NEW DELHI, Feb 3 (AFP): Thousands of disabled people protested in the Indian capital on Monday, demanding parliament pass long-awaited legislation that gives them equal rights including to education and employment.
Thousands with intellectual or physical impairments gathered to support the bill drafted for the country's 40-90 million disabled people, who have long been among the most excluded and stigmatised in society.
"We have been waiting since independence for this, some of us even longer," National Association of the Deaf president Zorin Singha said of the country's estimated 18 million deaf people.
"This bill will change everything for us," he told AFP, sitting in front of India Gate among a crowd of supporters waving placards that read, "We want our rights, not your charity".
Indian political boss Sonia Gandhi has pledged to push for the bill's passing when the national parliament sits this week for the final session before her ruling Congress party faces general elections due by May.
But its introduction and passage through the chaotic and often dysfunctional parliament is uncertain, with 126 other bills already pending in the parliament which is set for a 16-day session.
Singha singled out the right to education as a highlight of the bill, which will guarantee that disabled students are entitled to teachers trained to meet their needs.
Thousands of India\\\'s disabled protest to demand equal rights
FE Team | Published: February 04, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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