Vikas Sharma
JAMMU, May 3: While the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act was implemented in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, but despite the passage of more than four years, the UT Administration has not yet constituted prescribed Fund meant for the Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
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Many States as well as UTs including the J&K, Ladakh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Mizoram, West Bengal, Delhi, Daman and Diu have not yet set up the prescribed Fund for this purpose.
The PwDs expressed displeasure over the failure of J&K UT administration in framing the requisite rules and blamed the officials concerned for such a long delay in constituting the Fund.
“The Supreme Court also rapped the J&K Government for their failure to constitute the Fund meant for the PwDs and further instructed that the relevant rules had to be framed within six months of the enactment of the law,” revealed the official sources.
“It is the duty of State Commissioner to monitor utilisation of funds disbursed by the State Government for the benefits of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and perform such other functions as the State Government may assign. In this regard, there shall be constituted a Fund to be called the State Fund for persons with disabilities by a State Government,” the official informed.
The law for equal opportunities in J&K, the Act which provide equal opportunities, care, protection, maintenance, welfare, training and rehabilitation to the persons with disabilities was enacted by the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislature in the Forty-ninth Year of the Republic of India and received the assent of the Governor on 19th May, 1998, lapsed in 2019.
The said law was replaced in J&K by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016 and the Rules for this law were notified by the Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir on March 15, 2021.
In order to ensure effective implementation of the Central Law and the same adopted by the Social Welfare Department, the rules notified for this law are now called as J&K Rights of PwDs Rules 2021.
Talking to the Excelsior, a senior official of the Social Welfare Department informed, “As being in the office of Social Welfare Department, it is our duty to implement and roll out all flagship programmes under the RPwD Act in J&K, for the welfare of specially abled persons.”
“Compared to all other States as well as the UTs, we are much ahead in implementing all flagships schemes announced for the welfare of person with the disabilities in J&K. To constitute the prescribed fund in this regard, is one among our duties and we are working to sort out this issue soon,” he said and added. “The case in this regard has forwarded to the higher authorities and we are hopeful that this issue should be solved within this year,” he assured.
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