How India’s disabled community fought to halt a legislative change amid the lockdown – and won

A government plan to dilute the Disabilities Act to enable ease of doing business was blocked even though the usual tools of protest were unavailable.

Nipun Malhotra

· Jul 10, 2020 · 11:30 am

India wants to dilute its Disabilities Act – to enable ease of doing business

An amendment seeks to decriminalise minor offences and have some cases settled outside court.

Nipun Malhotra

· Jul 06, 2020 · 07:30 am

Coronavirus: For Persons with Disabilities, avoiding Covid-19 poses special challenges

For a person like me, social distancing is impossible due to the dependence on others to fulfill physiological requirements.

Nipun Malhotra

· Mar 19, 2020 · 06:30 am

In CAA-NRC debate, the impact on the 2.2% of Indians with disabilities is being ignored

Social stigma ensures that Persons with Disabilities are locked up at home and not officially recorded in India’s population records.

Nipun Malhotra

· Dec 31, 2019 · 12:30 pm

First person: Why I don’t want to be called ‘differently abled’

It’s time we normalise disability by referring to the disabled as ‘disabled’.

Nipun Malhotra

· Jun 13, 2019 · 06:30 am

Persistence: The one lesson the disability rights movement in India can offer to the LGBT movement

The battle has just begun. But cause by cause, case by case, change will happen.

Nipun Malhotra

· Sep 10, 2018 · 08:00 am

First person: Why disabled people like me are disappointed about the ban on plastic straws

The global disabled community has come to appreciate plastic straws for their strength, flexibility and safety that no alternative comes close to matching.

Nipun Malhotra

· Jul 23, 2018 · 08:00 am

How Delhi High Court empowered the disabled by staying government plan to buy high-floor buses

In its June 1 ruling, the court also accused the state of ‘treating the disabled as non-existent or as not having any rights’.

Nipun Malhotra

· Jun 15, 2018 · 10:30 am

Valson Thampu’s memoir of running St Stephen’s College is as stormy as his days as principal there

This is one side of the story of how he pursued change while negotiating constant opposition

Nipun Malhotra

· Dec 02, 2017 · 08:30 am

Should the disabled go to separate schools or should all schools have education about disabilities?

Two court observations on education show how society could either include or isolate the disabled.

Nipun Malhotra

· Nov 30, 2017 · 02:30 pm

There are more films with disabled characters, and that can only be a good thing

Whatever their merits, the movies represent growing mainstream acceptance of the various aspects of coping with disability.

Nipun Malhotra

· May 07, 2017 · 01:30 pm

India's disability law is a step forward for rights of disabled when it could have been a giant leap

The Rights to Persons with Disabilities Bill, passed by both houses of Parliament last week, leaves much to be desired.

Nipun Malhotra

· Dec 19, 2016 · 06:30 pm