New Delhi: Disability rights body NCPEDP on Tuesday stressed the need for political representation of persons with disabilities, saying a national discourse on this issue is also needed when the country is on the verge of ensuring faster reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and Assemblies.
Speaking to news agency, Arman Ali, Executive Director of The National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), said disability continues to be viewed largely through a welfare lens rather than as an issue of equal participation and rights.
“If you look at disability only as a cost — giving pension, free aids and appliances and scholarships — that’s important, but my argument is disabled people are always an afterthought and this will not change unless and until we have a seat at the table,” he said.
Ali said persons with disabilities (PwDs) remain excluded from decision-making spaces and stressed the need for inclusion. “We want to know what is happening in our country. Nation-building is happening, but we also need to be part of it,” he said.
Speaking on the demand for reservation for persons with disabilities alongside the women’s reservation debate, Ali proposed either a separate reservation for persons with disabilities or their inclusion within existing reservation frameworks, including women’s reservation or Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe quotas, along with proportional representation in legislatures.