The National Assembly today passed the motion for a need for separate health facilities and notification of employment opportunities for persons with disabilities by mainstreaming them in the health and employment policies. The House also passed an additional motion for an immediate need for a National Policy for persons living with disabilities.
Deliberating on the issue, the members of parliament (MPs) pointed out the lack of disabled-friendly facilities not just in public spaces but even in hospitals.
“If we are to give them a proper service, from now on, the government houses should have disabled friendly facilities. Providing facilities such as ramp and washroom is our responsibilities too,” Shompangkha MP Tek Bdr. Rai said.
“It is of utmost importance for them to stay fit and healthy. They should be provided with sports and playground facilities,” Athang_Thedtsho MP Kinley Wangchuk said.
The house also discussed ways of providing employment opportunities for people living with disabilities. The Khatoed Laya MP, Tenzin, proposed to have a separate announcement of job vacancies for the people with disabilities to help improve their socio-economic conditions and make them independent. This, he said, is the responsibility of the labour ministry.
“When it comes to vacancy announcement, I agree with what Khatoed Laya MP said. But what we should also know is labour ministry does not have an abundant vacancy. There are private jobs and when it comes to civil servants, RCSC is taking care of it. We are just here to help them with policy matters. We have no authority to announce until we get lists from them,” Labour Minister Ugyen Dorji said.
Besides health facilities and employment opportunities, a few MPs also suggested the need for a policy or an Act to fully support people with disabilities.
“Not just in terms of health and employment but in order to solve many issues, we should have a complete policy or disability services act like other international countries. Australia is the best example. Our Bhutanese people in Australia are using it effectively. Likewise, we need a similar kind of Act which is specific and cover a lot more issues,” Panbang MP Dorji Wangdi said.
To this, the health minister said that the ministry already has a disability and rehabilitation policy. The Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC) is also working on the National Policy for persons with disabilities for the last two years.
The speaker, however, said that the commission taking years to form a policy might delay the proper provision of services to people with special needs.
“The health minister said we do have the policy with GNHC but this policy began drafting in 2017. And we are in 2019 now. If making a policy takes 2 to 3 years, there will be a delay in providing services.”
The House decided that policy, which is drafted by GNHC, should be presented in the winter session of the parliament.
According to the Population and Housing Census of Bhutan 2017 report, 2.1 per cent of the total population or over 15,000 persons are persons living with disabilities.
