THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The creation of a Department of Disability Affairs, six percent reservation for persons with disability (PWD) in government housing schemes, 100 percent school enrollment of children with disabilities are some of the highlights of the Policy for Persons with Disabilities being given finishing touches by the state government. The policy envisions the use of technological advancements to improve the condition of persons with disabilities in the state. The policy, sources said, has four focus areas: development, liberation, protection and accessibility.
Development is about creating conducive conditions to broaden the range of employment and economic development options for the people with disabilities. By liberation the policy means freedom from victimhood and the attitudinal barriers of the society. “One of the greatest hurdles faced by PWDs while trying to access mainstream programmes is the negative attitudes of the society. The draft speaks of educative and awareness campaigns to sensitise the public,” a top Social Justice official said.
Protection involves a commitment by the state to protect their ‘un-evolved’ capacities. This will also involve the provision of shelter and education. Accessibility refers to the creation of a free society that accomodates the diverse needs of the PWDs. This will involve the development of an accessible, affordable multi-model public transport system, with features which are essential to disabled people with greater mobility and communication needs.
“This also means the disabled population should be able to move around the environment freely and have access to information in a usable form through braille or tactile or audio, sign language, visual and other forms of communication,” the official said. The state of disability is one or other form of sensory and motor and/or intellectual limitation. Based on this classification, the demographic share of PWDs is 2.7 percent of the state's population based on the 2011 census.
