Prelims: Current events of national importance(ECI, CEC, Article 324, PIL, constitution bench. Pwd etc)
Mains GS Paper II: Appointments to various constitutional posts, powers functions and responsibilities of various constitutional bodies etc
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
- The Election Commission of India released an advisory for political parties to follow disability-sensitive terminologies
INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE
Context
Election Commission of India(ECI):
- The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes in India.
- The body administers elections to:
- Lok Sabha
- Rajya Sabha
- State Legislative Assemblies in India
- Offices of the President and Vice President in the country.
- Part XV of the constitution deals with elections, and establishes a commission for these matters.
- Article 324 to 329: deals with powers, function, tenure, eligibility, etc of the commission and the members.
- The commission: It consists of one Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
- The President appoints Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.
- Tenure: They have a fixed tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
- Status: They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
- The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through a process of removal similar to that of a Supreme Court judge by Parliament.
- All three members have equal voting rights and all decisions in the commission are taken by the majority,
Article 324:
- The Superintendence, direction and control of elections to be vested in an Election Commission.
Functions of EC:
Guidelines by ECI for disability-sensitive terminologies:
- Disability-inclusive communication by political parties and their members
- Accessibility of information
- Inclusion within party frameworks.
- The guidelines on communication relate to the usage of ill-health terminologies for persons with disabilities (PwD), dehumanizing or using PwDs to depict incapacity or perpetuate stereotypes.
- The guidelines around accessibility relate to information accessibility on political party websites and holding events at accessible places.
- Guidelines for Inclusion within party frameworks provides for the development of training modules on disability for party workers and endeavors to include PwDs at all levels of a political party.
Need for these guidelines:
- For example In 2023, The Tamil Nadu leader compared Sanatan Dharma to people with leprosy and HIV in a derogatory manner.
- National leaders have used disability in a demeaning manner, especially during election speeches.
- Instances to dehumanize PwDs and perpetuate stereotypes: It results in an “attitudinal barrier” under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
What are the challenges?
- These guidelines are only an “advisory”, though the phraseology of a few guidelines is in mandatory language.
- For instance, guidelines under the disability-inclusive communication head use words like “should” and “shall” before and after the instructions.
- Guidelines, especially under the inclusion within the political party framework, are still incorporated in discretionary terms, for example, using “may.”
- A uniform mandate under all three heads is needed.
- MCC: These guidelines are still not part of the Model Code of Conduct:
- The advisory mentions that the breach of guidelines related to disability-inclusive communication would make political parties and their members prone to action under section 92 of the RPwD Act.
- It’s unclear whether a breach of other guidelines will also invoke this provision.
- Section 92 is a punishment provision for atrocities against PwDs.
- There is some ambiguity within the guidelines with respect to the usage of specific phraseology.
- It cites words like “blind”, “deaf” and “dumb” as examples of wrong terminologies.
- Although their translation in Hindi or another language might be derogatory, these are technical words to refer to people with visual, hearing, and speech disability.
- A detailed list of disability-sensitive words and phraseology under the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy can guide the ECI.
- The draft National Policy for PwD released for public consultation didn’t have any chapter on political inclusion.
- The ECI advisory says that “political parties must endeavor to include PwD at all levels as members and party workers”.
- It prescribes adherence to accessibility norms by political parties, which are the first instance of access to political space for PwD.
Way Forward
- These guidelines must be given teeth by including them within the MCC on the lines of gender guidelines.
- As these guidelines are expected to catalyze the political inclusion of PwD, a chapter on political inclusion in the national policy should be incorporated.
- This will align with the principles of Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- There is no data on the number of legislators with disabilities.
- The ECI doesn’t have any column on disability in the nomination forms and affidavits filed by contestants during elections.
- The lack of data has contributed significantly to the political exclusion of PwDs.
- The 2024 elections are an opportunity to address this lack.
- It can be the step towards the political inclusion of PwD.
QUESTION FOR PRACTICE
Discuss the role of the Election Commission of India in the light of the evolution of the Model Code of Conduct.(UPSC 2022) (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)
