New Delhi, April 14 Anticipating women's quota becoming a reality soon, experts have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale to also push for political representation for persons with disabilities, an official said on Tuesday.
The author of India's first-ever handbook on disability for Parliamentarians, titled 'Beyond the Visible: A Handbook on Disability Inclusion for Parliamentarians', Arman Ali, NCPEDP Executive Director, said, “While the Women’s Reservation Bill is a transformative step, it must also open the door for broader inclusion. Persons with disabilities remain significantly underrepresented in decision-making spaces. Ensuring their participation is essential for a truly inclusive democracy.”
While releasing the handbook last month, Athawale had supported the suggestion from the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) for a parallel national discourse on ensuring political representation for persons with disabilities.
Athawale also said that the upcoming Census 2027 is a big opportunity to recognise all 21 categories of disabilities through trained enumeration and vastly improved data collection.
The NCPEDP has now written to President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan, PM Modi, and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, as well as leaders across political parties, urging the inclusion of reservation for persons with disabilities within the broader electoral reform framework.
The letter highlighted that “political barriers” are explicitly recognised under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and the absence of representation often results in disability concerns being overlooked in policymaking.
With the proposed expansion of legislative seats, the NCPEDP emphasised that there is now a viable opportunity to create space for inclusive representation without affecting existing categories.
“India is home to one of the largest populations of persons with disabilities. As per the 2011 Census, over 2.68 crore individuals were identified as persons with disabilities, a number widely considered an underestimation. With updated data expected in the upcoming Census, the need for direct political representation has become increasingly urgent,” added Ali.
The NCPEDP has also urged Members of Parliament to take up this issue during the ongoing session and work towards integrating reservations for persons with disabilities within the broader electoral reforms.
--IANS
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