget or includes all stations which with the earlier also their escalators but they will also it is not clear about that. That apart this money would not be sufficient to do these things. Railway accessibility is not in terms of providing lifts and escalators alone. This is just one part of the solution and you see reaching to the coach is one issue boarding the goading the coach is another issue the height between the platform and the coach is such that a disabled normal disabled person cannot board the coach. This is one thing there are access issues access issues also differ from disability to disability. You are talking in terms of only those with physical impairment or wheelchair users but there are people people are blind for them what is what are the measures that you are taking for them for the deaf what are the measures you are taking them this is these are these are all things and along and this budget speech also the about the access this thing is talked about making public transport again this has been a long 1995 onwards we have talking about making public transport accessible. But at the procurement level at the procurement level when when you procuring buses for instance transport and procuring buses are those buses accessible on the one hand social security government is actually withdrawing from all these things there is a huge squeeze on these things and the amount of pension that is given given that interag on the national disability pension that is given for a last so many years it has been retained at 300. The government has not been increasing it see here one thing that has been noted is a disability is a state subject it is not on central is in the state list. So, but most most of the states have refrain from making special schemes or personal disability even in in our country also we had an act only in 1995 before that there was no provision for in person with disabilities only after 1995 we started talking about disability and try to bring it on the agenda even now it is not on the agenda I would say among the most marginalized sections. So, we have been asking for enhancement in this pension. So, now it is still at 300 and sent states are asked to contribute an equivalent if not more amount, but most of the states are not contributing. But after our campaign we have conducted struggles and campaigns in various states some states have increased to 1000 some say 2500 in Delhi it is 2500 like that. So, unless the state centers contribution also increases the states are not going to contribute. So, there is a squeeze in budget allocations for social sector spending. While with the passage of a bill like the RPD Act of 2016 it seems like there is some kind of movement towards a rights based approach yet now they do not even we seem to be fulfilling a charity based approach as well like there seems to be nothing actually in some sense with this budget. See this law 90 this 2016 act also has not come about just because some government official thought about the ministry wanted it to happen. India was India is a signatory to an this thing convention called the United Nations convention of rights of persons disabilities. We signed that in 2007 it is a very democratic a very right based convention it is a what is a implementing it in total in our country given our social and economic and political realities is very difficult. Our people when signing conventions they do not look at the need the find a print of it. So, you go and sign a convention you just earn this thing and come back. So, you have to look at it we are not against it we are for it for convention, but you should see the background in which this convention has been framed. So, now having signed the convention there is a need for implementing the provisions of the convention in your country. So, you have to change the law amend the laws or reframe new law frame new laws on the basis of provisions of the convention disability rights only this act alone is not enough. There are various laws in the country which need to be amended to harmonize it in in in accordance with the provisions of the UNCRPD. Even our constitution also article 15 1 and article 16 2 of the Indian constitution talk about grounds on which discrimination is prohibited. It talks of caste one which discrimination is prohibited, talks about language, it talks about religion, it talks about various other grounds on which discrimination is prohibited, but disability is not written there. The first thing that needs to be done is to include disability amend the constitution include disability as a prohibited ground for discrimination. The 2014 election campaign when Narendra Bodhi was in the campaign he used he was abusing his adversaries the congress saying these people are blind, they are deaf, they are lame. And he didn't use it one time he is not a slip of tongue or in the midst of something he said that he used in two two different meetings one in Varanasi one in Chennai and Chennai it so happened that the person was translating his speech from Hindi to or English to English or Hindi to Tamil local language was a person himself was a disabled person. So, he translated different but what what whatever it might be it is not because their perception has changed he may be using the term divyang now that is and then there is another extreme from use using the terms to abuse people with disability now we are seeking to connect them with God you connect them with God you say divyang but implementation you give them some rights that is what we are asking for. That's all we have time for at news click today. Thank you and keep watching.