Backlogs, lack of roster among anomalies
SHILLONG: The Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) Kamlesh Kumar Pandey in his maiden visit to the State on Thursday advocated the need to strengthen the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities.
Observing that there is lack of staff in the department, he said, “It is the duty of the Chief Commissioner to monitor schemes, and in Meghalaya the State Commissioner has an independent charge which is a good thing but there is lack of contractual/part time staff. The State Commissioner’s Office should be strengthened.”
Briefing the press, he said, “Meghalaya is a small state and if the government works in every section, the disabled people will be benefitted by schemes of the government.”
“Disability is a state subject; the Central government gives a model and it is the duty of the state to implement it according to its need and vision,” he added.
Speaking on the State Co-ordination Committee and State Executive Committee Pandey informed that the State Government or the Centre has to constitute the coordination committee and its chairperson is minister for social justice which the secretary, Social Justice is the chairperson for the state executive committee.
The coordination committee, which should be re-constituted every three years, needs to hold a meeting every six months and executive committee should meet every three months.
However, in Meghalaya, he said, “The executive committee constitution is pending. It was re-constituted in 2008 and the last meeting was held in April 2010. The state coordination committee, however, was reconstituted in October 2016.””The executive committee, the meeting of which has not been held for six years now, needs to be reconstituted,” Pandey added. In this regard, State Commissioner for Disabilities C. Kharkongor said that the State Executive Committee will meet on February 16.
Meanwhile, Pandey said his office has given one circular to all state chief secretaries for the creation of independent State Commissioner and reconstitution of Committee. Stating that the state governments are indifferent to the circular, he said, “I will write a report and hand it to the Chief Secretary to implement it. This is what we call lack of sensitivity and vision, even laziness. They are not aware of the difficulties faced by PWDs.”
Commenting on the backlog in most departments, he said, “The departments are not maintaining a roster, hence the backlog. There is no particular data available in the state regarding backlog or how many posts are vacant for PWDs.”
In a meeting on Thursday, Pandey got assurance from different departments on the preparation of roster, searching backlog vacancies and conduct of a special recruitment drive in future.
Speaking on the new Right of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, Pandey said that the Union government is planning to implement it on April 14, 2017.
With regard to distribution of aids and appliances, Pandey said the department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) has conducted 4700 camps for distribution of aids and appliances and Rs 400 crore was spent on it.