Lanka in the news for the wrong reasons

Most countries have made progress over the years. The U.K. is no exception. It was mostly black and white television when I arrived. Nudging nearly half a century of continuous living since, bar holidays abroad, I haven’t been able to keep abreast with “developments” in my motherland. However, the serious economic crisis resulting in shortages of basic essentials, like medicines, food,, etc., has, unfortunately, made our island paradise hit international news for all the wrong reasons! But we all acknowledge that such calamities did not occur overnight. When we have extremely corrupt politicians, who are in cahoots with the Rajapaksa dynasty, it is no surprise that the situation has been going from bad to worse!

With advancing age and accompanying health issues, I am now in the process of applying for a Blue Badge through the local council. It is essentially, a Disabled Badge which allows the holder to park in designated slots for free, exemption from paying the annual road tax, etc. In that context, I enquired, rather naively, perhaps, from my learned close friend and classmate in Sri Lanka, whether there are similar or comparable provisions. His reply was this: “Disability Laws are in the Book, but rarely applied.”

For those living back home, not conversant with modern trends, I wish to share these informative details how true democracies have enabled people to enjoy life to the full! For instance, Blind people are given fully trained guide dogs. We have an ageing population.

‘Human rights’ are the rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world. These are based on principles, such as dignity, fairness, equality, respect and autonomy. The 1998 Human Rights Act brought human rights into UK law. One of these is:

‘Everybody has the right to an effective education’

In 2009 the UK ratified the UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities. This means that the UK government agreed that they would work to:

‘Ensure the education system at all levels is inclusive and geared towards supporting disabled people to achieve their full potential and participate equally in society’ Under the Act, disabled people should be treated equally and protection from discrimination applies in many situations such as education, employment, exercise of public functions, goods, services, facilities and transport.

Disability equality

Disability discrimination laws, developed in the 1990s, when it became more widely recognised that disabled people were facing discrimination. The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) originally came into force in 1995, and it was significantly amended and extended over the following 15 years, gradually bringing more protection for disabled students.

The Equality Act took over from the DDA in 2010. As well as supporting the rights of disabled students by giving greater legal protection against discrimination, it emphasises the legal duty on education providers, employers and service providers to make reasonable adjustments so disabled people can take part in education, use services and work.

Who is covered by the Equality Act?

The Equality Act came into force in October 2010, bringing together different laws that cover discrimination into one. It’s against the law to be treated unfairly at work because of your age.Some jobs require work experience, but you should generally be judged on your skills and expertise, rather than how many years you’ve worked.

Race

Race refers to your colour, and/or nationality, and/or ethnic or national origin. Wherever you were born, wherever your parents came from, whatever your skin colour, you have the right to be treated equally.

Sex

Jobs, training schemes and apprenticeships must be open equally to women and men. Pay and benefits must also be offered on the same basis.

Sunil Dharmabandhu 

U.K. sunilrajdharm@yahoo.co.uk