Team Blitz India
KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has said that the laudable policy inherent in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act should be implemented and not become a distant dream, and also added that the immediacy of action was warranted.
The observation by the court came while taking up a petition suo motu after coming across news reports of the suicide by a 77-year-old physically challenged man in Kozhikode district in January allegedly over non-receipt of disability pension for the last few months.
The court gave time to the lawyers of the Centre and the state Government to take instructions on the matter and listed the case for hearing on February 23.
The High Court said that the Supreme Court had observed that the RPWD Act visualises a sea change and conceives actualisation of the benefits provided under the said legislation.
“The whole grammar of benefit has been changed for the better and the responsibilities of many have been encompassed. In such a situation, it becomes obligatory to scan the anatomy of significant provisions of the Act and see that the same are implemented.
“The laudable policy inherent within the framework of the legislation should be implemented and not become a distant dream. Immediacy of action is the warrant,” the High Court said.
It further said that Section 24 of the Act deals with social security and states that the appropriate Government shall, within the limit of its economic capacity and development, formulate necessary schemes and programmes to safeguard and promote the right of persons with disabilities.