हिंदी
Delhi: 25 JAN 2024
A Two-day workshop was organized for all State Commissioners for Persons with Disabilities at the recently concluded International Purple Fest 2024 in Panaji, Goa.
The workshop covered two broad themes. First, how State Commissioners can play an active role in realising the rights of Persons with Disabilities under the RPwD Act, 2016. Under this theme, a wide variety of topics were covered such as measures for the Commissioners to secure compliance with their orders, suo motu powers to address any infringements of disability rights and their duty to ensure timely and effective access to justice. The second theme of the workshop was the effective sensitisation of all the State Commissioners for Persons with Disabilities about the lived realities of the disabled.Illustratively, this included blindfolding participants while playing a movie clip to underscore the importance of audio description and asking them to communicate in a language they do not understand to underscore the importance of sign language interpretation. The workshop also encompassed a discussion with 21 Purple Ambassadors, each representing a recognized disability under the RPwD Act.
In addition to the address by Former Chief Justice of India U.U Lalit, the workshop also witnessed an evocative message from Justice A.K Sikri, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India & Patron-in-Chief, Mission Accessibility. Justice Sikri underscored the need for practical events such as these in order to bridge the gap between principles outlined in disability legislations and their actual implementation in the real world.
A key take-home message for all the participants was the conviction that Disability Commissions must continue to operate as robust watchdogs to safeguard disability rights.
