The Prayas ePathshala

Exams आसान है !

Disability develops when people with disabilities run into environmental and attitude barriers that keep them from fully and fairly participating in society. From an individual-centered medical paradigm to a more inclusive social or human rights model, the viewpoint on disability has changed, highlighting the influence of social factors on the inclusion and involvement of people with disabilities. These factors make structured negotiation an effective strategy for assisting in the resolution of disability rights disputes.

Structured Negotiation: What Is It?

About:

Collaborative Approach: Structured negotiation is a cooperative, solution-focused approach to resolving conflicts that is gradually taking the place of litigation.
Focus on Social Welfare Law: Entails negotiating with service providers who are in default and placing a strong emphasis on adhering to social welfare laws.

Achievements of US Structured Negotiation:

Effective in Disability Rights claims: In the US, structured negotiation has settled several disability rights claims with notable success.
Resolving Accessibility Issues: Some of the accessibility issues that have been resolved include those pertaining to service provider websites, automated teller machines, point of sale systems, and pedestrian signals.

Situation of Win-Win in Structured Negotiation:

Concerns about Cost and Publicity: Service providers that default aim to steer clear of expensive legal fees and bad press.
Barrier-Free Marketplace: Through organised negotiation, complainants hope to achieve barrier-free marketplace participation.

Legal precedents’ function in structured negotiation:

Establishment of Disabled-Friendly Precedents: Structured negotiation requires a solid basis of legally protected rights, which is necessary for success.
Courts provide an accessibility plan that enables companies to guarantee compliance without facing legal action.

What Problems Do India’s Disabled Population Face?

Insufficient Knowledge of Government Programmes in Rural Areas:

The main issue is the general lack of knowledge about government programmes and benefits for those with impairments.
This problem is particularly severe in rural places where information dissemination is very difficult.

Restricted Employment and Educational Opportunities in Rural Areas:

In rural locations, prospects for education and work are limited for those with impairments.
Their inability to access inclusive schools and career training facilities impedes their ability to acquire skills and enter the workforce.

Inadequate PwD Infrastructure:

People with disabilities are frequently not accommodated in public settings, such as government offices, schools, hospitals, and transit systems.
Their movement, access to healthcare, education, and social and civic engagement are all hampered by this lack.

Children with Disabilities Are Not Included in Important Initiatives:

UNICEF emphasises that because disabled children are often denied access to public settings, they miss out on important programmes that may improve their health and well-being.

Unintentional Removal from Developmental Programmes:

Unintentionally excluding people with disabilities is a problem in some developmental plans. One example is immunisation campaigns that don’t have accessibility elements like ramps, sign language interpreters, or braille materials.

Difficulties in Putting Disability Rights Laws into Practice in India:

Notwithstanding the fact that India passed the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPwDs) and ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), there are still gaps and difficulties in these laws’ application and enforcement.
Many people with disabilities are still ignorant of their rights and the resources that are accessible to them.

Too little involvement in politics:

People with disabilities are excluded from the political sphere of the nation at all levels and in a variety of ways, including:

absence of up-to-date aggregate statistics on the precise number of disabled individuals within the constituencies.
Voting procedures are inaccessible (braille Electronic Voting Machines are not widely used).
obstacles to taking part in party politics.

How Can Organised Negotiations Advance Disability Rights?

Discuss the Legal System’s Challenges in India:

Red Tape in Indian Civil Courts: Conventional dispute settlement is discouraged in Indian civil courts by paperwork, pendency, and red tape.
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016: however the law permits non-compliance to be reported to the Chief Commissioner, it has an unclear effect on accessibility, however organised talks may be useful in this regard.

Adding to the CCPD’s Work in India:

PayTM Case Study: Despite the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities’ (‘CCPD’) directive, PayTM’s application became more inaccessible as a result of compliance.
Continuous attention: In order to validate solutions, real-time accessibility necessitates continuous attention and user input. These requirements will not apply in structured talks.

India’s Prospects for Structured Negotiation:

Avoiding the Non-Compliance Label: PayTM and other service providers can stay out of the spotlight by using structured bargaining.
Direct Involvement of People with Disabilities: Allows people with disabilities to communicate with service providers directly and keep an eye on the application of fixes.

Making Disability Inclusion a Priority for Indian Businesses:

Priority: The effectiveness of alternative dispute resolution depends on service providers giving people with disabilities first priority.
Massive Buying Capacity: To capitalise on the considerable purchasing power of disabled individuals, businesses must give them priority, highlighting the necessity of organised negotiation.

Encourage the Constitutional Mandates:

Within the bounds of its economic capacity and development, the State shall, in the event of unemployment, old age, illness, or disablement, make effective provisions for guaranteeing the right to work, education, and public assistance, according to Article 41 of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP).
The state list of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution contains specifics on the topic of “relief of the disabled and unemployable.”
Governments’ efforts to fulfil these responsibilities will be strengthened by organised negotiations.

Way Forward:

It is impossible to overestimate the effectiveness of structured negotiation as a form of alternative dispute resolution, especially when it comes to instances involving disability rights. Its ability to create accessible environments for people with disabilities—as evidenced by well-known instances involving large corporations—highlights the useful benefits it provides in comparison to traditional litigation. Helen Keller once said that “hope is the key to achievement.” Similarly, implementing structured negotiation on a broader scale in India is a necessary and opportune step towards a future that is more accessible and inclusive.