The Bombay high court on Friday directed the state government to make it mandatory for all hospitals in Maharashtra to carry out screening tests to check disabilities in new born babies.
The Bombay high court on Friday directed the state government to make it mandatory for all hospitals in Maharashtra to carry out screening tests to check disabilities in new born babies.
The division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice SJ Vazifdar took a special hearing on a clutch of public interest litigation seeking implementation of the Disabilities Act.
At the last hearing the suggestion to test new born babies for disabilities was made by retired army general Ian Cardoz of the Rehabilitation Council of India.
Advocate general Ravi Kadam on Friday informed that court that the state is in the process of issuing a circular to all hospitals including private, state government, corporation, councils and zilla parishads.
They will also be required to maintain data of the tests conducted, he added. Kadam assured that a notification to this will be issued within 15 days. The judges in their order directed that it be issued by April 13, 2011.
The judges also directed the state to identify gadgets/devices/ software for visually impaired employees and shortlist pricing issue within two months.
The judges said this will enable the state government to finalise budget for all its visually impaired employees. They said each state department will also make available necessary funds for acquiring such aids for its visually impaired staff.
The judges also formed a pricing committee which will include principal secretaries of Social Welfare Department and Finance Departments and representatives of blind associations.
They also directed the state to submit the number of vacant posts which could be made available for the disabled under the reservation policy since February 1996 when the Act came into force.
They judges were informed that there has been no recruitment of visually impaired for the past three years. The judges also directed the state to issue uniform guidelines for use of writers for the visually impaired to be followed by all institutions.
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