Agewise Disability in Jammu and Kashmir State as per Census 2001

Disabled population by type of disability,ageAge wtagewise disability in JK age and sex for State Jammu & Kashmir for General(Total) Disability Total

 Sr No Age Group TRU Persons         Males           Females

 1.             0-4        Total 22,226           11,929          10,297

 2.           05-09      Total 31,967           17,188          14,779 

 3.            10-19      Total 65,944          36,086          29,858 

4.              20-29     Total 45,301          25,912         19,389 

5.              30-39      Total 38,162        22,193          15,969 

6.               40-49       Total 31,152      19,153           11,999 

7.                 50-59      Total 22,514     13,564           8,950 8.

                 60-69         Total 21,118     12,054            9,064 9.

                 70-79        Total 13,938      7,899              6,039 

10.             80-89      Total 6,473        3,574               2,899 

11.            90+         Total 2,349         1,341              1,008 

12. Age not stated Total 1,526              923                 603 

13. Total Total     302,670               171,816            130,854

Conveyance Allowance for the Disable Employees

To The Honourable Chief Minister Govt. of Jammu and Kashmir Civil Secretariat Jammu. Subject: Conveyance Allowance for Employees with Disabilities. Respected Sir Humanity Welfare organization Helpline is a registered NGO working for the Rights of the persons with disabilities in Jammu and Kashmir state. We are doing advocacy for the persons with disabilities so that they can seek their due and live a dignified life. In connection to above cited subject it is requested to your good-self that According to civil service rules employees with disabilities are getting conveyance allowance under Article – 328 to 328 – D with effect from 1 – 12 – 1998. The allowance granted is Rs: 200/= or 5 % of basic pay whichever is less. Therefore all employees with disabilities get Rs 200/= as the amount is less than the 5% of the basic pay. It is also worth to mention that only two types of persons with disabilities “blind” and “orthopaedic” have been covered under the facility of the conveyance allowance. It is therefore requested that the amount granted is very meagre. Rising prices has created the economic instability and pay dissatisfaction. The persons with disabilities have special needs. They cannot travel in normal transport, mostly in peak hours of office and school trimmings. In addition they have problems in getting on to the overloaded buses. It is not easy to manage our conveyance in rupees 200/=. in many states the conveyance allowance for Employees with Disabilities is more than 1000/= rupees. Therefore it is requested to your highness that employees with disabilities may also be given at least Rs 2000/= two thousands as the conveyance allowance. So that they can also travel with dignity. The conveyance allowances enhancement will rightly prove the Equal opportunities, Protection of the Rights and full participation as guaranteed by the JK persons with disabilities Act 1998. 

 With Best Regards 

 Yours faithfully 

 Javed Ahmad Tak

 *Appeal to parents having children in age group of 0 to 7 years*

Pulse polio immunization is being organized by department of health. Take your children to nearest polio drops administering booth tomorrow Sunday 31st January 2021.

It is important to mention pulse polio is a safe vaccine in order to save our children from disability. Please don't ignore immunizing children but ensure their safety forever. Polio has already affected thousands of youth who are living under hardships. If you need any help to immunizing your children call 01932233141 / 127

*say no to disability and yes to polio drops*

Javed Ahmad Tak

Humanity welfare organization Helpline NGO

Bijbehara

J&K India

7006139823

National Disability Network India meets

 NDN and NCRPD Meeting

Date: 27.01.2021

Time: 2.00- 4.45 PM (5:15 PM)

Venue: Zoom

Participants:

1. Mr. Arman Ali

2. Mr. Akhil Paul

3. Mr. Anuj Jain

4. Mr. Ankit Rajiv Jindal

5. Mr. Arun Kumar Singh

6. Mr. Avelino de Sa

7. Mr. Akshay Jain

8. Ms. Anju Talukdar

9. Mr. Aniket Panda ( Sign-language Interpreter)

10. Ms. Anoushka Augustine

11. Ms. Asifa Parveen

12. Mr. Babu S Khan

13. Mr. Balbir Singh

14. Ms. Diethono Nakhro

15. Ms. Garima Shukla (Sign-language Interpreter)

16. Maj. General Ian Cardozo (Retd.)

17. Mr. Javed Ahmad Tak

18. Mr. Javed Hasan

19. Dr. J.S. Arora

20. Ms. Kanchan Panmani

21. Ms. Ketaki Bardalai

22. Dr. Ketna L Mehta

23. Ms. Kumari Vaishnavi

24. Ms. Mridu Goel

25. Mr. M. Srinivasulu

26. Mr. Narender Paul

27. Ms. Neha Arora

28. Ms. Niharika Das

29. Mr. Omprakash Sharma

30. Mr. Pradeep Raj

31. Ms. Priya Bhattacharya

32. Ms. Radhika Alkazi

33. Dr. Shanti Auluck

34. Dr. Sudesh Mukhopadhyay

35. Ms. Suvarna Raj

36. Ms.Tulika Das

Discussion:

Opening Remarks by Arman Ali

Arman Ali welcomed the participants and set the context of the meeting. Building on the

discussion in the previous NDN and NCRPD meeting held in June, 2020, he emphasized the

need to set a way forward in the form of building an advocacy agenda. He also gave an update on

the status quo of various activities undertaken by NCPEDP during the last few months which

include the proposed RCI Amendments, Draft Bill on University of Disability Studies and

Rehabilitation Sciences, 2021 and Suggestions for Budget 2021-22.

Overview of RCI and progress till present proposed 2020 RCI Draft by Dr. Sudesh

Mukhopadhyay

The proposed amendments to the RCI Act raises questions over the qualifications of RCI

Chairperson by introducing new criteria and tilting the post more towards the bureaucratic side.

The proposal also includes various new courses being added without actually delving into the

challenges. The lack of manpower and the challenges associated with it does not find mention in

the amendments.

The most striking amendment is the self-sustainment of RCI which has a direct impact on the

organizations and individuals working and taking courses under the RCI. With NEP 2020,

certificate and diploma courses come under the purview of higher education. But the proposed

amendments are not in alignment with the NEP 2020. It has also failed to see special schools as a

medium required for children with disabilities.

Courses have been divided into personal and professional and tends to overlap with NCT. The

reflection of disability as a state subject and PRI subject is not clear. Therefore, there is a need to

look closely at the aspects of Choice based credit and certifications, interlinkages between

different disability organizations and financial coverage.

Suggestion: White paper needs to be developed.

Gen. Ian Cardozo: There is a need to develop a Vision for the disability sector in terms of a five

year plan. Strategies should be structured keeping in mind views from the international, national

and regionals spectrums. Emphasis needs to be laid on understanding if the already existing

infrastructure of the RCI, National Trust, Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities is

sufficient.

The approach should be to work in tandem with the government which would in turn be

beneficial to the disability sector.

Mr. Akhil Paul: Responding to a point raised by Dr. Mukhopadhyay, Mr. Paul was of the

opinion that merging of courses is not lucrative. As such, a long term approach in the form of

social audit needs to be undertaken.

Mr. Narender Paul: Allocation of budget is either not utilised or underutilised, if we

collectively and cohesively work we can bring up the gaps in that to the ministry .

Mr. Anuj Jain: The importance of deaf teachers and hearing teachers should be recognised in

schools and higher education institutes. Under B.Ed. , Me. Ed. there is a need to rename hearing

impaired as deaf.

Ms. Shanti Auluck: We should work towards setting up a secretariat which will involve all the

organizations from the sector in order to provide a larger vision to the sector.

Update on State Activities by NDN Partners

Mr. Narendra Paul ( Himachal Pradesh): CORD has been working closely with the state on

short term and long term status of children with disabilities. Education of children with

disabilities has been affected due to COVID-19. Engagement of persons with disabilities and

government on livelihood strengthening at the grassroot level such as MGNREGA is happening.

A week in December was dedicated to disaster reduction and sensitization on disaster

management with the state.

Mr. Arun Kumar Singh (Jharkhand): The organization has been working in the field of

advocacy since 14 years but much of the work gets affected due to paucity of funds. And

COVID-19 had further deteriorated the situation. Pension has been delayed, disability certificate

camps have stopped. Antyodaya Cards have been converted to general/green cards where ration

entitlement is less than the Antyodaya. Education of children with disabilities has also suffered a

lot. Further, delayed responsiveness from the state authorities led to the death of two persons

with thalassemia.

However, some positive steps were also taken during COVID-19 like a two day workshop on

RPwD Act, 2016 as well support in the form of rations in rural areas was done in collaboration

with NCPEDP. A PIL has also been filed in the Jharkhand High Court for providing aid and

blood to a person suffering from Thalassemia. Steps are being taken for inclusion of persons with

disabilities in Panchayti Raj committees. Lastly, there is a need to create awareness around the

RPwD Act, 2016 as well as the 21 types of disabilities.

Ms. Tulika Das (West Bengal): Sanchar has been advocating with the Department of Education

for reopening of schools including special schools and to develop an inclusive SOP. Demands

are being made to ensure that no children with disabilities dropout from schools as that teachers

are considered a priority in vaccination. Lastly, with elections coming up in the state measures

are being taken to ensure that election manifestos include issues of persons with disabilities and

that the entire election process is made inclusive.

Ms. Vaishnavi Kumari (Bihar): COVID-19 has affected the education of children with

disabilities. Violence on women with disabilities and health issues have increased manifold and

the online assistance provided online has proved to be ineffective. Filing of PIL is another

challenge as the process is slow and leads to delayed justice for the victim.

Little relief was provided in the form of ration through NCPEDP.

Ms. Dietheno Nakhro (Nagaland): A lot of positive developments have been observed with

regard to persons with disabilities in the state of Nagaland. 4% reservation in jobs, special

prosecutors in courts have been notified as per the RPwD Act, 2016. Jobs have been identified

and published for persons with disabilities. As per Section 16 and 31 of the RPwD Act, 2016

inclusive education has been notified. Opening of a para sports committee has been initiated in

collaboration with the Nagaland Olympic Association. Monitoring of employment opportunities

for Pwd is undertaken in the state.

However, there are few shortcomings in terms of implementation. There is a dearth of special

education teachers. Identified posts were incomplete with regards to intellectual and multiple

disabilities.

Further, COVID-19 has brought to the forefront the need to create an inclusive disaster risk,

reduction and management. Vaccination has also been taken up with the health department to

emphasise on the need to give priority to persons with disabilities.

Ms. Ketaki Bardalai (Assam): During COVID-19, persons with disabilities were provided

individualized telephonic rehabilitation. The Awareness Generation Program conducted by the

Government of Assam was resumed at the State Level. Access audits have been conducted and

the construction of footbridges are being looked into to ensure accessibility standards are met.

Collaboration with the office of the Commissioner for Disability to increase the availability and

accessibility of information in braille and sign language interpretations. IEC campaigns are being

conducted to create awareness around making public spaces accessible by using radio jingles.

Persons with disabilities are still unable to access the reservations in housing related schemes,

aadhar cards are being denied on the ground of disability. Discrepancies in allocation of pension

to persons with disabilities has also been observed.

With COVID-19 bringing to the forefront the gaps in the disaster management authority,

awareness programs are being conducted.

Mr. Javed Ahmed Tak (Jammu & Kashmir): Intense climatic conditions for the past few

months have hampered the lives of persons with disabilities to access resources in the state. The

RPwD Act, 2016 has not been implemented and neither has the state rules been formulated. As a

result of this, the provisions for persons with disabilities as per the RPwD Act, 2016 is not there.

Implementation of NEP 2020 has been a major problem. Education of children with disabilities

have also been impacted due to COVID-19.

Ms. Mridu Goel (Uttar Pradesh): Helplines have aided in resolving problems of persons with

disabilities and it has also helped in creating medical and educational awareness. Access audits

have been conducted and a lot of the infrastructure audited were not accessible. Efforts need to

be taken to ensure new projects like RRTC under which construction of roads and depots are

sanctioned will be accessible for persons with disabilities.

Dr Ketna Mehta ( Maharashtra): The focus has been majorly on spinal cord injuries where the

network of hospitals is missing. It's important to run an awareness drive on spinal cord injuries.

Rehabilitation of spinal cord injury is an important area which needs to be developed. There is a

lack of registry which would serve as the database for the number of persons who have met with

accidents and have faced severe head and spinal cord injuries. A separate advocacy campaign

should be undertaken to make Spinal cord injury a separate disability.

Ms. Kanchan Pamnani (Maharashtra): The Bombay High Court has issued an order in favour

of persons with disabilities whereby it ruled that BMC has to provide salary to the disabled BMC

workers which was otherwise affected due to the lockdown. All grievance redressal through the

Disability Commissioner’s office has been made online. Further, the police officials played a big

role in assisting persons with disabilities during Covid 19.

National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 by Ms. Radhika Alakzi

The NEP, 2020 speaks in detail on children with disabilities and aims to change the core of the

education system by providing for new institutions, school complexes etc. While the Policy

speaks in detail about children with disabilities, it has failed to acknowledge the mention of

special schools. To this effect, a letter has been sent to the Union Education Minister apprising

him of the gaps in the NEP, 2020.

Mr. Amarjit Singh Anand (Punjab): The state disability rules have been notified recently.

Continuous follow-ups are being made with MP’s of various districts where there is a shortage of

assistive devices. A camp for 300 orphan inmates with disabilities was organized recently.

Another camp is in the process to enroll the inmates for disability certificates. Delay in pension

has been a pertinent issue in the issue with a backlog amounting to 7.5 crores.

Mr. Babu ( Karnataka): 4 RPD and 1 taskforce was selected for district level RPwD Act, 2016

implementation. Special provision was given to the Kalburgi division. Under 5% resource

allocation, 159 persons with disabilities got access to assistive devices, 95 persons with

disabilities got access to modified two wheelers and 257 ration kits were distributed from the

district administration. 810 persons with disabilities received pensions in Kalburgi. 1793 persons

with disabilities got registered under MNREGA and the Kalburgi division local body ensured Rs.

1.30 Cr for persons with disabilities in the 2021-22 Budget.

Further, six grievance redressal meetings were planned out of which 4 were held. More than Rs.

3500 crores were allocated by the state govt for pension. Two capacity building programs have

been undertaken during this year and 600 government school teachers have been oriented with

RPwD Act, 2016. 237 persons with disabilities from across the state were provided with the

information on udid, pension etc.

Two domestic violence cases were reported and the matter is being looked at. A meeting was

held with the Child Development Minister and submitted a memorandum.

Mr. Md. Yunus Khan (Manipur): Skill development center in the state was approached to get

an update on fund allocation and distribution. However, due to COVID-19, persons with

disabilities have been affected due to lack of coordination between various departments

concerning disability.

Concluding Remarks by Mr. Arman Ali

It was observed that there is a need for :

● Constant intervention at the state level vis-a-vis the implementation of the RPwD Act,

2016

● State level update of NEP 2020 vis-a-vis children with disabilities by intervening in the

NEP Tasks force formed in the states. Highlighting the gaps in the NEP 2020, a letter has

been sent to the State Education Ministers, Chief Secretaries and Chief Ministers which

requires continuous follow up from the state level partners

● Monitoring the State Budget and ensuring that it is inclusive of persons with disabilities

● Ensuring accessible elections at the state level

● Develop a strategy to ensure the exercise of Census 2021 is conducted in an accessible

and inclusive manner

● Strengthening NDN/NCRPD network by identifying new members

Overall there is a need to develop a five year roadmap for the disability sector with a cross-

disability approach.

Inclusive policy in Education for Children with disabilities

Introduction 

Disability means when a person has lack of a ability to perform functions what we expect from a physically or mentally fit person

 A person facing polio cannot run or cannot lift a heavy load and move. Thus we can say he is person with locomotor disability.

A person who cannot listen to voices and is unable to give instructions. He is called person with hearing and speech disability.

A person who is not a able to think or learn things or seek education is known as person with intellectual disability

But there is no evidence or example where we can say a person is unable to do anything. So a person with disability is a human facing some specific inability. Which can be ninimised or compensated with the help of Aids or appliances or some assisitive,/ supportive devices.

Disability is a challenge from almighty Allah the creator that you are one among big chunk of people having everything. But   you are not given Eyes/ legs/ fit brain/ power to hear let u show other humans how to manage life. Like a vehicle loses a nut bolt, its window pane breaks would we agree now it is not a vehicle. Obviously it is with some minor deficiency.

Inclusion is the solution to empower children with disabilities. Educational inclusion is highly needed to ensure education for all.  Otherwise raising slogan of 100% literacy is fake and unjustified. 

Inclusion means that no one is left behind and inclusive Education means to cater the educational needs of every student irrespective of caste creed religion sex and economic background. We cannot ignore our own child when he is not possesing colour of our choice. We will never prefer to segregate our one child from other children when he harsh in behaviour. We cannot keep our own child hungary because his mouth is not having proper alignment or he has no hands. Instead we will start the innovative methods to feed him best meal than other children. The child who is weak or sick is given more care in family in order to make him feel comfortable.

Today in government schools there is big hunt for Enrolment. Let us start prioritising the children with disabilities and other underprivileged children and start imparting Education to them through innovative Methods we will be 100% successful to retain the Enrolment. There will be a faith generaton for government teacher and government school that they imparted education to children neglected and underestimated by society, so they can give charm to our creamy layer and make them more presentable and worth giving back towards social development. 

So we need 

*Early Identification*

*Early Acceptance*

*Early Intervention*

Then to start with a teacher needs to remove barriers. 

Make school compound accessible.

Make school Entrance Accessible 

Make classrooms Accessible 

Make wash station and drinking water facility accessible

Make toilet completely accessible

Then we need to start need assesment of children with disabilities. We need to place 

A child facing blindness near the point where light and ventilation is available

A child with hearing and speech disability in first row where he can keep complete eye on lips and actions of teacher.

A child with physical disability near the door so that he comes in goes out of class freely without disturbing whole clsss or being left inside class at back when there is emergency call like valcano tremors or breakage of roof. 

Then start availability of learning material. Now soft books can be uploaded on mobile phone. Braille books are available with Samagrah shiksha and abacus and other things are a available on online shopping. 

For deaf and mute we can use youtube channels as tool to get lessons in sign language. 

At a minimum we can start these things.

We should write to zonal Education officers continuous basis.

We can utilise the service of special Educators or resource persons available with Samagrah Shiksha at district level. 

We can consult NGOs or individuals having know how of disability. 

The first need of child with disability for his legal identity as person with disability is Disability certificate that is being issued by the Medical Board available on some specific day in a week. Like medical board is available on Wednesday at Anantnag. The process is little bit different now. We have to fill online from for disability certificate on website www.swavlambancard.gov.in. then seeking a registration number we need to approach medical board. The doctors in medical board give collctive report and upload the disability certificate online. Thus alongwith disability certificate a unique  disability identification card or UDID card gets generated. Under that card all benifits and relaxations will be given to persons with disabilities in whole country. 

It is human duty of a teacher to help a student with disability to seek online disability certificate and a UDID card. 

The important responsibly of a teacher and ministerial staff is to know all circulars and orders related to disability from Education department in light of Right  to Education and the circular of relaxation from SCERT DIET & J&K Board of school Education. 

The clerk and teachers sshould know about circulars that

Children with disabilities are  exempted from all types of examination fee.

There is facility of scribe / amanuensis or helper for children with disabilities during exams for upper limb disabled and students facing blindness or weakness in arms due to cerebral palsy or neurological disorders.

There is provision of extra time of 20 minutes per hour for children with disabilities.

There is a soecific scholarship available for students with disabilities with minority affairs and social welfare department also.

The school needs proper consultation with Board of school Education while submitting secondary and higher secondary school examination forms.

From peon to principal everyone has role in staff of a school or educational institution to keep high support system for children with disabilities. 

We need multidisciplinary team to deal with children with disabilities. 

We need peer counselling to create Association of children with disabilities with non disable children. 

We need to create sense of belongingness among disable and non disable children. 

Our duties as teacher are vast sometimes more than a parent to empower students with disabilities. We need to know them. So we should hold an exclusive meeting on disability issues in our institutions. Formulate plans, implement them and take review what to do next. 

The students with disabilities need to part of picnics, school programmes, innovations, science exhibitions, seminars, debates rallies and discipline committees. Cant we make him monitor of class for a day? 

Census 2011 says there are around 361750 persons with disabilities in J&K but non governmental organisations and researchers in sociology say that around 10% of Jk population is facing one or other type of disability. Because conflict, road transport accidents various diseases and cross boarder shelling has added to the disability chart of J&K. 

 

As per rights of persons with disabilities Act 2016 there are 21 types of bench mark types of disabilities. These includes

*Blindness*

*Low Vision*

*Leprosoy Cured persons*

*Locomotor Disability*

*Dwarfism*

*Intellectual Disability*

*Mental Illness*

*Cerebral Palsy*

*Specific Learning Disabilities*

*Speech and Language disability*

*Hearing Impairment ( Deaf and Hard of Hearing)*

*Muscular Dystrophy*

*Acid Attack Victim*

*Parkinson’s disease*

*Multiple Sclerosis*

*Thalassemia*

*Hemophilia*

*Sickle Cell disease*

*Autism Spectrum Disorder*

*Chronic Neurological conditions*

*Multiple Disabilities including Deaf Blindness*

So these disabilities have been classified into 4 types of  main disabilities to provide 4% reservation in jobs and 5% reservation in Education admissions.

These groupings are 

a) blindness and low vision;

(b) deaf and hard of hearing;

(c) locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attacks victims and muscular dystrophy;

(d) autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness

Inclusive policy in Disaster Management for persons with disabilities

Inclusive policy in Disaster Management for persons with disabilities

 As a person with disability and living in hilly terrain of Kashmir in India I feel that disaster management is not inclusive at all. It needs immediate inclusion by following ways

There should be international standards and policy for handling of persons with disabilities during disasters.

The disaster management policy should include all types of persons with disabilities

The training of manpower to deal and rescue people should be trained well in handling persons with sll types and age group of persons with disabilities including women.

There should be mapping of persons with disabilities that too connected with GPS system so that during disasters they could be located and rescued

The rescued persons should be accommodated reasonably at places with availability of accessible information and aids and appliances. There should be privacy maintenance parameters and access to  medicines as well

creating awareness of stake holders, NDRF & SDRF TEams and persons with disabilities is highly needed

Javed Ahmad Tak 

Disability Activist 

Jammu and Kashmir 

India 192124

9469064964 WhatsApp 

7006130823 calling