On Wednesday, the Centre informed the Delhi High Court that caretakers of persons with disabilities should be allowed to reach them “by exempting them from restrictions during lockdown or providing [them] passes in a simplified manner on priority”.
The information was given to Justice V Kameswar Rao after he had posted a query to the Centre seeking to know whether caretakers of such persons are exempted from the restrictions. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in response, told the court that on March 26, it had issued detailed guidelines to provide better facilities to persons with disabilities.
In an affidavit, the Central government’s standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia told the court that the guidelines covered various aspects. The guidelines stated that all information concerning the Covid-19 pandemic should be available in a simple, local language in accessible formats, including Braille and audio, for persons with audio/visual impairment.
The guidelines also stated that all emergency service providers should be trained to deal with persons with disability (PwDs) in the right way and on the risk associated with additional problems for persons with specific impairments. It also said that online counselling sessions should be provided for the PwDs to help them de-stress.
The court was hearing a plea by Varun Khullar, a disabled person and a DJ and music producer, who had sought directions to the Centre to classify caretakers, attendants and support staff of persons with disabilities as medical personnel and consequently grant them exemptions under the National Disaster Management Act, including but not limited to, their transit.
The plea filed through advocates Karan Mathur and Ivo D’Costa had contended that the petitioner was suffering from 100% disability and, accordingly, could not perform his day-to-day functions without the help of a caretaker/attendant.
It also highlighted an April 24 report by Hindustan Times which mentioned the various problems faced by disabled persons due to the lockdown and the absence of caretakers.
Following such submissions, the court disposed of the matter even though it did not pass any order on the resumption of public transport for caretakers.
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