Centre for Internet and Society

Information Influx Conference

praskrishna — 2014-07-28T06:31:40Z

Malavika Jayaram was a speaker at the event organized by the Institute for Information Law, University of Amsterdam from July 2 to 4, 2014.

Click to read the full details here.

When IViR set up its research 25 years ago, the digital transition was just starting to gather speed. Since then, our societies have been undergoing enormous changes in the modes of expression, organization and (re)use of information. Traditional roles of producers, intermediaries, users and governments blur and are recast. Information is the central building block of market economies. New ways of creating, disseminating and using it impact the workings of democracy, of science and education, creativity and culture.

Information Influx will bridge disciplines, regions and institutional perspectives to confront the major challenges of developing the rules that govern the expression, organization and re(use) of information in our society – as the central aspects of IViR’s Research Programme.

Wednesday 2 July

13.00 – 16.30

Information Influx Young Scholars Competition:

13.00 – 15.00

Welcome by Prof. Mireille van Eechoud & Dr. L. Guibault

Catherine Doldirina (Joint Research Centre EC) – Open data and Earth observations: the case of opening access to and use of EO through the Global Earth Observation System of Systems
Comments by Prof. Mark Perry

Jenny Metzdorf (University of Luxembourg) – The implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive by national regulatory authorities – National reponses to regulatory challenges
Comments by Dr. Tarlach McGonagle

Harry Halpin (MIT/W3C) – No Safe Haven: The Storage of Data Secrets
Comments by Dr. Philippe Aigrain

15.00 – 15.15
Refreshments break

15.15 – 16.30

Ellen Wauters (ICRI – University of Leuven) – Social Networking Sites’ Terms of Use: addressing imbalances in the user-provider relationship through ex ante and ex post mechanisms
Comments by Dr. Chantal Mak

Nicolo Zingales (Tilburg University) – Virtues and perils of anonymity: should intermediaries bear the burden?
Comments by Prof. Joel Reidenberg

Closing remarks

17.00 – 18.30

Information Influx public opening:

Welcome Louise Gunning-Schepers (University of Amsterdam), Edgar du Perron (University of Amsterdam) and Bernt Hugenholtz (Institute for Information Law)
Keynote – Degrees of Freedom: Sketches of a political theory for an age of deep uncertainty and persistent imperfection – prof. Yochai Benkler (Harvard Law School)
Young Scholars Award ceremony
Speech by Neelie Kroes (Vice-President of the European Commission) – Our Single Market is Crying out for Copyright Reform!

19.00 – 22.00

IViR 25th birthday soirée – by invitation

Thursday 3 July

9.00 – 10.00

Keynote – Governance, Function and Form – prof. Deirdre Mulligan (University of California, Berkeley)

As data and technology to wield it become pervasive, privacy protection must take new forms. Traditional models of governance centered on state actors, and human oversight do not scale to today’s challenges. Drawing from several research projects Mulligan suggests that focusing on roles and functions, rather than traditional forms and actors, can assist us in leveraging the potential of a range of human and technical actors towards privacy’s protection.

10.30 – 12.30

Parallel sessions:

12.30 – 13.45

Lunch

13.45 – 14.30

Julian Oliver & Danja Vasiliev

14.30 – 16.30

Parallel sessions:

17.00 – 18.00

Keynote – Copyright as Innovation Policy – Fred von Lohmann (Google)

Copyright has historically been concerned with encouraging commercial cultural production. Thanks to digital technology, however, copyright law today finds itself called upon to take on additional unfamiliar roles, including fostering technological innovation and encouraging amateur creative expression. The talk will suggest some ways that copyright can successfully grow into these new roles.

19.00 – 22.00

Conference Dinner

Friday 4 July

9.00 – 10.00

Keynote – Datafication, dataism and dataveillance – prof. José van Dijck (University of Amsterdam)

The popularization of datafication as a neutral paradigm is carried by a widespread belief and supported by institutional guardians of trust. That notion of trust becomes problematic when it leads to dataveillance by a number of institutions that handle people’s (meta)data. The interlocking of government, business, and academia in the adaptation of this ideology (“dataism”) prompts us to look more critically at the entire ecosystem of connective media.

10.30 – 12.30
Parallel sessions:

12.30 – 14.00

Buffet Lunch, plus: Brown bag lunch with Rob Frieden – Net Neutrality: One step beyond

14.00 – 15.00

Keynote – Intellectual Property: Two Pasts and A Future – prof. James Boyle (Duke Law School)

Twenty years from now, will our children look up from their digital devices and ask “Daddy, did anyone ever own a book”? In his keynote speech, James Boyle will trace the past lives of intellectual property, the battles fought, the technologies regulated. Can we find hints of the future in the battles of our past? Boyle’s answer is yes, and that answer should give us pause.

15.30 – 17.30

Parallel sessions:

17.30 – 18.30

Farewell drinks

Parallel sessions

Rights in the mix

Among amateur and professional creators alike there is a manifest need to not only share but also remix existing works. The panel discusses how adequately open content licensing systems support these needs. It also looks to how well this licensing system fits in the wider legal framework.

prof. Séverine Dusollier (University of Namur) (moderator)
Paul Keller (Kennisland)
prof. Daniel Gervais (Vanderbilt Law School)
prof. Volker Grassmuck (Lüneburg University)

Behavioural targeting – If you cannot control it, ban it?

The discussion about the potential pitfalls of behavioural targeting practices and the problems it may create for users and user rights continues in full force. The growing evidence of the ineffectiveness of the existing informed-consent-approach to regulation can no longer be ignored. Is it time for the regulator to move to more drastic means and ban certain behavioural targeting practices, and if so, which practices?

prof. Chris Hoofnagle (University of California, Berkeley) (moderator)
prof. Neil Richards (Washington University)
Frederik Borgesius (Institute for Information Law)
prof. Joseph Turow (University of Pennsylvania)
prof. Mireille Hildebrandt (University of Nijmegen)
dr. Tal Zarsky (University of Haifa)

Tomorrow’s news: bright, mutualized and open?

As public debate becomes more diversified, crowded, interactive, noisy and technology-dependent than ever before, what survival strategies are being devised for the news as we know it? Are existing expressive and communicative rights, and related duties and responsibilities, fit-for-purpose in increasingly digitized and networked democratic societies? Will tomorrow’s news still be worth tuning into?

dr. Tarlach McGonagle (Institute for Information Law) (moderator)
dr. Susanne Nikoltchev (European Audiovisual Observatory)
Aidan White (Ethical Journalism Network)
dr. Luís Santos (University of Minho)
dr. Eugenia Siapera (Dublin City University)
Gillian Phillips (The Guardian)

Filtering away infringement: copyright, injunctions and the role of ISPs

Can technology solve the problem of intermediary liability for online copyright infringement? If so, should technology be allowed to determine law? This panel shall focus on the issue of injunctions imposed on online intermediaries to force them to adopt measures that filter or block copyright infringements by third parties on their websites.

prof. Bernt Hugenholtz (Institute for Information Law) (moderator)
prof. Dirk Visser (University of Leiden)
Remy Chavannes (Brinkhof)
Fred von Lohmann (Google)
Sir Richard Arnold (High Court UK)
prof. Niva Elkin-Koren (University of Haifa)
prof. Reto Hilty (Max Planck Institute)

Mass-digitization and the conundrum of online access

Cultural heritage institutions face difficulties providing online access to digitized materials in their collections. This session examines a number of pressing issues, taking a trans-Atlantic perspective. When does digitization in public-private partnerships pose a threat to access to public domain materials? What ways are there to manage rights clearance of copyrighted materials and deal with territoriality?

prof. Martin Senftleben (VU University Amsterdam) (moderator)
prof. Pamela Samuelson (University of California, Berkeley)
dr. Elisabeth Niggemann (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek)
prof. Martin Kretschmer (Glasgow University)

The algorithmic public: towards a normative framework for automated media

In the online media, decisions about what users get to see (or not to see) are increasingly automated, through the use of smart algorithms and extensive data about users’ preferences and online behaviour. This raises a number of fundamental questions about freedom of expression, editorial integrity and user autonomy. Leading thinkers will debate algorithmic decision-making in online media and explore the contours of a much needed normative framework for automated media.

prof. Natali Helberger (Institute for Information Law) (moderator)
dr. Joris van Hoboken (New York University)
prof. Wolfgang Schulz (Hans-Bredow-Institut)
prof. Niva Elkin-Koren (University of Haifa)
dr. Bernhard Rieder (University of Amsterdam)

Accountability and the public sector data push

Initiatives to make governments more ‘transparent’ abound. Freedom of information laws are reconfigured to push out ever more information to citizens and businesses. Promises of benefits abound too: better accountability and increased participation, as well as efficiency gains and new business opportunities. Can and should the next generation of freedom of information laws serve both political-democratic objectives and economic ones?

prof. Mireille van Eechoud (Institute for Information Law) (moderator)
Chris Taggart (Open Corporates)
Helen Darbishire (Access Info)
prof. Deirdre Curtin (University of Amsterdam)
dr. Ben Worthy (Birkbeck University College London)
Jonathan Gray (Open Knowledge Foundation / University of London)

A new governance model for communications security?

Today, the vulnerable state of electronic communications security dominates headlines across the globe, while money and power increasingly permeate the policy arena. 2013 has seen no less than five sweeping legislative initiatives in the E.U., while the U.S. seems to trust in the market to deliver. Amidst these diverging approaches, how should communications security be regulated?

Axel Arnbak (Institute for Information Law) (moderator)
prof. Deirdre Mulligan (University of California, Berkeley)
prof. Ian Brown (Oxford University)
prof. Michel van Eeten (Delft university of technology)
Amelia Andersdotter (European Parliament)
Ashkan Soltani (independent researcher)

Global information flows and the nation state

Information flows contest the physical spaces in which the nation state has been deemed a sovereign for almost five centuries. This tension dominates nearly all areas of information law, from data protection and IP enforcement to mass surveillance by national intelligence agencies. This session reflects on the broader challenges that territoriality presents for information law today.

prof. Urs Gasser (Harvard) (moderator)
prof. Joel Reidenberg (Fordham Law School)
prof. Graeme Dinwoodie (Oxford University)
Malavika Jayaram (Harvard)
Hielke Hijmans (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

United in diversity – the future of the public mission

Digital technologies and the information economy create fascinating new opportunities but also pose fundamental challenges to the fulfilment of the public mission of the media, public archives and libraries alike. This panel is a step towards establishing a dialogue between the three institutions: to explore the congruence between their missions, and their responses to critical issues such as technological convergence, the changing habits of users, the growing abundance of content and their relationship to new information intermediaries, such as search engines, social networks or content platforms.

prof. Natali Helberger (Institute for Information Law) (moderator)
prof. Klaus Schönbach (University of Vienna)
prof. Frank Huysmans (University of Amsterdam)
prof. Egbert Dommering (Institute for Information Law)
Maarten Brinkerink (Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision)
Richard Burnley (European Broadcasting Union)

Legalizing file-sharing: an idea whose time has come – or gone?

Alternative compensation systems are designed to legalize and monetize online copyright restricted acts of distributing and consuming content. Empirical evidence shows that end-users strongly support paying flat-rate fees for the ability to legally download and share content. So what prevents us from introducing such schemes? The group of experts convened debates the future of alternative compensation systems in light of current legal, business and technology trends.

prof. Bernt Hugenholtz (Institute for Information Law) (moderator)
prof. Neil Netanel (University of California, Los Angeles)
prof. Alexander Peukert (University of Frankfurt)
dr. Philippe Aigrain (Quadrature du Net)
prof. Séverine Dusollier (University of Namur)

Assembly (Information influx)

Taking legal cases and controversies involving intellectual property, art collective Agency composes a growing list of “Things” that resist the split between “nature” and “culture”, a split that intellectual property relies upon. From the list of over a 1,000 Things, Agency calls forth Thing 002094, the copyright controversy Être et Avoir, to jointly speculate upon. The purpose is less to re-enact the judgment and more to prolong hesitation.

Agency
Severine Dusollier
Wilco Kalff
Sanne Rovers
Margot van de Linde
Arnisa Zeqo

Big brother is back

The debate about the pervasive surveillance of the online environment is roaring. Considering what we know now, what better metaphor is there than to conclude that we live in the world of Big Brother? This session will bring together leading thinkers and doers related to power and control in the communication environment, who will provide critical input on the way we think and speak about information freedom and control. Should we aspire to tame Big Brother or should we think differently about the problem?

Axel Arnbak (Institute for Information Law) (moderator)
dr. Joris van Hoboken (New York University) (moderator)
John McGrath (National Theatre of Wales)
dr. Seda Gürses (New York University)
Hans de Zwart (Bits of Freedom)

Who owns the World Cup? The case for and against property rights in sports events

Sports have important economic, social and cultural dimensions. What is the optimal form of legal protection of sports events considering the public-private nature of sports? The focus of debate will be on football because of its major relevance in Europe in terms of diffusion, commercial exploitation, and social impact; but we can expect many insights to hold true for other sports as well.

prof. Bernt Hugenholtz (Institute for Information Law) (moderator)
prof. Lionel Bently (University of Cambridge)
prof. Dirk Voorhoof (Ghent University)
prof. Peter Jaszi (American University Washington)
prof. Graeme Dinwoodie (Oxford University)
prof. Egbert Dommering (Institute for Information Law)
prof. Alan Bairner (Loughborough University)

Associated events

Invitation only:
Wednesday 2 July: Big Breakfast with Joseph Turow & Tal Zarksy – Ethical, normative, social and cultural implications of profiling & targeting in an era of big data – towards a research agenda, Institute for Information Law (IViR) & Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), East India House, room E0.02, 09.00-12.00 a.m.

Public event:

Friday 4 July: Lecture James Boyle & Marjan Hammersma about cultural heritage and the public domain
More information and registration at:
Cultural heritage institutions as guardians of public domain works in the digital environment, Rijksmuseum & Kennisland in cooperation with IViR, Rijksmuseum Auditorium, 18.00-20.00 p.m.

About IViR

The Institute for Information Law (IViR) is a centre of excellence in academic research which consistently seeks to further our understanding of how legal norms reflect and shape the creation, dissemination and use of information in our societies. That is the ambition at the heart of the many research initiatives IVIR has undertaken since its foundation in 1989. The urgency of taking an interdisciplinary and international approach has only grown in the past decades. It is crucial if we want to understand and evaluate the rapidly evolving complex and myriad legal norms that govern information relations in markets, in social and in political spaces. With over 30 researchers, teachers and support staff based in our offices in the historic centre of Amsterdam, we have the critical mass to broach key regulatory challenges of today’s information society.

Our focus on information relations deliberately cuts across traditional boundaries in legal scholarship. We bring together insights from constitutional law, human rights, public administration, intellectual property, contract and property law, and competition law. Our functional approach enables fruitful collaboration with experts from an array of academic disciplines, in information and communications technology, economics, media studies, political science and the arts.

Continuing a long Dutch tradition of openness towards the world, our work has a strong international orientation. It shows in the topics we study, the strong global network of affiliations we have in academia and the wonderful dynamic mix of upcoming and experienced researchers from all over Europe and beyond that make up IViR.

With each consecutive research programme we prioritize legal developments that fascinate us, and translate them into a variety of research projects. This includes doctoral research, research for policymakers at national, European and international level, and projects funded through national and European research grant programmes. Our current research programme and an overview of research projects can be found here. Doctoral dissertations, journal articles, books, case comments, studies, reports, lectures, debates, workshops, conferences and summer schools are the staple means of communicating what we do. Browse our publications here.

Media reports and conference outputs will be posted on the IViR website

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/information-influx-conference

Information Activism - Tactics for Empowerment (TTC)

Denisse Albornoz — 2015-04-17T10:36:01Z

This is the first of a two-part analysis of information activism for the Making Change project. This post looks at the benefits and limitations of increasing access to information to enable citizenship and political participation.

CHANGE-MAKER: Maya Ganesh

PROJECT: 10 Tactics for Information Activism

METHOD OF CHANGE: 
Information activism at the intersection of data, design and technology

STRATEGY OF CHANGE:
-Demystify the technology, strategy and tactics behind information activism.
-Train people on how to use them for their projects.
-Empower people and increase political participation at the grassroots

I came into the office today and CIS Director gifted me the Red House edition of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘We are All Born Free”. Skimming through it, I found a series of graphics and artistic interpretations of Articles 1 to 30:


							Article 5 Photo courtesy of Library Mice blog: http://bit.ly/1cAMpYy


							Article 24 Photo courtesy of Illustration Cupboard: http://bit.ly/1kI5EBd

The purpose of this book is to find “exciting ways to socialize young people to very real issues”, rewrite human rights in a “simple,accessible form” and stimulate imagination to “observe and absorb details in a way that words struggle to express”. While specifically targeted for 12+ children, these images create associations and connections that trump the dullness of black and white texts for any audience; offering an alternative way of presenting complex bodies of knowledge crucial for our survival, such as the Declaration of Human Rights.

Change: information interventions to inspire and facilitate change-making among civil society networks.

In the same spirit, Tactical Technology aims to use information design strategies to create similar associations in the field of activism. The Tactical Technology Collective is an organization dedicated to the intersections of data, design and technology in campaigning. Its has two main programs: Evidence & Action that works with data management in digital campaigning; and Privacy & Expression that provides digital security and privacysupport advice to activists. The collective envisions change as a creative and pragmatic intervention that inspires and facilitates change-making among civil society networks. We interviewed Maya Ganesh, who is part of the E&A program, and our conversation shed light on benefits and the challenges of using visual advocacy strategies to create social change.

On this opportunity, I will explore the potential of information activism to create opportunities and spaces of engagement. Following Saussure’s dyadic model of the sign, it will be split in two parts. The first entry will look at the ‘signified’: the ideas, associations and cultural conventions derived from information and how these could solve crises of civic engagement and citizen action. The second entry will look at the ‘signifier’ -the shapes and sequences that compose the knowledges navigating political activism. These will be viewed from the strategic, design and technological point of view. Both parts will be informed by our conversation with Maya and complemented by literature on political engagement in the digital age. On a less academic note, the posts will also refer to the experience of graphic designers, artists and bloggers who are experimenting with information design to express dissent in transnational platforms.

Part 1: Is Information Power?

‘Transforming Information into Action’ is Tactical Technology’s take on the traditional idiom ‘Knowledge is Power’. The collective’s experience shows there are a number of steps to transform raw data into political power and for the purpose of this analysis, I will only look at information disseminated with this particular intention. This will aid to understand the relationship between increasing information availability and having it trigger civic action in contemporary activism. According to Fowler and Biekart, acts of public disobedience and activism after 2010 share the objective of reclaiming active citizenship through ‘novel ways’ that counter traditional political participation mechanisms (2013). Hence, we want to know if information activism is one of these ‘novel’ strategies enabling citizenship in the digital era.

More power to whom?

Overcoming information inequity
If information activism is “the strategic and deliberate use of information within a campaign”, the first step is to question the type of information used in these campaigns. While many scholars claim that access to political opinion increases participation in the democratic process by fostering debate and inclusive deliberation on policy issues (Dahl, 1989, Bennett, 2003, 2008; Montgomery et al. 2004,) Brundidge and Rice’s exploration of Internet politics shows that strategies that merely increase access to information are flawed by design. They claim that increasing information mainly benefits the middle class, who counts with previous exposure to political knowledge and hence processes it with greater ease. This group ultimately dominates the public discourse widening -what they call- the ‘knowledge gap’ between socioeconomic classes (Brunridge and Rice, 2009, Bimber et al. 2005). This is the ‘information’ version of the gentrification of politics explored by Shah in the Whose Change is it Anyway thought piece, and a definite deterrent of collective action at the grassroots level.

A basic example to show how this manifests in the information environment is this info-graphic on Social Activism created by Column Five and Take Part and presenting the findings on their 2010 study on Social responsibility:

Example 1:
Social Activism Study (2010): How can brands engage Young Adults in Social Responsibility?

Access complete info-graphic here: http://www.2012socialactivism.com/images/infographic.png

The information is clear, the presentation is clean. This graphic could mobilize the middle class citizen who works in a company and has time and money to spare in donations and fund-raising activities. The graphic is informational yet it does not offer alternative participation avenues for groups outside of the politically savvy, young, educated and affluent circle (Brundidge and Rice, 2009) Instead, it reiterates socioeconomic inequalities from the offline community into the information landscape. With this in mind we asked Maya whether gentrification was a barrier for info-activism interventions at the grassroots:

MG: The things we are documenting are by citizens with socioeconomic barriers and obstacles. It is not our mandate to reach out to the ‘common citizen’ but it is very much our mandate to look at what is happening and what is happening to people with socioeconomic barriers who are lower on the ladder. If you look at Syrian info-activism, these are people facing the worst situations you can imagine, and they are doing it [...] and we document what they are doing, trying to understand it, pull out trends and then showing people.

Empowering information communities

Offline networks support information dissemination
In this respect, offline community networks are key to bridging the knowledge gap cited above. The relationship between organizations like Dawlaty, SMEX and Alt City and groups in the Arab region function as a core of ideas and resources from which localized methods and solutions emerge (read more here). This flow of information, coupled with the offline support, makes information from less visible demographics visible, deepens democracy and creates opportunities for these actors to participate and set the public agenda (2009). We asked Maya in what other ways information activism facilitates this process:

MG: We have moved on a lot from information activism. 10 Tactics is quite old for us now but it is still interesting to see how this stuff works. This material was produced in 2008-9 and is very popular with our audience. A lot of our work now is [...] take this material to newer communities of activists or people who have been around for a long time but are getting involved with the digital for the first time. That’s one part of our work and it’s sort of self-sustainable that way.

Therefore the value of information activism, rather than increasing the quantity of available data, is how it enables diversity and visibility of political opinion in the public sphere. One of the better known examples of information design interventions that gloat inclusiveness is:

Example 2
Occupy Design: the collective that builds “visual design for the 99%”:

2011

2011
Images courtesy of Experimenta Magazine: http://bit.ly/1hGpvOP

By presenting income and unemployment statistics about the American middle and lower class in the public space, activists from Occupy Design made the claims of the Occupy Wall Street Movement visual and visible. This enabled this group, the 99%, to reclaim the space not only through physical mobilization but also through the expression of subjectivities and open -graphic- power contestation. According to Pleyers, the pervasiveness of the movement both at the offline, online -and in this case, visual- levels created opportunities of horizontal participation, asserting spaces of democratic experience (2012).

From Information to Action

Is information enough?
Nevertheless, exposure to powerful images does not necessarily guarantee impact and influence, much less civic engagement. We asked Maya what she thought motivated civic action:

MG: External things push you over the edge. A flash-point issue could tip you over to do something different, even if you are that someone that has never been involved in anything. The gang rape in Delhi for example: it has sparked a lot of people who have never been involved and are now pushed to [act]. There are different precipitating factors and that’s why the stories of people: what people do, how they do it and why they do it, matters.

Women protesting in Bangalore after the Delhi gang rape. Photo courtesy of Dawn: http://bit.ly/1cAFLRP

Whether it is ‘external things’, a ‘flash-point issue’ or ‘precipitating factors’; the individual must make a connection between new events and how they affect the current status quo. A set of critical skills must be in place, as well as a desire to participate in civic life. (Brundidge and Rice 2009, as well as Montgomery et al. 2004) Richard Wurman, the american graphic designer, refers to this in his book ‘Information Anxiety’. He posits that there is an ‘ever-widening gap’; a ‘black hole’ between data and knowledge that limits our ability to make sense of information; even if it is vital for our context and survival. “The opportunity is that there is so much information; the catastrophe is that 99 percent of it isn’t meaningful or understandable” (Wurman et. al 2001) How do we reconcile this challenge with Tactical Technology’s mandate? What is the turning point between exposure to information and engagement in civic action?

In this post two issues behind information dissemination have been explored:

The risk of creating homogeneous political discussions by catering only to middle class’ interests; overlooking diversity of political expression in the public discourse.
The need for offline communities to facilitate information dissemination on the ground and mainstream the technical and financial support offered by collectives such as Tactical Technology.

The next question is how info-activism creates the connections between data and information to trigger civic engagement, and on this note, we proceed to analyse the role of the ‘signifier’ in information dissemination on the next post. Part two post will look at the strategy, design and technology behind the symbols and sequences of information, and how these determine the citizen’s perception of its ability to create change.

Access Part 2: Information Design, following this link:

Sources:

Biekart, Kees, and Alan Fowler. "Transforming Activisms 2010+: Exploring Ways and Waves." Development and Change 44, no. 3 (2013): 527-546.
Brundidge, J.S. & Rice, R.E. (2009). Political engagement online: Do the information rich get richer and the like-minded more similar? In Chadwick, A. and Howard, N.H. (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Internet Politics (pp. 144-156). New York: Routledge
Bennett, Winston. "Communicating global activism." Information, Communication & Society 6, no. 2 (2003): 143-168.
Bennett, W. Lance. "Changing citizenship in the digital age." Civic life online: Learning how digital media can engage youth 1 (2008): 1-24.
Dahl, Robert A. Democracy and its Critics. Yale University Press, 1989.
Kathryn Montgomery et al., Youth as E-Citizens: Engaging the Digital Generation. Center for Social Media, 2004. Retrieved February 15, 20
Pleyers, Geoffrey. "Beyond Occupy: Progressive Activists in Europe." Open Democracy: free thinking for the world 2012 (2012): 5pages-8.
Shah, Nishant “Whose Change is it Anyways? Hivos Knowledge Program. April 30, 2013.
Wurman, Richard Saul, Loring Leifer, David Sume, and Karen Whitehouse. Information anxiety 2. Vol. 6000. Indianapolis, IN: Que, 2001.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/digital-natives/making-change/tactical-technology-information-is-power

Information about Schemes for Disabled Persons in Haryana

praskrishna — 2013-03-14T05:47:25Z

Find below copies of the notifications received from the Government of Haryana regarding schemes and policies for persons with disabilities.

HARYANA GOVERNMENT

SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT HARYANA

No. GA.I SW. 71, Dated, Chandigarh

The Governor of Haryana is pleased to make the following rules for the administration of the two blind institutions; namely (i) Government Institute for the Blind, Panipat and (ii) Training Centre for the Adult Blind Sonipat . These rules shall come into operation with immediate effect.
The aim of these rules is to regulate the administration of the blind institutions referred above in order to provide maintenance, education and training to such of the blind children and adults who do not have adequate mans for the maintenance, Education or training so as to enable them to become self sufficient, The sanctioned capacity of each Home shall be 100 or such other number as may be fixed by Government from time to time.
(i) The following categories of persons shall be eligible for admission to these institutions:-
(a)   Blind children of the age group of 6-18 in the Government Institute for the Blind, Panipat, and
(b)   Adult blinds of the age group of 16-40 years in the Training Centre for the Adult Blind, at Sonepat.
Provided that the monthly income of parents of such boys/adults do not exceed RS. 500/- p.m where the income of a parents/guardian exceeds the prescribed limit, admission shall be allowed if the parents/guardians fare willing to pay maintenance charges of the boys at the rate of RS. 30/- p.m.
(ii)   Admission to these institutions shall be open to the persons belonging to the State of Haryana or those who have domiciled and have resided in the State for the past six months or over.
Application for admission to these Homes shall be submitted in form Annexure A’ by the father or guardian of the intending applicant which shall be accompanied with the following documents, to the Deputy Commissioners or S.D.O (Civil) or Tehsildars concerned. The requisite application from shall be obtainable fee of charge from any of the aforementioned authorities or the office of the Director, Social Welfare Haryana, Chandigarh.
(i)   A certificate from a Government Doctor stating that the applicant is blind within the meaning of the following definitions;
(ii)   Total absence of sight;
(iii)   Visual equity not exceeding 3/60 or 10/200 (Snellen) in the better eye with correcting lenses.
It shall be the responsibility of the Authorities mentioned in par 4 above to carry out detailed enquiries into the financial position of each applicant and into other particulars given in the application form. These authorities shall forward the application with their detailed recommendations to the Director, Social Welfare. The application received in the Social Welfare Directorate shall be registered.
The Director Social Welfare shall be the authority competent to Sanction or reject the request for admission on the basis of the recommendations made by the local officers mentioned in para 4 above or such other authority as the sanctioning authority may consider appropriate. Decision of the Director, Social Welfare shall be final.
The persons admitted into the Government institutions for Blind, Panipat shall be eligible for maintenance up to the age of 16 years or till they complete their education upto middle standard, which ever is earlier, while those admitted into the Training Centre for the Adult Blind, Sonepat shall eligible for maintenance/training for a period of 2 years form the date of their admission. Extension in the period of maintenance in the Tanning centre for the Adult Blind beyond the limit of 52 years shall be allowed six months by the Director, Social Welfare.
All those who are allowed admission to these Homes shall be provided with free food, care, education or training. Medical aid and other facilities as are essentially required. The maintenance chares which are presently Rs. 22.50 per menses per head can be reduced or increased according to prevailing conditions.
The amount of maintenance charges from the inmates whose parents/Guardians have a monthly income exceeding Rs. 500/- p.m. shall be recoverable as in Rule 3 above, each month is advance and the amount thus realized shall be credited into Government Treasury under the appropriate receipt head of account.
The inmates of the Government Institute for the Blind, Panipat, who after passing their Middle Standard Examination want to continue their studies in other local schools functioning in the State, will be granted a monthly scholarship of Rs. 70/ p.m. per head, to cover their educational, boarding and lodging expenses etc till they complete their education upto metric or Higher Secondary Part II, provided a student is below the age of 24 years.
The Director, Social Welfare, Haryana will be the authority competent to sanction or reject the request for scholarship . Decisions of the Director, Social Welfare, Haryana shall be final.
A scholarship shall normally be cancelled if the scholar fails to pass in an annual examination of if his/her progress continues to be unsatisfactory for a periods of one year in spite warning.
In the case of renewal of scholarship of the succeeding year, scholarship will be paid from the months following that for which the scholarship was paid during the previous academic year.
The scholarship will be available form the date of admission up to the months of annual final examination for the first academic year.
These rules have been framed in consultation with the Finance Department vide the U.O advice No. ____________________________________ dated__________________________.

Sd/-
Secretary to Government, Haryana. Social Welfare Department.

DIRECTORATE OF SOCIAL WELFARE,
HARYANA, NOTIFICATION

No. 1971 /DDSW-GA-II/71 The Governor of Haryana is pleased make the following rules namely “Scholarships to the physically handicapped” which will come into force wit effect from Ist April, 1968. These rules are incorporating the amendments made from time to time and shall be applicable throughout the State of Haryana.

DEFINITIONS

The blind are those who suffer from the following conditions:-

The Blind

a) Total absence of sight.

b) Visual acuity not exceeding 3/60 to 10/200 (Sheller ) in the better eye with correcting.

The Deaf

The deaf are those in whom the sense of hearing is on functional for the ordinary purpose in life.

The Orthopaedically Handicapped

The orthopaedically handicapped are those who have a physical defect or deformity which cause an interference with the normal functioning of the bones, muscles and joints.

2. AIMS AND OBJECTS

The main purpose of these scholarships is to assist physically handicapped persons to secure such edu.cation, technical or professional training as would enable them to earn a living and become useful member or Society.

3. SUBJECT OF SCHOLARSHIPS

a) The Blind students upto the age of 20 years shall be eligible for scholarships for general education upto Metric/Higher Secondary.
b) The deaf. The Dear students upto the age of 20 years shall be eligible for scholarships for general education upto Metric/Higher Secondary.
c) The Orthopaedically Handicapped. The Orthopaedically Handicapped students upto the age of 20 years shall be eligible for scholarships upto Matric/ Higher Secondary stage. For further education the stipends are granted by the Government of India, Department of Social Welfare. The rate of Scholarships will be as under:-

4. Rate of Scholarships pear month.

Category of

1.8.72
Handicapped

Existing rates
Upto From High/ Pri- 5^th to Higher marry Middle Secondary
(From standard Ist to 4^th Class)

Revised rates w.e.f
Upto from High/ Primary 5^th Higher (From Middle Secondary Ist to Stand Classes. 4^th Class.)

i) Deaf & Dumb	Rs.35/-	Rs. 40/-	Rs. 45	40/-	45/-	50/-
ii) Orthopaedically handicapped	Rs.35/-	Rs. 40/-	Rs. 50/-	40/-	45/-	50/-
iii) Blind	Rs. 35/-	Rs. 50/-	Rs.70/-	45/-	55/-	75/-

Note:- There is no school for deaf & Dumb in Haryana State, the scholarships shall be paid to such students who shall received education in the schools/ institutions outside the Haryana State.

5. CONDITIONS.

A)      The candidate applying for scholarships under this scheme shall be resident of Haryana State and shall be blind, dear or orthopaedically handicapped as defined in rule I.
B)   Scholars selected for a scholarship under this scheme shall not be on receipt of assistance from any other Voluntary or State / Central source either in cash or by way of free board or lodging. Exemptions from fees shall not, however, be taking into account. Before the amount of scholarships is actually released, the father/guardians will have to be furnished a certificate in the prescribed form (Appendix A) duly attested by Gazetted Officer in the State or Central Government or by a first Class Magistrate.
C)   Scholarships under this scheme shall be tenable to any educational institutions recognized or approved by the State Governments or affiliated to a University. No scholarship under this scheme shall be awarded for study outside the State.
D) The Government will have the power to relax the conditions of grant of scholarships where it considers that a particular rule operates harshly upon a student in any way.

6. APPLICATIONS.

A) Applications shall be invited by the Director, Social Welfare Haryana, through announcements in the press. All applications should be made in the prescribed form (Appendix) B( ) and should reach the Director, Social Welfare, Haryana, by the date prescribed.
B) Preference shall be given to candidate who are already studying in recognised education institutions. The applications should be forwarded through the Heads of the Institutions in which the candidate is studying.

7. DOCUMENTS TO ACCOMPANY EACH APPLICATION
Every application shall be accompanied by the following documents.

a) MEDICAL CERTIFICATE.
A certificate that he applicant is blind, deaf or orthopaedically handicapped within the manning of the definition given in the rules from a registered medical practioner. If an applicant is selected, he shall be required to produce a Medical Certificate ( Appendix C-I, C-II, C-III) from a Government or private eye specialist, E.N.T. Specialist or orthopaedic surgeon as the case may be.

b) INCOME CERTIFICATE
A certificate in from Appendix upto from a Revenue officer not below the rank of Naib Tehsildar or any other officer of equivalent status, or an affidavit attested by first Class Magistrate or a certificate from a Gazetted Officer indicating the monthly income of both the parents or guardians of the scholar. The rate of scholarship from the various income groups is under:-

Income of both parents /guardians	Rate of scholarship
Upto Rs. 500/- P.M.	Full Rate
Between Rs. 501/- to 750/- P.M.	Two third rate (2/3)
Between Rs. 751/- to Rs. 1,000/-	Half Rate (1/2)

No. scholarship shall be paid to a candidate in case the monthly combined monthly income of this/ her parents/ guardians exceeds Rs. 1,000/

c ) EVIDENCE OF AGE

Any of the following shall be accepted as an evidence of age.

CERTIFICATE FROM

I) The Head of the educational institution last attended.

II) a gazetted officer.

III) a member of the State legislature, or

IV) an affidavit attested by a First Calls Magistrate.

Note:- At the time of applying for the grant of scholarship for the first time the Medical Certificate will be required and thereafter no Medical Certificate will be required for the subsequent years.

8. AWARDS
A) All application shall be considered by the Social Welfare Directorate. The orders of the Director, Social Welfare, regarding the grant of scholarships or rejection or suspension, through final, shall be subject to appeal to the Government.
B) Every selected scholar shall be informed of the duration for which he has been awarded a scholarship. The scholarships shall normally be available for the completion of Matric/ Higher Secondary Education subject to the availability of funds and to the scholars satisfactory conduct and progress.

9. PAYMENT
The Scholarship will be available from the month of admission upto the month of annual /final examination for the first academic year.

PROVIDED THAT:-

I) If a scholar joins an institution on or before the 20^th day of a month full scholarship money will be paid to him/ her for that month. But if he/ she joins the institution after the 20^th day of the month, no scholarship money will be paid to him/ her for that month.
II) In the case of renewal of scholarship for the succeeding year scholarship will be paid from the month following that for which the scholarships was paid during the Previous academic year.
III) The Head of the Institution shall obtain from the scholarship stamped receipt (Appendix Age) in duplicate in taken of having received the amount and shall forward a copy thereof to the Director, Social Welfare, Haryana, Chandigarh by the 10^th of each month for record.
IV) In case of misutilisation of any grant, Government shall reserve the right or recovering the same.

10. LEAVE DUE TO ILINESS.
a) For continue absence for a periods not exceeding three months. the scholarships shall be paid in full provided the request for leave is supported by a certificate from a registered medical practitioner.

11. PROGRESS REPORT
a) The Head of the Institution shall forward to the Director, Social Welfare, Haryana, Chandigarh, separately in respect of every scholar in his/her charge a quarterly progress report in the form given in Appendix age.
b) If the progress of a scholar is not satisfactory it shallow, be responsibility of the Head of the Institution where the scholar is studying to issue monthly warnings to him/ her to the effect that unless the scholar improve is/ her scholarship shall be cancelled.

12. RENEWAL AND CANCELLATIONS
a) A scholarship shall normally be cancelled if the scholar fails to pass in an annual examination of if his/ her progress continues to be unsatisfactory for a period of one year inspire warnings.
b) It shall be discretion of the Director, Social Welfare, Haryana, to renew the scholarship for such period as he considers fit if it is found that the failure of a scholar or his/ her unsatisfactory progress was due to circumstances beyond, his/ her control. Such renewals shall normally be made on the advice or the Head or the Institutions where the scholar is studying.

13. GENERAL
The State Government reserve the right to amount these rules without notice.

Sd/-
Secretary to Government, Haryana
Social Welfare Deptt.

The Financial Commissioner, & Secretary to Govt. Haryana, Social welfare Department.

The Director,
Social Defence & Security Department,
Haryana, Chandigarh.

No. 992 SW-(3)/93
Chandigarh, dated the 13/5/93

Subject:- Grant of scholarship under state sector- Amendments therein.

In continuation of Haryana Govt. Social Welfare Deptt. Sanction order No. 3924- SW-(I)-85 dated 25.10.85 on the subject.

Sanction of Governor of Haryana is hereby accorded to amend the rules and income criteria under the scheme scholarship to physically handicapped students under state sector who are receiving education in various Govt. / recognised educational institutions in the state under subject to the condition that the expenditure involved would be met from the savings of the department :-

Rule-I:- Definitions The blind are those who suffer from the flowing.

The Blind conditions:

a) Total absence of sight.

b) Visual acuity not exceeding 3/60 to 10/200 (Snallen in the better eye with correcting lenses.

The Deaf: The deaf are those whom the sense of hearing is non functional for the ordinary purpose in life.

Orthopaedically The orthopaedically handicapped are those who handicapped. have physical defect or deformity which cause an interference with the normal functioning of bones, musicales and joints.

(Scholars having disability less than 40% will not be awarded scholarship.

Rule-6(i) Rule-6 may be under as rule 6(i)

Rule (ii) Corse of studying:

a) The education from Ist class to Middle standard is divided into tow study courses i.e. from Ist Primary class to Vth class VIth to class VIIIth (Primary and Middle courses respectively)

b) The students will apply only once in a particular course of study for scholarship n particular class and will continue to receive scholarship on the basis of the annual Progress Report till the completion of the particular course of study. He/she will have to the particular course of study. He/ she will have to apply afresh only on the change of course of study i.e. in 6^th class (Middle course of study).

Rule-7: Documents to accompany each application.
Evert application shall be accompanied by the following documents at the start of the particular course of study i.e. from Ist class and VIth class.

b) A certificate in form (Appendix-D) from a Revenue officer not below the rank of Naib Tehsildar or any other officer of equivalent status, or an affidavit attested by a Ist class Magistrate or a certificate from a Gazetted officer indicating the monthly income of both the parents or the Guardians of the scholar. The rate or the Guardians of the scholar. The rate of scholarship for the various income groups is as under:-

Sr. No.	Income of both the parents	Rate of scholarship per month.
1	Income upto Rs. 4000/- P.M.	Full rate
2	Income above Rs. 4000/- P.M.	No scholarship will be awarded.

No scholarship will be awarded to a candidate in case of monthly combined income of his/ her parents/ guardians exceeds Rs. 4000/- per month.

Rule 11. Progress Report

a) The Head of the Institution shall forward to the Director, Social Defence & Security, Haryana, Chandigarh Separately in the succeeding year of the course of study i.e. 2^nd,3^rd, 4^th and 5^th year of the primary course of study ad in VII and VIII the year of the Middle course of study in respect of every scholar in his/ her Annual Progress Report of every scholar in his/ her Annual Progress Report in the form given in appendix- F (Revised Performa attached.

3. The expenditure involve would be debatable out of the following head of accounts:

i) “2235- Social Security & Welfare -02- Social Welfare- Part-I-State Pla Scheme-101- Welfare of Handicapped Social Defence & Security Directorate-(i) – Scholarship to physically handicapped students – scholarships.”

ii) “2235-Social Security & welfae-02- Social Welfare- 101- Welfare of handicapped – Social Defence & Security Directorate-(v) – Scholarships to physically handicapped students scholarship-Non-Plan.”

This issues with the concurrence of Finance Department conveyed vide their U.O. No. 1/122/85-FG/2841 dated 18.12.92.

Sd/-

Joint Secretary, for Financial Commissioner & Secy. to Govt.Haryana, Social Welfare Department.

Endst. No. 992/SW/-(I)- 97, Chandigarh the 13/5/93

A copy as above is forwarded for information and necessary action to the:-

Accountant General ( A&E) , Haryana, Chandigarh.
Accountant General (Audit), Haryana, Chandigarh.
All District Social Welfare Officers in the State.

Sd/-

Joint Secretary, for Financial Commissioner & Secy. to Govt. Haryana, Social Welfare Department.

From

The commissioner & Secy. to Govt. Haryana.
Social Welfare Department.

The Director,
Social Defence & Security Department,
Haryana, Chandigarh.

Memo No. 1508 SW/Dated, Chandigarh the 1-8-94

Subject:- Grant of Scholarship under State Sector- Amendments there of.

In continuation of Haryana Govt. Social Welfare Deptt. sanction order NO. 992-SW(i)/93, dated 13.5.93 on the subject.

Sanction of the Governor of Haryana is hereby accorded to amend the Rules under the Scheme “ Scholarships to Physically Handicapped Students under State Sector who are receiving education in various Govt. / recognized Educational Institutions in the State, as under, subject to the condition that he expenditure involved would be met from the savings of the Department:-

Rules -9 payment

The scholarship will be available to each students from the month of April to the month of March i.e. for full academic years, subject to the condition that fee is paid for full academic year.

provided that

(i) & (ii) deleted.

(iii) The head of the Institution shall obtain from the scholar stamped receipt ( Appendix ‘E’) in duplicate in taken of having received the amount and shall forward a copy there of to the District Social Welfare officer of the respective district by the 10^th of the next month, for record.

(iv) No Change.

Sd/-

Joint Secretary, for Commissioner & Secy. to Govt. Haryana
Social Welfare Department.

Endst. NO. Dated, Chandigarh the

A copy is forwarded to the following for information and necessary action:-

1. Accountant General ( A&E) Audit) Haryana, Chandigarh.

2. All District Social Welfare officer in the Haryana.

Sd/-

Joint Secretary,

for Commissioner & Secy. to Govt. Haryana

Social Welfare Department.

TO BE SUBSTITUTED BEARING SAME NO. & DATE.

From

The Commissioner & Secy. to Govt. Haryana.
Social Welfare Department.

The Director,
Social Defence & Security Department,
Haryana, Chandigarh.

Memo NO. 758-SW(1) 95
Dated, Chandigarh, 31-3-95

Subject:- Grant of Scholarship to the Physically Handicapped students from Ist class to and the class to higher studies.

In continuation of Haryana Government Social Welfare Department sanction order No. 8550-53-GA-ii (SW-72 dated 2.8.72 and Memo No. 3924-SW(1)-85, dated 25.10.85, No. 992- SW(1)93, dated 13.5.93 and NO. 1258-SW(1)94, dated 13.694, sanction of the Governor of Haryana is herby accorded to revise the rates of scholarship to the physically Handicapped students receiving education in the various Govt. / Recognised Schools/ Colleges in the State with effect from 1.10.94 as desired by P.A.C. as under, subject to the condition that the expenditure involved on this account would be met from the savings of the department:-

Rates of Scholarship from Ist Class to VIII Class.

Sr. No.	Nature of the Disability		Upto Primary Class from Ist to IV Class & V Class	Upto Middle from VI Class to 8^th Class.
1	Deaf & Dumb	Rs. 100/-	120/-	120/-
2	Orthopeadically	Rs. 100/-	120/-	120/-
3	Blind	Rs. 100/-	150/-	150/-
4	Mentally Retarded Children	Rs. 100/-	100/-	100/-

Rates of Scholarship from IX Class to Higher studies

Type of Courses	Rates of Scholarship per month for day scholars	Rates for month hostellers	Readers allowance for Visually6 Handicapped only pr month
Class IX, X Pre- University Course and IA/ SC	Rs. 125/-	Rs. 150/-	Rs. 50/-
BA/B.Sc. / B.Com. etc.	Rs. 200/-	Rs. 225/-	75/-
B.E/ B.Tech./ M.B.B.S./L.L.B./ B.Ed. Diploma in professional and Engineering Studies etc. in plan Training	Rs. 250/-	Rs. 300/-	Rs. 100/-
M.A./ M.Sc. / M. Com. L.L.M. / M Ed. etc.	Rs. 300/-	Rs. 400/-	Rs. 100/-

The expenditure involved would be debatable out of the saving under the head: “2235-Social Security & Welfare-02-Social Welfare (SDS-101-Welfare of Handicapped )- (iii) Scholarship to Physically Handicapped students –Non- Plan and

“2235-Social Security & Welfare- 02-Social Welfare (SDS)-101-Welfare of Handicapped Part-I-State Plan Scheme (i) Scholarship to physically Handicapped students Plan”

This issues with the concurrence of Finance Department conveyed of their U.O. No. 3/2/92/3FG-II/741 dated 31.3.95.

Sd/-

Joint Secretary for Commissioner & Secy. to Govt. Haryana,
Social Welfare Department.

From

The Commissioner & Secy. to Govt. Haryana.
Social Welfare Department.

The Director,
Social Defence & Security Department,
Haryana, Chandigarh.

Memo NO. 219-SW(1) 96
Dated, Chandigarh, 31-2-96

Subject:- Enhancement of Income Criteria of the parent / guardians from Rs. 2000/- to 6000/- per month for the grant of scholarships to Physically Handicapped students studying in the higher classes/ diploma course.

In continuation of Haryana Govt., Social Welfare Deptt. order No. 750-SW(1)-95, dated 31-3-95 the Governor of Haryana is pleased to increased income Criteria of the parents/guardians from RS. 2000/- to 6000/- per month for the grant of scholarships to physically handicapped students studying in the higher classes, diploma courses with effect from 1.4.95, (9^th class onward.)

2. This issues with the concurrence of Finance Deptt. conveyed vide their U.O. No 3/2/92-3FG-II/2610, dated 4.1.96.

Sd/- Joint Secretary

for Commissioner & Secy. to Govt. Haryana,
Social Welfare Department.

Endst. No. 219-SW(1) -96 Dated, 13.2.96

A copy is forwarded to the following for information for a necessary action:-

Accountant General (ASE/ AUDIT), Haryana, Chandigarh.
All Deputy Commissioner in the Haryana state.
All District Social Welfare Officers in the Haryana Sate.
All Deputy Director at Head Quarter.
All Superintendent at Head Quarter.
Senior Accounts Officer, Head Quarter.

Sd/- Joint Secretary
for Commissioner & Secy. to Govt. Haryana, Social Welfare Department.

From

The Commissioner & Secy. to Govt. Haryana.
Social Welfare Department.

The Director,
Social Defence & Security Department,
Haryana, Chandigarh.

Memo NO. 3422-SW(1) 2002
Dated, Chandigarh, 25.11.2002

Subject:- Enhancement in the rates of Scholarships for Blind students Hostlers & Readers allowance to Blind students studying in the higher classes, diploma course w.e.f. 1.11.2002

In continuation of Haryana Govt. Social Welfare Department order No. 758-SW(1) 95 dated 31.3.95 and 219 SW(1) 96 dated 13.2.96. The Governor of Haran is pleased to increase the rates of scholarships (Hostlers & Reader’s allowances) to only blind students studying in the higher classes, diploma course w.e.f 1. 11..2002 (9^th class onwards) as under:-

Rates of scholarship from 9^th class to higher studies.

Rates of Scholarship

1	2	3	4
Type of Course	Rate per month for day scholars Not revised	Rate per month for hostellers Revised w.e.f. 1.11.02 (only for Blinds)	Readers allowance for Visually (blinds) Handicapped only per month

1. Class IX, X, Pre-University Course and I.A./I.Sc.	125/-	300/-	150/-
2. B.A/ B.Sc / B.Com. etc.	200/-	400/-	200/-
3. B.Ed/ B.Tech. / MBBS/ L.L.B/ B.Ed. Diploma in Professional and Engineering studies etc./ In Plan training	250/-	500/-	250/-
4. M.A/ M. Sc/ M.Com/ LLM/ M.Ed etc.	300/-	500/-	250/-

The expenditure would be debatable out of saving under the head “ 2235- Social Security & Welfare -02 Social Welfare- 101-Welfare of Handicapped- (iv) Scholarship to Physically Handicapped students Non Plan (SJE)” and “ 2235—Social Welfare -101- Welfare of Handicapped Part I State.

Plan Scheme – (iii Scholarship to Physically Handicapped students Plan (SJE).

The issues with concurrence of Finance Department conveyed vide of their U.O. No. 3292 3 FG II(2397) dated 29.10.02

Sd/-
Joint Secretary for Commissioner & Secy. to Govt. Haryana,
Social Welfare Department.

Endst. No. 3422- SW(1) 2002 dated 25.11.2002

Accountant forward to the following for information & necessary action:-
1.    Accountant General ( A&E Audit, Haryana, Chandigarh.
2.    All Deputy Commissioners in the Haryana State.
3.    All Distt. Social Welfare Officers in the Haryana State.
4.    All Deputy Director at Headquarter.
5.    Senior Accounts Officer Head Quarter.

Sd/-
Joint Secretary for Commissioner & Secy. to Govt. Haryana, Social Welfare Department.
A copy is forwarded to the Finance Commissioner & Secretary to Govt. Haryana Finance Department with reference to his U.O.No 3292 3 FG II(2397) dated 29.10.02 F.G.
Sd/-
Joint Secretary for Commissioner & Secy. to Govt. Haryana, Social Welfare Department.

To
Financial Commissioner Secretary Govt.
Haryana Finance Department
No. 3422   SW(1) 2002 dated 25.11.2002

From

The Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary,
to Govt. Haryana, Social Justice & Empowerment Department.

To
The Director, Social Justice & Empowerment Department, Haryana.
Memo No. 483-SW(I)-10
Chandigarh, dated 20-10-2010.

Subject: Enhancement in the Rates of Scholarship and income criteria of the parents/guardians for the Handicapped Students.
In continuation of Haryana Govt. Social Justice & Empowerment Department letter No. 3422-SW(I)2001 dated 25-11-2002 and instructions issued thereof from time to time, the Governor of Haryana is pleased to increase the rates of scholarship to the physically Handicapped Students of Haryana State studying in various classes of various Govt./Recognized Schools, Colleges in the State w.e.f. 1-4-2010, as per details given below:-

Sr. No.	Type of class	Rates of Scholarship for day scholars per month	Rate of scholarship for hostellers per month	Reader allowance for visually handicapped only per month.
1	Class I-IV	300/-	-	-
2	Class-V-VIII	400/-	-	-
3	Class- IX-XII	500/-	600/-	300/-
4	B.A/B.Sc/B.Com	600/-	800/-	400/-
5	B.E/B.Tech./MBBS/LLB/B.Ed and diploma in professional & engineering studies etc.	800/-	1000/-	500/-
6	MA/MSC/M.Com/LLM/M.Ed/M.Tech, etc	1000/-	1000/-	500/-

2. The revised Rates of the scholarship will be subject to the condition that income criteria of the parents/guardians of handicapped students is hereby fixed Rs. 10,000/- p.m.

3. The expenditure involved would be debitable to the head"2235 Social Security and welfare-02-Social welfare (Social Justice & Empowerment Department Haryana) 101-Welfare of Handicapped-97(iv) Scholarship to Physically Handicapped Students-Non Plan 2010-11.

4. This issue with the concurrence of Finance Department conveyed vide their U.O. NO. 3/2/92-3FG-II/1950 dated 24-9-2010.

Sd/- Deputy Secretary,
Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary, to Govt. Haryana,
Social Justice & Empowerment Department

Endst. NO. 483-SW(I) 2010 Chandigarh, dated the 20-10-2010

A copy of above is forwarded to the following for information and necessary action;-
1.    Accountant General (A&E)/Audit, Haryana, Chandigarh.
2.    Joint Director, at Headquarter.
3.    Chief Account Officer, Budget, at Headquarter.
4.    All District Social Welfare Officer in the State.

Sd/-
Deputy Secretary,
Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary to Govt. Haryana,
Social Justice & Empowerment Department

A copy forwarded to the Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary to Govt. Haryana, Finance Department with reference to his U.O. No. 3/2/92-3FG-II/1950 dated 24-9-2010.

Sd/-
Deputy Secretary,
Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary, to Govt. Haryana,
Social Justice & Empowerment Department

To
The Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretariat to Govt. Haryana, Finance Department.
No. 483 -SW(1) 2010 Chandigarh, dated the 20-10-2010

From
The Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary,
to Govt. Haryana, Social Justice & Empowerment Department.

To
The Director, Social Justice & Empowerment Department,
Haryana.

Memo No. 848-SW(4)-2011
Chandigarh, dated 28-11-2011.

Subject: Enhancement in the Rates of Scholarship and income criteria of the parents/guardians for the Handicapped Students.
In continuation of Haryana Govt. Social Justice & Empowerment Department letter No. 483-SW(I)2010 dated 20-10-2010 and instructions issued thereof from time to time, the Governor of Haryana is pleased to increase the rates of scholarship to the physically Handicapped Students of Haryana State studying in various classes of various Govt./Recognized Schools, Colleges in the State w.e.f. 2012-2013 as per details given below:-

Sr. No	Type of class	Rates of Scholarship for day scholars per month	Rate of scholarship for hostellers per month	Reader allowance for visually handicapped only per month
1	Class I-IV	400/-	-	-
2	Class-V-VIII	500/-	-	-
3	Class- IX-XII	600/-	600/-	300/-
4	B.A/B.Sc/B.Com	600/-	800/-	400/-
5	B.E/B.Tech./MBBS/LLB/B.Ed and diploma in professional & engineering studies etc	800/-	1000/-	500/-
6	MA/MSC/M.Com/LLM/M.Ed/M.Tech etc	1000/-	1000/-	500/-

2. The revised rates of the scholarship will be subject to the condition that income criteria of the parents/guardians of handicapped students is hereby fixed Rs. 10,000/- p.m.
3. The expenditure involved would be debitable to the head"2235 Social Security and welfare-02-Social welfare (Social Justice & Empowerment Department Haryana) 101-Welfare of Handicapped-97(iv) Scholarship to Physically Handicapped Students-Non Plan 2012-13.
4. The issued with the concurrence of Finance Department conveyed vide their U.O. NO. 3/2/92-3FG-II/1865 dated 18-10-2011.

Sd/-
Deputy Secretary,
Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary, to Govt. of Haryana,
Social Justice & Empowerment Department

HARYANA GOVERNMENT
SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT

No. 1344- SW(1) -81:- The Governor of Haryana is pleased to formulate the following rules governing the scheme for the grant of Unemployment Allowance to the Physically Handicapped persons.

Objectives
It is observed that the Employment of the Handicapped is very meagre. The employers show reluctance to employ them even if the handicapped possess requisite qualifications. Their period of wait after the completion of education and training is also unduly long. In order to mitigate the economic difficulties faced by the handicapped, maintenance grant will be given to all the educated physically handicapped persons who are qualified to get jobs but are not able to find employment due to various reasons.
The department is also implementing a scheme for grant of educational scholarship to the blind. Financial assistance being given under the state Govt. and Govt. of India’s Scheme. The rate of unemployment allowance Rs. 50/- to matriculates, Rs. 100/- to Graduate / Diploma holders and Rs. 150/- to post-graduate will not in any way discourage the handicapped persons from seeking further education. This scheme is to be implemented with effect from 1-4-1981.

II-Eligibility
All educated unemployed, applicants shall be eligible for the grant of unemployment allowance who are physically handicapped in accordance with the criteria given in Appendix-I and are enrolled:-
(a) An applicant should not be availing of financial assistance under any pension, maintenance or scholarship scheme of the State or Central Government or from any other organisati0on or agency;
(b) State/ Central Govt. employees and also those of the public Sector understanding, local bodies and quasi-Govt. institutions, who may have been dismissed from service or are in receipt of pensions form such employers and persons convicted of cognisable offences involving moral turpitude shall not be eligible for the benefits under this scheme.

III- Rate of Unemployment Allowance.
The following shall be the rates for the payment of unemployment allowance:-
Matric Rs. 50/-P.M.
Graduate/Diploma Holders Rs. 100/-P.M.
Post Graduates Rs. 150/- P.M.

IV- Duration
Financial assistance will be given for a period of six year from the date of application or registration in the Employment.

V- Application for Unemployment Allowance.

Applications for Unemployment allowance shall be submitted to the Director, Social Welfare, Haryana, on the prescribed form as at Appendix –II, Applications will be processed and submitted in his office and the decision of the Director, Social Welfare, Haryana shall be final.

VI- Power to sanction Unemployment Allowance.

The power to sanction Unemployment Allowance shall vest in the Director, Social Welfare or an officer not below the rank of class II officer who may be delectated such authority by him.

VII- Stoppage or Recovery of the Unemployment Allowance

The authority empowered to sanction the Unemployment Allowance may:-

(a) Step the payment of the unemployment allowance to any recipient, if the said allowance is no more payable to any change in the circumstances in which the some was sanctioned:
(b) Withdraw or with held the payment of unemployment allowance if at any stage it is discovered that the unemployment allowance was not admissible in the first instance and it was sanctioned by mistake or an false information or in disregard of any condition subject to which it could be sanctioned. The amount of unemployment allowance already paid may also be recovered without prejudice to an action, whether civil or criminal to which the recipient may be liable.
ii) In the event of the death of the recipient the un-employment allowance shall cease to the payable and if the recipient died before receiving any payment the amount not disbursed shall lapse to the Government.
iii) If at any time, a money order retaining to the disbursement of the unemployment allowance is received back undelivered due to any reasons whatsoever, the amount shall be predicted to the Government account unless it is claimed person all by the recipient within on month of its receipt.

VIII- Remittance of unemployment allowance.

The unemployment allowance shall be remitted to the recipient by money order on quarterly basis at the cost of the Government.
XI- Unemployment Allowance not enforceable through court of law.
The unemployment allowance under these shall not be enforceable though the court of law.

X- Yearly affidavit.
To draw the unemployment allowance in a subsequent year, the handicapped will be required to give an affidavit at the beginning of every financial year that they contained to be unemployment.

TIRLOCHAN SINGH
Commissioner & Secretary Officer
Haryana Social Welfare Department

(Extract Haryana Government Gazette, dated the 5th December, 1995)

HARYANA GOVERNMENT

SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT

Notification

The 13^th November, 2003

No. 1935-SW(1) 95 In partial modification of Haryana Government, Social Welfare Department Notification No. 3144-SW(1) 81, dated the 7th December, 1981, the Governor of Haryana is pleased to amend para 3 of the rules governing the Scheme for the grant of unemployment allowance to the Physically Handicapped Persons with effect from Ist April, 1996 as under:-

(III) Rates of Unemployment Allowance

The following shall be the rates for the payment of unemployment allowance :-

1.      Matric/ Middle Pass Diploma Holder                           Rs.150/-
2.      Graduate/ Matric Pass Diploma Holder                       Rs. 200/-
3.       Post Graduate, Graduate Diploma Holder                   Rs. 250/-

3. This issues with the concurrence of Finance Department conveyed vide their U.O.No 1/88/95-3 FG-II/2374/01, dated 28th November, 2003.

VEENA EAGLETON,

Commissioner and Principal Secretary to
Government of Haryana, Social Welfare Department.

Extract Haryana Government Gazette, dated the 23rd December, 2003

HARYANA GOVERNMENT

SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT

Notification

The 8^th December, 2003

No. 3012-SW(1)2003. In partial modification of Haryana Government, Social Welfare Department Notification No. 3144-SW(1)81, dated the 7th December, 1981, the Governor of Haryana is pleased to increase the rates of unemployment allowance under para 3 of the rules governing the scheme Unemployment allowance to Educated Physically Handicapped Persons w.e.f. 3rd December, 2003 as under:-

(1) Rates of Unemployment Allowance

The following shall be the rates for the payment of unemployment allowance :-

1. Matric/ Middle Pass Diploma Holder Rs. 200/- p.m

2. Graduate/ Matric Pass Diploma Holder Rs. 250/- p.m.

3. Post Graduate, Graduate Diploma Holder Rs. 300/- p.m.

This issues with the concurrence of Finance Department conveyed vide their U.O.No 1/88/95-3 FG-II/2374/01, dated 28th November, 2003.

VEENA EAGLETON,
Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Government of Haryana
Social Welfare Department
Chandigarh
The 28th November, 2003

Haryana Government Gazette, dated the 13^th February, 2007

HARYANA GOVERNMENT

SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT

Notification

The 24^th January, 2007

No. 94-SW(1)2007. The Governor of Haryana is pleased to increase the rates of Unemployment Allowance to 100 percent Handicapped Persons ( Blinds/ Orthopaedically Handicapped/ Deaf and Dumb) only under para-3 of the governing the scheme. Unemployment Allowance to the Educated Physically Handicapped Persons w.e.f First April, 2006 would be as under:-

1. Matric/ Middle Pass Diploma Holder Rs. 1000/- p.m

2. Graduate/ Maric Pass Diploma Holder Rs. 1500/-p.m.

3. Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma Holder Rs. 2000/-p.m.

This issues with the concurrence of Finance Department conveyed vide their U.O.No 1/68/95-3 FG-II/2510.. dated 9^th January, 2007.

Sd/-

ANURADHA GUPTA,
Commissioner and Secretary to Government Haryana
Social Welfare Department.

HARYANA GOVERNMENT

SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT

NOTIFICATION

No. 2066- SW(4)2003 - In suppression of Haryana Government Notification No. 2187—SW(4) 95 Dated 15.12.95, the Governor of Haryana pleased to constitute. The State Selection Committee for period of three years w.e.f. 15.2.2003 (i.e. 15.2.2003 to 14.2.2006) for the selection of persons in the Haryana State consisting of the following members.

1. Minister Social Welfare Department, Haryana Chairman

2. Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary Member

to Govt. Haryana, Social Welfare Department.

3. Director of Industries, Haryana Member

4. Labour Commissioner, Haryana Member

5. Director General, Health Service Haryana Member

6. Director, Employment, Haryana Member

7. Director, Social Justice & Empowerment Deptt. Member

Haryana. Secretary

Non- Official Member

1. Dr. V.J.S Vohra NEVEDAC Prosthetic Centre Member

Near Airport, Chandigarh.

2. Dr. Smt. Mamgam, General Secretary, Social Member

Health in India, Haryana State Branch, Chandigarh.

1. The main function of the committee will be select the handicapped persons for the National State Awards during the year.

2. The terms of the members of committee will be for three years.

3. The Head Quarter of the committee will be at Chandigarh.

4. The members of the committee will draw travelling allowance daily allowance as under:-

(i) Non-official members of the committee shall be entitled to the actual expense and daily allowance as admissible to Haryana Govt. Servants in accordance with the instruction issued by the Haryana Govt. from time to time.

(ii) The travelling and daily allowance to the Non-official members will be admissible on producing of a certificate to the effect that no Travelling allowance in respect of the journey or daily allowance for the period mentioned in the bill has been or will be claimed by them from any other source.

(iii) The travelling allowance for meeting of the committee will be allowed to the members from their permanent residence to the place of the meeting. If, however a member attend meeting from a place other than the place of his permanent residence, T.A bill be allowed to him either from the place of his residence or from where he attends the meeting whichever the distance loss.

(iv) The Non- official member of the committee who resides at the place where meeting of the committee was held will not entitled Travelling allowance / Daily allowance.

5. The entire expenditure involved will be incurred under the head “2235-Social Security & Welfare-02- Social Welfare -101- Welfare of Handicapped viii State Award to outstanding employer placement officers/ Handicapped 7 most efficient Handicapped employed/ self employed handicapped person Non- Plan 2003-04.

VEENA EAGLETON
Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary to
Govt. Haryana, Social Welfare Department.

Endst. No. 2066- SW(4) 2003 Dated 9-9-2003

A copy is forwarded to the Chairman/ All members of the Committee for information and necessary action.

Sd/-

Joint Secretary,

For Financial Commissioners & Principal Secretary

to Govt. HaSd/-ryana, Social Welfare Department.

Endst. No. 2066- SW(4) 2003 Dated 9-9-2003

A copy is forwarded to the Accountant General Haryana Chandigarh for information and necessary action.

Sd/-

Joint Secretary,

For Financial Commissioners & Principal Secretary

to Govt. Haryana, Social Welfare Department.

Endst. No. 2066- SW(4) 2003 Dated 9-9-2003

A copy is forwarded to the Controller. Printing and Stationary Department Haryana, Chandigarh for publishing the notification in the Haryana Government Gazette. Part- I One hundred spare copies or the notification may please be supplied to the undersigned at the earliest.

Sd/-
Joint Secretary,
For Financial Commissioners & Principal Secretary to Govt. of Haryana,
Social Welfare Department.

SCHEMES REGARDING CONFERING TE STATE AWARDS TO 16 OUTSTANDING EMPLOYERS/PLACEMENT OFFICERS OF THE HANDICAPPED AND MOST EFFICIENT HANDICAPPED EMPLOYERS/ SELF EMPLYED HANDICAPPED PERSONS.

INTRODUCATION

Since the advent of independence, State Govt./Government of India have been taking keen interest to solve various problems of handicapped persons. In order to enable then to become self reliant in life special emphasis has been laid on education, training and rehabilitation of the handicapped. Despite educational and training opportunities for the handicapped for numbers of years. Our efforts for placing them inn suitable employment have been some what sporadic. Experience in the economically advanced countries had clearly demonstrated that both economic and human values of placing trained handicapped persons properly in modern industry, business agriculture and public service could bring useful results.

Realising the importance of discovering avenue of employment for handicapped and need for a concerned efforts in this direction, special employment exchanges were set up for the handicapped persons. In the wide range of occupation both in public and private sections. This was, however, a relatively shall achievement and much greater efforts were needed to stimulate the efforts to the placement of trained handicapped persons in suitable employment. As an incentive since 1069 the resident of India has been giving away annually awards to outstanding employer of the handicapped / handicapped employees / self employed handicapped persons and the placement officers of the handicapped. This has produced encouraging results.

With a view to increase the avenues of placement/ employment for handicapped persons, it has decided by the State Government to confer state awards as are awarded by the Govt. of India.

Under the scheme being operated by the G9overnment of India a National Selection Committee stands constituted at the Central Level for considering the cases of handicapped persons for National Awards recommended by the State Selection Committee, which will be constituted every year by the department, . The composition of the committee will be as under:

1	Minister for Social Welfare Department	Chairman
2	Secretary, Social Welfare Department	Member
3	Director, Industries Haryana	Member
4	Commissioner, Labour Department	Member
5	Director, General Health Department	Member
6	Two prominent experts in the rehabilitation of handicapped (non officials, will be nominated by the Chairman.)	Member
7	Director, Social Justice & Empowerment	Member Secretary

This committee shall also be responsible for the selection of candidates for the conferring of State Awards.

SCOPE
Separate awards will be presented to outstanding employers of the handicapped and to the most efficient handicapped employees including self employed handicapped persons and placement officers from the following section:-
1.    The State Govt. Statutory bodies etc.
2.    Public Sector undertaking of the State Government.
3.    Private sector including self employed handicapped persons.
Nature of Awards.

a)	Employees/ Self Employed	10 Prizes
	First Prize	Rs. 5000/- and certificate
	Second Prize	Rs. 4000/- and certificate
	Third Prize	Rs. 3000/- and certificate (2 Nos)
	Fourth Prize	Rs. 2000/- and certificate.(2Nos)
b)	Employees of the Handicapped	Two Prizes
	First Prize	A big shield and certificate of merit
	Second Prize	A small shield and certificate of merit
	Placement Officers	One Prize
	One Prize	Rs. 4000/- and certificate of merit

Production of Selection

Initially selection for presentation of State Awards will be made by the departmental committee consisting of Director, Social Justice & empowerment and all Deputy Directors of the Department. The departmental committee will submit its recommendations to the State selection committee for making final selection.

Since selection is to be receipt of applications on the prescribed from will be fixed by Government of India.

The State government may at its discretion invite recommendations from institutions for the handicapped administered directly by it.

Criteria for Selection of Employers
Employers are proposed to be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:-

i) That at least 2% of their employees are disabled subject to a minimum of three persons in a given establishment. In case of larger establishment employing 15 handicapped persons or more.
ii) That whatever necessary minor adjustments in the meeting have been made.
iii) That the disabled are offered in same conditions of service. Including the rates of the pa is given to other employees.
iv) That the employees have shown sympathetic consideration understanding of the problems of handicapped and.
v) That were necessary and feasible, such additional facilities as accommodation are provided.

For Handicapped Employers including Self Employed Handicapped Persons.
The employees and self employed handicapped persons are proposed to be accessed on the basis of the following criteria:-
i) That he has placed at least 20o o of the number of people registered with him during the last one years.
ii) His fellow up during the last given year coupled with placement of the people registered with him upto the end of the last year is outstanding.
iii) That the attitude f the placement officer towards the registered handicapped persons has been sympathetic.
Due regards be given to the performance and hard work put in the placement officer keeping in view the larger number of beneficiaries handed by him.

Procedure for Presenting The Awards.

The Awards may be received personally be selected employers, placement officers and self employed persons in Chandigarh or a place as decided by the chairman in consultation with the Governor of Haryana. They will be paid travelling and daily allowance by the social Justice & Empowerment. The Government may on this occasion give a reception to which may be invited prominent citizen including the representatives of employers, with a view to giving stimulus to the campaign for the placements f handicapped persons in suitable employment.

From

The Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary to Govt. Haryana, Social Justice & Empowerment Department.
To
The Director Social Justice & Empowerment Department.
Haryana, Chandigarh.

No. 1759 SW(1) /2008 Chandigarh, Dated the 4-02-2008

Subject:- Revision of Rates of States Awards to the Physically Handicapped Persons.

Sanction of the Governor of the Haryana is hereby accorded to revise the rates of the State Awards in connection with the Presentation of Annual Awards to the Handicapped Persons of the States under the Scheme “ Scheme regarding conferring the State Awards for Outstanding Employers / Placement Officers of the Handicapped and the most efficient Handicapped Employees/ Self Employed Handicapped Persons”. The rates are revised as under:-

S.No	Category of prize	Nature of the prize No. of prize	Present rates and certificate	Revised rates and certificates
1	Employee/ Self Employed	First Prize (one) Second Prize (one) Third Prize (two) Fourth Prize(three)	Rs.5000/- and certificate Rs. 4000/- ad certificate Rs. 3000/- and certificate Rs. 2000/- and certificate	Rs. 10000/- and certificates. Rs. 8000/- and certificate Rs. 6000/- and certificate Rs. 4000/- and certificate.
2	Employers of the Handicapped	First Prize (one) Second Prize (one)	A big shield and certificate of merit. A small shield and certificate of merit.	Rs. 5000/- and certificate of merit. Rs. 3000/- and certificate of merit.
3	Placement Officer of the Handicapped	One Prize	Rs. 4000/- and certificate of merit.	Rs. 8000/- and certificate of merit

2. The Expenditure involved would be debatable to the Head “2235- Social Security and Welfare-02- Social Welfare- Social Justice and Empowerment, Haryana-101- Welfare of Handicapped-X State Award to Outstanding Employer / Placement officer of the Handicapped and most efficient Handicapped Employees/ Self Employed Handicapped Persons – other charges Social Security and Welfare –NON PLAN during the year 2007-08.
3. This issues with the concurrence of Finance Department conveyed vide their U.O. No. 1/6/94-3 FG-II (1944) dated 27-11-2007.

Sd/-
Joint Secretary,
for Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary to
Govt. Haryana, Social Justice & Empowerment Deptt.
Endst. NO. 1759 SW(1) / 2008,
Chandigarh, dated the
A copy is forwarded to the Accountant General (Audit)/ A&E Haryana Chandigarh for information and necessary action.
Sd/-
Joint Secretary,
for Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary to Govt
Haryana, Social Justice & Empowerment Deptt.

A copy is forwarded to the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Govt. Haryana, Finance Department with reference to their U.O No. 1/6/94-3FG-II(1944) dated -27-11-2007.

Sd/-
Joint Secretary,
for Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary to
Govt. Haryana, Social Justice & Empowerment Deptt.

To
The Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Govt.
Haryana, Finance Department,
U.O.No. 1759 SW(1) /2008 Chandigarh, dated the

ANNEXURE-A
PARTICULARS OF RECOMMENDED EMPLOYEE/SELF EMPLOYED WITH DISABLITIES FOR STATE AWARD

1.	Name(a) in English(in BLOCK Capital letters
	(b) in Hindi
2.	Address: (a) Residential
	(b)Office
3.	Telephone numbers: (a) Residential
	(b) Office
4.	FAX Number: (a) Residential
	(b) Office
5.	E-mail address, if any
6.	Sex
7.	Date of Birth/Age
8.	Nature/Category of disability
9.	Percentage of disability (Certificate of competent authority to be attached)
10.	Qualification: (a) Academic
	(b) Technical
11.	Trainings received, if any:
12.	Details of experience gained informally
13.	Whether employee or self-employed
14.	If employee:
	(a) Name of the Employer
	(b) Designation or Post held
	(b) Scale of pay and salary drawn
	(c) Nature of work engaged on
	(d) How does his/her productivity compare to that of his non-disabled counterparts in percentage of 10% more or less.
	(e) Rehabilitation with fellow – employed
	(f) Independence in work(encircles the grading option)	Very Good Good Poor
	(g) Mobility and self care remarks including a brief life sketch of about 200 words of the candidate highlighting his struggle against the disadvantages created by his disability ( encircle the grading option)	Very Good Good Poor
	(h) Punctuality ad regularity in attendance (encircle the grading option)	Very Good Good Poor
	(i) Whether any incentive/ rewards/ certificate given to the employee by the employer for his work during last three years. If yes, details thereof.
	(j) General assessment of the employee for last three years ( encircle the grading option)	Very Good Good Poor
15.	If self-employed:
	(a) Trade/ Professional with which associated
	(b) Monthly Income ( Attach copy of last income Tax Return filed/ Income Certificate)
	(c) How far you have upgraded your skill in that trade/ profession with a view to absorb yourself fully as a self-employed entrepreneur?
	(d) Social- economic problems/ constraints being faced in the existing trade/ profession to become a sustainable self- employed entrepreneur
	(e) (i) Whether taken loan from any bank/ financial institution of State/ Central Government (give full details)
	(ii) .If yes, indicate the balance amount of loan to be repaid
	(f) Have you ever been declare to be a defaulter to any nationalized bank/ financial institution/cooperative bank.
16.	If any National or State Level Award received during last five years, then please mention: (a) Name of the Award (b) Conferring Agency (c) Year of conferment

NOTE:

In case of self-employed persons with disabilities, the particulars may be duly certified by a gazette Officer of the Central/ State Govt. / Member of Parliament/ Member of State Legislature / Municipal Corp. etc.
Three copies of the photographs clearly showing disability of recommended employees/ self-employed with disabilities, with bio- data be enclosed.
Application should be supported by a Medical certificate indicating the degree of total disability.

ANNEXURE- B
PARTICULARSOF EMPLOYERS FOR STATE AWARDS

1	Name in English ( Block Capital letters ) and Hindi
2	Postal and telegraphic address of the organization with telephone & fax number.
3	Web- site address, if any
4	E-mail address, if any
5	Whether Government/ public Sector Undertaking/ Private
6	Nature of work undertaken by the organization
7	Total number of employer in the organization	Male Female Total
8	Number of employees with disability in the organization category-wise and sex- wise	Male Female Total
9	Number disability of the employees (if the organization has employees with various disabilities, please indicate the number of employees with each disability)
10	Percentage of employers with disability as Compared with the total number of Employees.
11	Nature of work in which Persons with disability are employed.
12	Whether their service conditions are the same as those for others.
13	Whether any modifications are made in the machinery and access is provided in the built environment.
14	Special effort made to train and employee persons with disability so far and plans for future.
15	How does the productivity of Employees with disability compare with that of non- disabled employees.
16	Remarks

Signature of the recommending authority with date

ANNEXURE- C

PARTICULARS OF THE AGENCY/OFFICER RESPONSIBLE FOR PLACEMENT OF THE PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES FOR STATE AWARDS

1. PERSONAL DATA

1	Name in English ( in Block Capital letters) and Hindi
2	Date of Birth
3	Educational qualification
4	Postal address
5	Telegraphic address/ FAX No.
6	Telephone Number : Office: Residence:
7	Web-site / E-mail address, if any
8	Name of the employer with complete address (Give all the employers with whom employed during the last five years, last name to be given first).
9	Total service in the capacity

PERFOMANCE DATA: Placement and follow- up Give the information for the last five years.

S.No.	Year	No. of Persons with Disabilities Registered Placed Male Female Male Female (Disability wise)	No. % age of placement to Registration	No. of cases followed up	% of dropouts from employment with brief reasons
(1)	(2)	(3) (4) (5) (6)	(7)	(8)	(9)
1	2003
2	2004
3	2005
4	2006
5	2007

III. Brief particulars of the Placement Officer:

Signature of applicant with date

Signature of the recommending authority with date

Broadly, “Placing” means an employers acceptance of a persons into a remunerative job as a result of the following Employment Exchange operations as a result of the ---
i) Booking on an order prior to submission;
ii) Pre-submission of the persons to be referred to the employer.
iii) Submission of the selected persons and verification / that the persons have been engaged.
(Defining as given in the National Employment Service Manual.)

SCHEME OF ASSISTANCE TO DISABLED
PERSONS FOR PURCHASE/FITTING OF AIDS/APPLIANCES (ADIP SCHEME)

Applicable w.e.f. April 2005

Govt. of India
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment,
Shastri Bhawan
New Delhi

SCHEME OF ASSISTANCE TO DISABLED PERSONS FOR PURCHASE/FITTING OF AIDS/APPLIANCES (ADIP SCHEME)

1. INTRODUCTION

It has been the constant endeavour of the Government to provide the disabled persons with aids/appliance at minimum costs. The requirement for providing of aids/appliances, which are essential for the social, economic and vocational rehabilitation of the disabled persons, has come into sharp focus, particularly after the enactment of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, which came into force in 1996. Various surveys conducted from time to time have made it clear that India has a very large number of disabled persons. Many of them come from low-income groups. Disability restricts their opportunities for leading functionally productive lives. From the application of modern technology, there have emerged a number of aids, which can reduce the effects of disabilities and enhance the economic potential of the disabled. To illustrate a wheel chair, an artificial limb, crutch, a brace, a splint can greatly improve the mobility of physically disabled individual. Similarly, with the help of a powerful hearing aid, persons with some residual hearing can be helped to carry on many activities of daily living. Low vision to read, print and undertake other activities resulting in their rehabilitation. However, a large number of disabled persons are deprived of the benefits of these appliances because of their inability to find funds to purchase them.

In the light of the Government’s growing stress on helping disabled persons and in bringing the aids and appliances within their reach, it has been decided in continue the ADIP Scheme and modify it in such a way that it becomes more user-friendly and the needy are not deprived of aids/appliances, which are essential for their social, economic and vocational rehabilitation. If they can, thereby, become earning members they would be much closer to achieve economic self-dependence and also be able to live and pursue their activities dignity.

2. THE SECHME AND ITS OBJECTIVES

The Scheme aims at helping the disabled persons by bringing suitable, durable, scientifically-manufactured, modern, standard aids and appliances within their reach The estimates, according to 58^th Sample Survey conducted by NSSO in 2002, indicate that there are about 18.04 million persons with various types of disabilities in the country. Their disabilities restrict the opportunity for their economic and social growth. In addition, about 3% of the children below 14 years of age suffer from delayed development. Many of them are mentally retarded and cerebral palsied and require some aids/appliances to attain the capacity for self-care and independent living.

The main objective of the Scheme is to assist the needy disabled persons in procuring durable, sophisticated and scientifically manufactured, modern, standard aids and appliances that can promote their physical, social and psychological rehabilitation by reducing the disabilities and enhance their economic potential. The aids and appliances supplied under the Scheme must be ISI.

3. DEFINITIONS

Definitions of various types of disabilities as given in The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (PWD ACT)

4. SCOPE

The Scheme will be implemented through the Implementing Agencies as listed in the following para. The Agencies will be provided with financial assistance for purchase fabrication and distribution of such standard aids and appliances that are in conformity with objective of the Scheme. The Implementing Agencies will take care of/make suitable arrangements for fitting and post-fitting care of the aids and appliances distributed under ADIP Scheme. The scope of the Scheme has been further enlarged to include use of mass media, exhibitions. workshops etc, for exchange of information and promoting awareness and distribution and use of aids/appliances.

The Scheme shall also include under its ambit, medical/surgical correction & intervention, which is essential prior to fitment of aids and appliances. The cost could range from Rs. 500/- for hearing & speech Impaired to Rs. 1,000/- for visually disabled and Rs. 3,000/- for orthopacidcally disabled.

5. ELIGIBILITY OF IMPLEMENTING AGENCY UNDER THE SCHEME

The following agencies would be eligible to implement the Scheme on behalf of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, subject to fulfilment of laid down terms and conditions:

i Societies, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and their branches, if any, separately.

ii Registered charitable trusts.

iii District Rural Development Agencies, Indian Red Cross Societies and other Autonomous Bodies headed by District Collector/Chief Executive Officer/District Development Officer of Zilla Parishad.

iv National/Apex Institutes including ALIMCO functioning under administrative control of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment/Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

v State Handicapped Development Corporations.

vi Local Bodies-Zilla Parishad, Municipalities, District Autonomous Development Councils and Panchayats.

vii Nehru Yuvak Kendras.

Grant-in-aid under the Scheme will not be given for commercial supply of aid/appliance.

The NGOs should preferable possess professional/technical expertise in the form of professionally qualified staff (from recognized courses) for the identification, prescription of the required artificial aids/appliance, fitment and post fitment care of the beneficiaries as well as the aid/appliance.

The NGOs should preferable possess infrastructure in the form of machinery/equipment for the fabrication, fitment and maintenance of artificial aid/appliance to be given to a disabled person under ADIP Scheme.

Implementing Organisations should network and establish linkages with medical college/district hospitals/ rural hospitals/ PHCs/ fitment centres of ALIMCO/DDRCs/ any other professionally competent agency to acquire/avail the requisite infrastructure for fitment and maintenance of aids/ appliances distributed under ADIP Scheme available with these bodies. The implementing Agencies shall also avail of the professional/technical expertise of above mentioned agencies for fitment and post-fitment ALIMCO and DDRCs functioning under the administrative control of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment shall also assist DRDAs and other autonomous organizations to develop requisite manpower and infrastructure over a period of time to provide satisfactory service to the beneficiaries under the Scheme. Such organizations while applying of the grant under the Scheme shall produce sufficient proof of linkages with the professional agencies preferably in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding.

6. ELIGIBILITY OF THE BENEFICIARIES.

A Person with disabilities fulfilling following conditions would be eligible for assistance under ADIP Scheme through authorized agencies.

He/she be an Indian citizen of any age.
Should be certified by a Registered / Medical Practitioner that he/ she is disabled and fit to use prescribed aids/ appliances.
Person who is employed / self-employed or getting pension and whose monthly income from all sources does not exceed RS. 10,000/- per month.
In case of dependents, the income of parents/ guardians should not exceed Rs. 10,000/- per month.
Persons who have not received assistance from the Government, local bodies and Non- Official Organisations during the last 3 years for the same purpose. However, for children below 12 years of age this limit would be 1 year.

7. QUANTUM OF ASSISTNACE TO DISABLED

Only those aids/ appliances which do not cost more than RS. 6,000/- are covered under the Scheme. However, for visually mentally, speech & hearing or multiple disabled, the limit should be Rs. 8,000/- during their study period aftaer IX standard. The limits will apply to individuals items of aid and where more than one aid is required, the ceiling will apply separately. The amount of assistance will be as follows.

Total Income	Amount of Assistance
(i) Upto Rs. 6,500/- per month. (ii) Rs. 6,501/- to Rs. 10,000/- per month	(i) Full cost of aids/ appliances. (ii) 50% of the cost of aids/ appliances

Further, travelling cost would be admissible limited to bus fare in ordinary class or railway by second class sleeper subject to limit Rs. 250/- for beneficiary irrespective of number of visits to the centre and a Certificate from Doctor or Rehabilitation Professional, travel expenses subject to the same limit would be admissible to an attendant/ escort accompanying the beneficiary. The beneficiary should attend the Rehabilitation Centre nearest to hi/ her place of residence, except in the North- Eastern Region where he may be allowed travel cost for travelling outside the Region till such facilities becomes available within that Region.

8. TYPES OF AIDS/ APPLIANCES TO BE PROVIDED.

Types following aids and appliances may be allowed for each type of disabled individual. However, any other item as notified from time to time by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for the purpose will also be allowed.
LOCOMOTOR DISABLED.

i.    All types of prosthetic and orthotic devices.
ii.    Mobility aids like tricycles, wheelchairs, crutches walking sticks and walking frames/ rolators. Motorised tricycles for persons with locomotors disability that are likely to cost more than Rs. 6,000/- may be procured and provided in exceptional cases subject to prior approval of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on case to case basis. Extent of subsidy would however continue to be Rs. 6000/- For all other devices ceiling is Rs. 6,000/-
iii.    All types of surgical footwears and MCR Chappals.
iv.    All types of devices for ADL (activity of daily living).

VISUALLY DISABLED
i.    Learning equipments like arithmetic frame, abacus, geometry kits etc. Giants Braille dots system for slow-learning blind children. Dictaphone and other variable speed recording system. CD player / Tape recorder for blind student fro Xth standard.
ii.    Science learning equipments like talking balances, talking thermometer, measuring equipments like tape measures, micrometres etc.
iii.    Braille writing equipments including Bailers, Braille shorthand machines, typewriters for blind students from X Class. Talking machines, calculators, Geography learning equipment like raised maps and globes.
iv.    Communication equipment for the deaf-blind. Braille attachments for telephone for deaf-blind persons.
v.    Low vision aids including hand-held stand, lighted and unlighted magnifiers, speech synthesizers or Braille attachments for computers.
vi.    Special mobility aids for visually disabled people with muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy like adapted walkers.
vii.    Soft- ware for visually handicapped persons using computers that are likely to cost more than Rs. 6,000/- may procured ad provided in exceptional cases subject to prior approval of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on case to case basis. The extent of subsidy would however continue to be Rs. 6,000/-. For all other devices ceiling.

HEARING DISABLED.

i.` Various types of hearing aids.

ii. Educational kits like tape recorders/ CD player etc.

Assistive and alarming devices including devices for hearing of telephone, TV, doorbell, time alarm etc.
Communication aids, like, portable speech synthesizer etc.

MENTALLY DISABLED.

Any suitable device as advised by Rehabilitation Professional or treating physician.

9. PROCEDURE FOR RECIPT OF GRANT-IN-AID BY AN IMPLEMENTING AGENCY.

The organisation will submit their application in the prescribed format ( Annexure- I& II) to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment through concerned State Government / UT Administration/National Institute/ Regional Rehabilitation Training Centre/ District Rehabilitation Centre/ any other agency authorized by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, every year. The application should be accompanied with following documents/ information (dully attested)

A copy of Registration Certificate u/s 51/ 52 of Persons Disabilities (Equal Opportunities Protection of Rights and Full Participation Act (PWD Act), 1995.
A copy Registration Certificate under Societies Registration Act, 1860 and their branches, if any, separately, or Charitable Trust Act.
A copy of Rules. Aims and Objectives of the Organization.
A copy of Certified Audited Accounts and Annual Report for the last Year.
Names of the Members of Management Committees of the Organisation.
List of identified beneficiaries and types of aids/ appliances required by the organisation for supplying / getting to the identified beneficiaries.
Estimated expenditure for distribution/ fitting of aids/ appliances amongst the identified beneficiaries.
And Undertaking that the funds will not be utilized for any other purposes.
An Undertaking to maintain a separate account of the funds received from the Ministry under the scheme.
The implementing Agencies already receiving grant-in-aid under the Scheme should also furnish the list of beneficiaries assisted from the grant-in-aid released to them in the previous year as per Performa given in Annexure- V may be given.
A calendar of activities for entire financial year including probable dates for holding caps etc. for distribution of aids/ appliances and also maintain separate account for that.
An Undertaking that the organisation will provide post – distribution care to the beneficiaries as well as aids/ appliances, on demand.

m. Organisation should be financially should ad viable and has requisite capability to mobilize the resources.

The organisation shall have working rapport with the District available with District Administration for identification of aids/ appliances.
The implementing agencies shall keep manuals/ literature on main features, maintenance and upkeep of devices, one year free maintenance would be provided by them for assistive devices 2% of the annual allocation will be earmarked for monitoring and evaluation of expenses.
The organisation will provide reservation to SC/ST/OBC and disabled persons in accordance with instructions issued by GOI from time to time if it employees more than 20 persons on a regular basis.

10. RECOMMENDATION

The State Government/UT Administration/ National Institute/RRTC/DRC/any other agency authorized by the Ministry should send its recommendation with specific remarks about.

i) Professional competence, credibility, integrity and existing infrastructural facilities for satisfactory implementation of the Scheme by the NGO/organisation.

ii) Eligibility of the organisation as laid down by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

iii) Rapport with target groups, capacity and willingness to network with other NGOs and Panchayati Raj institution etc.

The recommendation should also include whether the NGOs is getting grant-in-aid from other Ministry/ State Government etc. for the same purpose.

However, no recommendation is required in case of National Institute and ALIMCO working under the administrative control of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

11. QUATUM OF ASSISTANC3E TO AN IMIPLEMENTING AGENCY.

No ceiling should be imposed on the quantum of assistance to be released to an Implementing Agency and it branches (separately) during a particular financial year However, while deciding on the amount of grant to be given, the performance, professional expertise, capacity, tack record and outreach capabilities of the agency shall be kept in view.

12. SANCTION / RELEASE OF GRANT-IN-AID

The Implementing Agencies will be sanctioned grant-in-aid in particular financial year after receiving recommendation from State Government/ UT Administration/ National Institute/ RRTC/ DRC/ an other agency authorized by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The subsequent financial a assistance would be sanctioned after receipt of audited accounts and list of beneficiaries with their permanent addresses in the prescribed poroma for the previous year’s grant shall be furnished before the end of second quarter of each financial year, positively.

The recommending authority should create the field agencies who shall strive to conduct sample checking of beneficiaries regarding utilization of grant-in-aid by NGOs and distribution of aids and appliances by the Implementing Agency. The sample checking of beneficiaries regarding utilization of grant –in- aid by NGOs and distribution of aids and appliances by the Implementing Agencies. The sample checking would cover at least 5 to 10 percent of the beneficiaries, which are covered under the Scheme in the previous year.

The grant-in-aid would normally be released in tow instalment after process of audited accounts and list of beneficiaries furnished by the organisation/ implementing Agency to the satisfaction of the Ministry.

13. CONDITIONS FOR ASSISTANCE.

i. The implementing agency will be fully competent to satisfy about the monthly income of the beneficiaries and shall obtain a certificate from the concerned competent authority. The identification of the beneficiaries has to be done by an expert in accordance with guidelines issued by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in this regard

ii. The implementing agency will maintain a register in the prescribed performa ( Annexure-III) about the beneficiaries assisted under the Scheme.

The implementing agency shall maintain a separate accounts of funds received and utilized from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment under the Scheme. The fund should be kept in separate bank account to be operated under ADIP Scheme.
A certificate from the Head of the Implementing Agency to the effect that the funds have been utilized. A list of beneficiaries as per proforma given in Annexure- IV assisted by the organisation that the funds given by the Ministry will be furnished along with the yearly application as per procedure indicated in para 9 in CD in Excel programme.
The final accounts for a financial year will be rendered through utilization certificate and audited accounts signed by chartered accountant within six months of the close of the financial year.
The agency implementing the scheme will obtain an undertaking from the beneficiary that he/ she has not obtained such aid from any other agency/ source during last tow years ad that he/ she not obtained such aid from any other agency/ source during last three years and that he/ she will keep it for his/ her bona fide use.
The agency implementing the scheme will be open to inspection by an officer/ agency authorized by Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment or the State Government / UT/ Administrative / National Institute/ DRCs etc.
When the Government of India has reasons to believe that the sanction is not being utilized for the approval purpose the amount would be recovered from the implementing agency with interest and no further assistance would be given to the agency.
The quantum of assistance to be given to an implementing agency during a particular year will be decided by the Government of India. The implementing agencies would, therefore, not incur any liability under the Scheme unless the funds have been sanctioned to them fort the purpose.
At least 25% beneficiaries should be girl child/ women.

Annexure-I

Application for Central Scheme of Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/ Fitting of Aids/ Appliances.

From Date:

The Secretary to the Government of India,

Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment,

Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi

Subject:- Assistance under the Central Scheme of Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/ fitting of aids/appliances.

I submit herewith an application for a grant for the year under the Scheme of Assistance to Disabled persons for purchase/fitting of aids/appliances. I certify that I grant is given. Should the Institutions/ Organisation cease to exist at any time, such properties shall revert to the Government of India.

(a) All assets acquired wholly or substantially out of the Central grant shall not be encumbered or disposed off or utilized for purpose other tan those for which the grant is given. Should the Institutions/ Organisation cease to exist at any time, such properties shall revert to the Government of India.

(b) The accounts of the project shall be properly and separately maintained. They shall always be open to check by an officer deputed by the Govt. of India or the State Government of India at his discretion.

(c) If the State or the Central Govt. have reasons to believe that the grant is not being utilized for approved purpose, the Govt. of India may stop payment of further Instalments and recover earlier grants in such a manner as they may decide.

(d) The Institution shall exercise reasonable economy in the implementation of the scheme.

(e) The Organisation will obtain an undertaking from the beneficiaries as required under the scheme, before fitting/ giving of aids/ appliances.

Yours faithfully,

(Signature)
(Designation)
(Office Stamp)

Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment

Name of the Scheme

1. Organisation

Name

Address (office) :

(Project) :

Phone (office) :

(Project) :

Fax (office) :

(Project) :

Telex (office) :

(Project) :

E-mail (office) :

(Project) :

Grams (office) :

(Project) :

2. (i) Name of the Act :

Under which registered :

(ii) Registration No. and :

Date of Registration :

Any other Organisation/ Institute :

Body, if applicable, give details

3. Registration under Foreign : (Yes/ No)

Contribution Act

4. Memorandum of Association :

And Bye-Laws.

5. Name & Address of the :

Members of the Board of

Management/ Governing

Body

6. List of Documents to be attached :

(a) A copy of the Annual Report

For the previous year which

Should contain the balance sheet (including receipt and payment account ), income and Expenditure Account.

7. Details of the project for which the :

Grant-in-aid is being applied.

8. Grant-in-aid applied for in :

the current year.

9. Details of beneficiaries .

(a) Number of disabled benefited :

From previous years grant.

(b) Proposed number of disabled :

Expected to be covered during

Current financial year.

10. Details of the staff available :

Details of GIA received under other Schemes of

State Govt…………………………….

Central Govt………………………..

Other sources…………………….

Programme / Project run grant-in-aid received Total Location of the

By the NGO (other than amount service Expenditure Project

The one applied for ) agency on the

Projects.

13. List of Additional Papers.

(if any given)

I have read the scheme ad fulfil the requirement and conditions of the scheme. I undertake to abide by all the condition of the Scheme.

Signature ………………………………..

Name…………………………………

Address……………………………

……………………………………..

Date……………………………..

(Seal)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Note: Wherever not applicable, specially in case of new Organisation, please write – N.A.

MINISTRY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE & EMPOWERMENT.

Name of the Scheme:

1. APPLICATION FORM FOR THE IIND INSTALLEMMENT

1. Organisation

Name

Address (office) :

(Project) :

Phone (office) :

(Project) :

Fax (office) :

(Project) :

Telex (office) :

(Project) :

E-mail (office) :

(Project) :

Grams (office) :

(Project)

2. Grant-in-aid(in. Rs.)

Total

A. Applied in the current year :

B. Received as Ist Instalment :

C. Applied for IInd Instalment :

3. Annual Report of the previous year.

ii) Audited statement of accounts of previous year ( Receipts and Payments statement, Income & Expenditure Statement) and Balance sheet.

iii) Audited utilization certificate with itemise expenditure as per the sanctioned items of grant.

iv) Details of staff available.

v) Details of beneficiaries as per Annexure IV

vi) Assets acquired wholly or substantially out of government grants under GFR 19

vii) An other information considered necessary b the organisation of a asked for:

Signature ………………………………..

Name…………………………………

Address……………………………

……………………………………..

Date………………………

(Seal)

Annexure- III

Register to be maintained by the agencies implementing the Scheme Assistance to Disabled for purchase/fitting of Aids/ Appliances.

Sr.No	Name of beneficiaries	Address	Male/ female	Age	Income	Type of aid(given)	Date on which given	Cost of Aid
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Fabricating/ Fitment charges	Total cost of Aid	Subsidy provided	Travel cost paid to outstation beneficiaries	Board and expenses paid	Whether any surgical correction undertaken	Total 12+13+14+15
10	11	12	13	14	15	16

No. of days for which stayed	Signature of Beneficiary	Whether Accompanied by escort
17	18	19

Annexure- IV

List of beneficiaries assisted by the agencies implementing the Scheme of Assistance to Disabled for purchase/fitting of Aids/ Appliances to be furnished to Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment

Sr.No	Name of beneficiaries	Address	Male/ female	Age	Income	Type of aid (given)	Date on which given	Cost of Aid
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Fabricating/ Fitment charges	Total cost of Aid	Subsidy provided	Travel cost paid to outstation beneficiaries	Board and expenses paid	Whether any surgical correction undertaken	Total 12+13+14+15
10	11	12	13	14	15	16

No. of days for which stayed	Whether Accompanied by escort
17	18

To be accompanied by certificate from Rehabilitation Professional / Physically for every case.

Annexure- V

Scheme of Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/ Fitting of Aids/ Appliances.

UTILISATION CERTIFICATE.

(See Government of India’s Decision (1) below Rule 150 )

Sr.No	Letter number and date	Amount.

Certified that out of Rs. ................................. /- of grant-in-aid sanctioned during the year ...................................................in favour of ................................................ NO. given in the margin and Rs. / on account of unspent balance of the pervious year, a sum of Rs. ....................................../ has been utilized for the purpose of ............................................................... for which it was it was sanctioned and that the balance of Rs. ................................................................/ remaining unutilized at the end of the year has been surrendered to Government (vide NO............................................... dated will be adjusted towards the grant-in-aid payable during the next year.

2. Certified that I have satisfied myself that the conditions on which the grant-in-aid was sanctioned have been duly fulfilled/ are being fulfilled and that I have exercised the following checks to see that the money was actually utilized for the purpose for which it was sanctioned.

Kinds of checks exercised

Duly certified by a Chartered Signature.........................

Accountant/ Auditor

Designation.....................

Date..............................

Annexure- VI

SCHEME OF ASSISTANCE TO DISABLED PERSONS FOR PURCHASE/ FITTING OF AIDS/ APPLIANCES

(ADIP SCHEME)

STATEMENT SHOWING COMPOSITION OF THE MANAGING COMMITTEE.

NAME AND POSTAL ADDRESS THE

ORGANIZATION______________________________________________________________

Sr.No.	Name of the Member of the Managing Committee	S/o D/o W/o	Complete residential address	Nature of occupation	Status in the Managing Committee
1	2	3	4	5	6

Note: (i) Certified that the composition of the above Managing Committee is in accordance with the approved Bye Laws and Memorandum of Association of the organization.

(i) Certified that the above Managing Committee was elected by the General Body in its meeting held on .................................................................The life of the Committee is form .............................................. to................................................

Signature

Name of President/ Secretary (in capital letters)

Office stamp of the Organisation

HARYANA GOVERNMENT

SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT DEPARTMENT

NOTIFICATION

Dated Chandigarh 30-1-2009

No. 2351-SW(4)-2008: The Governor of Haryana is pleased to make the following scheme namely “Financial Assistance to the Non-School Going Disabled Children Scheme” which will come into force with effect from 1.12.2008 .This scheme incorporating the amendments made from time to time and shall be applicable throughout the State of Haryana .

DEFINITIONS

The Mentally Retarded Children who suffer from following conditions :-

1) Mental Retardation with I.Q. not exceeding 35.

2. AIM:-

Presently Haryana Govt. is providing Financial Assistance in the form of scholarship to such disabled children of state who are below 18 years of age and are getting formal education in different schools, colleges, technical institutions and universities etc. and those disabled persons who are above 18 years of age are being provided financial assistance in the form of Handicapped Pension

But there are some mentally retarded children in the age group of 0 to 18 years who are in the category of Profound & Severely retardation, who are not able to attend formal education, training etc. due to their disability. They are totally dependent on their parents or relatives and need constant supervision and care of their families. Some of them require nursery care also. These children because of their severity of M.R. are looked down upon in society and are also forced to live in deplorable and humiliating environment. Their Parents also some time find it difficult to look after them properly either due to financial difficulties or otherwise. Therefore it is felt imminent that in order to boost the morale of these children as well as provide support to their parents some financial assistance should be given to them for their welfare and respectful up bringing. Keeping this in view a scheme named “Financial Assistance to the Non- School going disabled Children” is conceived aiming at to providing financial assistance to such parents who cannot send them for formal schooling and boarding of their disabled wards in the age group of below 18 years because of financial constraints or because of the returns of their Mental Retardation.

3. ELIGIBILITY:- Eligibility conditions are as follows:-

( i ) A person having physical disability in the age-group of below 18 years shall be eligible for grant of Assistance.

(ii) The applicant should be a domicile of Haryana State and should be residing in Haryana State for the last three years at the time of submission of application. He /She will have to submit domicile proof for this purpose issued by the competent authority.

(iii) The applicant’s close relatives and parents are not in a financial position to support him/ her and the income of his/ her parents, close relatives or his/ her own income from all sources is less than the income as prescribed under the Minimum Wages Act, i.e. Rs. 3510/- p.m.as in 2008. He/She will have to submit proof of income verified by the competent authority.

(iv) The assistance would not be given to such children who are already receiving assistance under the Scholarship, Unemployment Allowance and Handicapped Pension Schemes being implemented by the Social Justice& Empowerment Department, Haryana.

(v) The applicant should have the following disabilities:-(a) Mental Retardation with I.Q not exceeding 35.

Medical Certificate duly issued by the Civil Surgeon will have to be produced for (i) to (v) above.

(b) The applicant shall submit proof regarding age of the ward/child in the form of:

(i) Birth Certificate issued by the Registrar of Births & Death; or

( ii) Affidavit by the applicant attested from the First Class Magistrate; or

( iii) A certificate from any Gazetted Officer of the State/.Central Govt.

4. CONSTITUTION OF COMMITTEE FOR SCRUTINY :

(a) Committees will be constituted for scrutinizing the eligibility for grant of financial assistance in the rural and urban areas. In the rural areas, the Committee will consist of District Social Welfare Officer or his representative, Circle Revenue Officer and Medical Officer of Health Department. In the urban areas, the Committee will consist of Officer In charge of the Municipal Committee or the Executive Officer or the Secretary of Municipal Committee and District Social Welfare Officer or his representative and a Medical Officer of Health Department.

5. SUPERVISION & COORDINATION COMMITTEE :

A District Level Committee comprising of Civil Surgeon as a Member, District Social Welfare Officer as Member Secretary and Deputy Commissioner of the District or his representative as Chairman will be constituted, for overall supervision, coordination and implementation of the Scheme in the District . District Social Welfare Officer will be the convener of the Committee. It will meet once every quarter to review the performance of the scheme.

6. VERIFICATION:-

(i) During its visit to the village/ ward for the purpose of verification of fresh applicants Committee for Scrutiny may also ensure that no beneficiary eligible for assistance is left-out. For this purpose, all the beneficiaries will be required to present themselves before the Committee. Assistance to those persons who fail to present themselves before the Committee will not be considered. Financial Assistance will be sanctioned by the concerned District Social Welfare Officer on the recommendations of the Scrutiny Committee.

(ii) In those cases where Committee comes to a definite conclusion that beneficiary is no longer eligible for assistance, the Committee will recommend to terminate the assistance of such beneficiaries and will send intimation to District Social Welfare Officer of such termination, for further necessary action. However, the committee shall exercise reasonable judgment to decide these cases. The District Social Welfare Officer shall intimate the fact of termination of assistance to the beneficiary. An appeal shall lie, within 3 months from the intimation of such termination to the District Level Committee against such termination of assistance. The decision of the District Level Committee shall be final and will not be subjected to any further investigation./ appeal.

(iii) In those cases where the beneficiary has not presented himself/ herself before the Committee at the time of disbursement for two consecutive months and the Committee suspects the eligibility of a beneficiary, the Committee may recommend to District Social Welfare Officer to stop the further disbursement of assistance to such beneficiary. District Social Welfare Officer shall issue a notice to the beneficiary asking him/ her to show cause why his/ her assistance should not be terminated. If the beneficiary fails to satisfy the District Social Welfare Officer regarding his/ her continued eligibility of assistance, An appeal shall lie, within 3 month from the intimation of such termination to the District Level Committee against such termination of assistance. Otherwise, the assistance shall be resumed after the beneficiary satisfies the District Social Welfare Officer about his/ her eligibility for assistance.

(iv) Initially verification will be done village wise by the Committee for scrutiny. However, special verification may be done in case of complaints or as per decision of the Govt. from time to time.

7. MODE OF PAYMENT:-

(a) Assistance shall be disbursed through the Panchayati Raj under the supervision of Block Development and Panchayat Officer or by any other means of payment to be decided by the Government from time to time. The financial assistance shall become payable from the 1^st day of the month in which it is sanctioned.

(b) The periodicity of payment of assistance shall be decided by Director, Social Justice and Empowerment from time to time.

(c) No further payment shall be made if the acknowledgement of disbursement/payment has not been received for two consecutive instalments.

(d) The assistance which have remained unpaid for two consecutive instalments or more shall be enquired into by the concerned District Social Welfare Officer who will take necessary action in this regard. Payees acknowledgement shall be recorded and kept under lock and key by the District Social Welfare Officer till the accounts have been audited by Accountant General, Haryana.

(e) Handling cash payment to the disbursing officials shall be made, as far as possible, through bank drafts issued in favor of them.

(f) All the un disbursed amount shall be received by the District Social Welfare Officer concerned. A proper record of such amounts shall be kept in a separate register. The undisguised amount received back shall be taken in the cash book and the entire amount thus received shall be refundable by short drawl from subsequent assistance bill.

(g) The Director Social Justice and Empowerment Haryana shall be over-all in charge of the “Financial Assistance to the Non-School Going Disabled Children Scheme” and necessary instructions in regard for proper enforcement and accounting procedure shall be issued by him/her from time to time.

Note: The payment of financial assistance shall be made to the parent /guardian of the disabled child who applies for the financial assistance in respect of his/ her children/wards and not direct to the children.

8. PROCEDURE FOR MAKING APPLICATION:

The application for Financial Assistance shall be submitted in the prescribed form which would be available with the District Social Welfare Officer or Director Social Justice & Empowerment Department, Haryana Chandigarh free of cost and can be submitted to the respective District Social Welfare Officer up to 10^th day of every month.

9. RATE OF ASSISTANCE :

Financial assistance shall be admissible under the scheme at the rate of Rs. 300/- per month to every disabled child in the family of the applicant. Every non school going disabled child in a single family would be eligible for this assistance. Government will have the right to change the rate of assistance from time to time.

POWER OF SANCTION :

The District Social Welfare Officer dealing with the scheme shall be the sanctioning authority who shall pass orders on each case on the basis of the spot verification conducted by the Committee for scrutiny or in case of complaint etc. Investigation Officer or any other official deputed for the purpose by the sanctioning authority. The decision of the Director Social Justice and Empowerment shall be final. The order passed by District Social Welfare Officer in each case shall be communicated to the applicant and the Accountant General, Haryana, Chandigarh.
11. STOPPAGE OF ASSISTANCE :

(i) Assistance shall be payable from the date of sanction till the beneficiary completes the age of 18 years. However the District Social Welfare Officer shall have the right to stop payment of assistance, if at any stage it is found that it was sanctioned on a wrong ground or false information or the condition for which the assistance was granted no longer existed..

(ii) Assistance shall cease to be payable on the death of a beneficiary and if the grantee dies before receiving assistance for a particular period, the same shall also lapse.

(iii) In case assistance is sanctioned on the basis of wrong information given by the applicant in his /her application form, the amount given would be recovered as arrears of land revenue .In case of deliberate wrong information the beneficiary shall be liable for prosecution .

(iv) Assistance under this scheme shall not be liable to attachment under any court of law.

(v) After attaining the age of 18 years, the beneficiary should automatically become eligible for handicapped pension.

12 PUBLICITY:

Wide publicity measures will be adopted by way of publishing public notices and display advertisements in the leading newspapers, printing of folders and pamphlets, public notices at all District Social Welfare Offices and similar other public places, advertisement through District Public Relation Officers and by way of Munadi in the Rural and Urban areas.

13 IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING: -

One Post of Investigator in each District/ Headquarter shall be created on contract basis for best Implementation and Monitoring of scheme.

14 BUDGET HEAD.

2235- Social Security & Welfare-02- Social Welfare 101-Welfare of Handicapped –Part I-State Plan Schemes (72) Financial Assistance to non-school going disabled children 09-Grant-in-Aid (New Scheme Plan 2008-09

Chandigarh dated NAVRAJ SANDHU

4^th December,2008 Commissioner & Secretary to Government. Haryana,

Social Justice & Empowerment Department

Endst.No.2351-SW(4)-2008 Chandigarh dated the30-1-2009

A copy is forwarded to the controller, Printing and stationery Department Haryana Chandigarh for publishing in the Haryana Govt. Gazette 150 spare copies may please be supplied to the undersigned at the earlier.

Sd/-

Joint Secretary

for Commissioner & Secretary to Government. Haryana

Social Justice & Empowerment Department.

Endst.No. 2351-SW(4)-2008 Chandigarh dated the 30-1-2009

A copy is forwarded to the following for information and necessary action:-

Director] Social Justice & Empowerment, Haryana.
1. Accountant General] Haryana ( A & E Audit )] Chandigarh.
2. All Deputy Commissioners in the Haryana State.
3. All District Social Welfare Officers in the Haryana State.
4. All District Welfare Officers in the Haryana State.

Sd/-

Joint Secretary

for Commissioner & Secretary to Government. Haryana

Social Justice & Empowerment Department.

A copy is forwarded to the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary to the Govt. of Haryana, Finance Department with reference to his U.O.No. 1/80//2008-3FG-11/2272 dated 3-12-2008.

The Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary

to Govt. Haryana, Finance Department.

U.O.No 2351-SW(4)-2008 Chandigarh dated 30-1-2009

HARYANA GOVERNMENT

SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT DEPARTMENT

NOTIFICATION

The 30th October, 2009

No. 1953-SW(4)-2009-In partial modification of Haryana Government, Social Justice & Empowerment Department, Notification No. 2351-SW(4) 2008, dated 30th January, 2009, the Governor of Haryana is pleased to make the following amendments shall come into operation with immediate effect.

1. Sub Para (IV) of Para 3 of the Scheme is omitted.

2. In said scheme sub point (a) of sub para (V) of Para 3 is substituted under:-

(i) Mental Retardation with I.Q. not exceeding 50 or percentage of disability is 70% and above.

(ii) Persons with cerebral palsy.

(iii) Persons with Autism.

(iv) Multiple disability with a total permanent disability of 705 or more disabilities as defined in clause (i) of Section 2 of the persons with Disabilities, Protection or Rights and Full participation) Act, 1995 (\1 of 1996).

(v) Case of orthopaedic Disability with a permanent disability of 100% which are further clarified as under.

(i) Myhopathy

(ii) Paraplegic

(iii) Quadri Plegia.

2. Budget Head

2235-Social Security & Welfare-020- Social Welfare 101-Welfare of Handicapped-part I State Plan Schemes (72) Financial Assistance to non-school going disabled children 09-Grant-in-aid (New Scheme Plan 2009-10).

Sd/-

Chandigarh: Navraj Sandhu,

The 25th August, 2009 Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary to Govt. Haryana, Social Justice & Empowerment Department.

SCHEME OF DEPLOYMENT OF CAREGIVERS

Introduction & Objectives

It has often been seen that persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities require constant and life long care of their persons. Care giving families have reported that with the increasing age of the child with disability as well as with the increasing age of the primary care givers, particularly the mother, providing care becomes more stressful, more demanding, labour intensive, costly and tiring. Although there are no reliable statistics to determine the population of persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities, it is generally known that those families that have amongst themselves any person having any of the above disabilities go through tremendous physical and financial strains throughout the life of the affected persons. Very often the families do not wish to institutionalize their disabled members not merely because cost of institutionalization is beyond their economic means but also because there is an emotional binding which dictates the decision to retain the disabled family member. The object of the National Trust for the welfare of persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities Act, 1999 is to empower families to retain their disabled members within the family and the community.

As the families are often reluctant and/or do not have the financial means for sending a person to an institution of any type, there is a need to bring relief to such families by providing caregivers services, which may be hired. National Trust has formulated a scheme for training of caregivers and setting up of a cell by6 trained caregivers, which will provide services by changing parents. As all the parents will not be able to pay, it proposed to provide free services to BPL families. The caregivers can change from the APL families. Therefore, the Haryana State has formulated a scheme of Deployment of caregivers. This scheme also takes care of career prospects and career progression of caregivers, effective arrangement for deployment after training & to provide incentive to make care giving as a preferred career. The scheme will be implemented in the group form i.e. Group Care Centre within their locality so that they can avail these services nearest to their home.

B. Training of Caregivers

The National Trust has given training to 68 caregivers in the State. In future, training programme for caregivers will be tied up with the National Trust on need base. The training programmes will be conducted on the basis of training module prescribed by the National Trust. The cost of training and setting up of a cell of caregivers will be met by National Trust. The financial assistance will be give to caregivers NGOs.

C. Coverage of the Scheme

In the first phase this Scheme will be implemented in the selected districts i.e. Rohtak, Sonepat, Bhiwani, Sirsa, Karnal and Faridabad in the State. Gradually, the Scheme may be expanded in other districts on the availability of the funds.

D. Financial Implications of the Scheme

Basically, the Scheme will cover BPL PwD beneficiaries without charging any user’s fees but APL PwD cases may be included in this scheme and for this they will have to pay Rs. 100/- per month as user’s fees. The Scheme will be implemented on group basis and the ratio of BPL PwD & APL PwD will be 5:3. In first phase such ten Group Care Centres will be established. These Centres will be set up through District Red Cross Societies or reputed NGO working in the field of mental retardation. Each Group Care Centre will be run by trained caregiver. Who will be given Rs. 2000/- and Rs. 500/- for every BPL MR child. Minimum number of children 5 and maximum 8. If there are none then. One additional caregiver can be given.( Timing 9 A.M. to 5.00 P.M.).

E. Break-up of Annual Budget for 10 Group Care Centres

Recurring Expenses:

(a) Honorarium to caregivers

@ Rs. 5,000/- per caregivers p.m.- Rs.5,000/- X10X12 = Rs.6,00,000/-

(b) Visit charges of Speech -Rs.250/- X10X24 =Rs. 60,000/- Occupational/PhysioTherapist/Doctors(2 visits per Month @ Rs.250/- per visit)

@ Rs.300/- p.m

(d) One Assistant for Monitoring at Headquarter of Social Justice & Empowerment Haryana.

Non-recurring Expenses ( one time in 5 years )

Furniture (2 chairs, one table, - Rs. 25,000/- X 10 = Rs.2,50,000/-

one almirah ,one dari), play/learning materials, Daily Living Activity material etc.)

The user’s fees received from APL PWD will be utilized for these Group Care Centres on cultural, games and competitive activities etc. of persons with disabilities.

F. Accommodation for Group Care Centre

The rent free accommodation will be provided by Gram Panchayat /Local Bodies of the concerned village/town/city.

Eligibility

(a) The beneficiary i.e. person with disability under National Trust Act should be a domicile of Haryana State & should be residing in Haryana for the last 3 years at the time of submission of application.

(b) The PWD should be the age of below 18 years or have severe disability.

H. Implementing Agency

The District Red Cross Branch of the concerned district or reputed NGO will be the implementing agency which will be selected by the Director, Social Justice & Empowerment Department, Haryana.

I. Release of Funds

The NGO will apply for annual funds to the Director, Social Justice & Empowerment Department, Haryana and the department will release the funds to the concerned NGO in the form of grant-in-aid.

J. Physical & Financial Report

The NGO will submit the physical & financial report quarterly to the Director, Social Justice & Empowerment Department, Haryana. In the end of financial year, income and expenditure statement along with utilization certificate duly issued by the Chartered Accountant will be submitted to the department.

K. Monitoring of the Scheme.

A Nodal Officer will be appointed by the department who will be the authority to monitor the scheme and he/she will be competent to inspect and forward the proposal for grant-in-aid under this Scheme.

*******

Funding to Local Level Committee

Under the local Level Committee, presently. We are providing Rs. 10,000 per annum for the various activities which includes awareness generation, appointment of Guardians, sensitization of NGOs, etc. Now, it is proposed to increase the amount of Rs. 50,000 with the help of State Government so that activities of the LLC Can be increased with additional financial grants for publicity material, provision for appoi8ntment of staff, organizing sensitization public relation activities, as there are number of districts in our country that we are proposing to support, existing LLC as well, to cover the remaining districts of the country which is having large number.

Out of this Rs. 50,000, Rs 10,000 is already given by the National Trust and for the additional Rs. 40,000 we except Rs. 20,000 matching contribution from the State Government so that the balance amount of Rs. 20,000 can be borne by National Trust.

The tentative budget head/ break- up of budget is given below:

(a) Printing of awareness material Rs. 12,000.00

(b) Appointment of contractual staff @ Rs. 250

Per week, 2 days a week Rs. 12,000.00

(d) Awareness/ sensitization/ publicity/ activities Rs. 12,000.00

(e) Contingency (includes monitoring of legal Guardians)Rs. 2,000.00

(f) Vocational/job oriented training/training For self- Rs. 10,000.00

Employment ____________

Rs. 50,000.00

Whether is only one district in the UT, the annual expenditure for the UT share would be Rs. 20000=20,000/- per annum which will take the scheme long way.

NIRAMAYA

(A Health Insurance Scheme for the Welfare of persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities)

The National Trust for the welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities has introduced a Health Insurance Scheme with the collaboration with ICICI Lombard called “Niramaya” for above four disabilities. The details of the Scheme are as under:

OBJECTIVE

To provide affordable Health Insurance to Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation & Multiple Disabilities.
To encourage health services seeking behavior among persons with disability.
to improve the general health condition & quality of life of persons with disability.

SCHEME & ITS COVERAGE

The scheme envisages to deliver ‘Community based’ cover which will

Have a single premium across age band
Provide same coverage irrespective of the type of disability
Insurance cover upto 1.0 lakh Rs. and
All persons with disabilities will be eligible and included and there will be no ‘selection’

The Scheme further envisages that there shall be

No exclusion of Pre-existing condition
Same cover as that for other persons
Services ranging from regular Medical Checkup to Hospitalization. Therapy to Corrective Surgery, Transportation
Conditions requiring repetitive medical intervention as an in-patient
Pre & Post hospitalization expenses, subject to limits.
No pre-insurance medical tests
Cashless settlements only
Smart/Biometric cards with not only health data but also provision for other (Micro) financial data

The details of services with financial limits are as given in Annexure-‘A’. The scheme is extended in all the districts of the country (except J&K)

ENROLMENT OF BENEFICIARIES

All the registered organizations of National Trust are engaged in enrolment of beneficiaries. A sample enrolment form is enclosed in Annexure-B. The same is available in the web site of National Trust (nationaltrust.org.in) also.

ENPANELLMENT OF HEALTH SERVICE PROVIDERS

Under the scheme, health services will be provided by a network of hospital, nursing homes which will be duly empanelled for the scheme. Such service provider shall be of good quality fulfilling relevant requirements of the scheme.

PREMIUM & STOP LOSS

The premium amount is Rs.99/-per year for persons with income upto Rs.15,000/-p.m.which is paid by National Trust Others have to deposited Rs.250/- as processing fee. Details of the payment procedure is given in the enrolment form. In case of total claims exceeding the total premium amount, the Insurance Company will cover the risk up to 120% of the total premium amount i.e. the insurance company can have a stop loss at 120% of total premium amount. Similarly in case of claims falling short of total premium amount , the Insurance company shall pay back 90% of the savings, after deducting 20% as administrative cost.

IMPLEMENTATION

The Nodal Agency for implementation of the scheme is M/S Alegion Insurance Broking Ltd., 117, St. EBBA’S Avenue, P.S. Sivasamy Salai, Millipore, Chennai, Ph.No.9789982257, 9789982242.

The Scheme will be implemented through NGO member of LLC of concerned District. The NGO will enroll the beneficiaries and keep the records of the beneficiaries.

The beneficiary should be a domicile of Haryana State and should be residing in Haryana State for the last three years at the time of submission of application. He/She will have to submit domicile proof for this purpose issued by the competent authority.

ANNEXURE-A
INSURANCE BENEFITS HEALTH
List of Benefits (including pre-existing conditions) Limits (Rs.)

1	Cashless Hospitalization	100000
2	Domiciliary Hospitalization including Nursing charges	20000
3	Corrective Surgeries for existing disability including congenital disability	50000
4	Surgery to prevent further aggravation of disability	15000
5	Post operative care including Therapies for 6 months	15000
6	OPD Services (consultation and medicines) for all ailments and diseases.	10000
7	Regular Medical checkup for non-ailing Disabled.(Per Year)	10000
8	Pathology, Radiology, Advance tests for Diagnosis of illnesses and monitoring disability	7500
9	Ongoing Therapies to reduce impact of disability and disability related complications.	7500
10	Dental-Preventive Dentistry	7500
11	Transport charges for seeking medical services	1500
12	Alternative Medicine	2000

NIRAMAYA

ANNEXURE - B

(Health Insurance Scheme for Persons with Disabilities under the National Trust Act)

ENROLLMENT FORM

Name of Person with Disability (PWD) Passport photo

Father’s / Husband’s Name
(i) Age (ii) Sex (iii) Status : Married/Unmarried
Educational Qualifications
Type of Disability Tick here Percentage

a) Autism

b) Cerebral Palsy

c) Mental Retardation

d) Multiple Disabilities

please specify disabilities

Name of legal guardian, if any and relationship with PWD
Address of PWD for correspondence

PIN Phone email

Family Income of PWD /Parent
If family income above 15000 pm, details of amount

paid by the PWD to National Trust (Niramaya) Bank

Account (State Bank of India A/c 30396764585)*

10 Disability & Income verified & found correct.

(Signature & seal of LLC-NGO member)

11. Name & Designation of the authorized person of the NGO forwarding this enrollment form

Name of the NGO
Place Date Signature of the authorized person

Note:

Persons having family income of Rs.15,000/- p.m. are covered free under the scheme. For others a processing fee of Rs. 250/- to be deposited in savings Account No. 30396764585 in State Bank of India in favour of National Trust (Niramaya) and bank deposit receipt should be affixed as proof of payment along with the enrolment form.
This form can be submitted, till the enrollment process is continuing, to any registered organization of National Trust (list in the web site www.nationaltrust.org.in) in the district or to the registered office of ALEGION Insurance Broking Ltd., 117, St. Ebba’s Avenue, P.S. Sivasamisalai, Millipore, Chennai- 600 004.
Photocopies of Income Certificate, Disability Certificate & Address proof should be attached.
In case of any difficulty in getting the income certificate and /or disability certificate, the same may be obtained from the NGO member of Local Level Committee (LLC) of the district (LLC in case of Jabalpur) (list in the web site www.nationaltrust.org.in) who are authorized to issue such certificates, only for the purpose of this scheme.
Alternatively, income & disability details furnished on the form should be countersigned by the LLC NGO member (LLC in case of Jabalpur)
After submission of enrollment form, it will take around two months to process & distribute Health Card, if approved. Applicants are advised to check up with the NGO concerned where forms were submitted on 10^th/25^th of every month giving two month clear time for processing.

Benefits under the scheme can be availed by showing the health card at empanelled hospitals/health centres on cashless basis anywhere in India. At other places, benefits can be availed on reimbursement basis only.

Subject To implement GHARAUNDA scheme.

-----

National Trust, New Delhi has forwarded a GHARAUNDA scheme under the National Trust Act, 1999 to implement in the State. Under this scheme facilities of whole life shelter and maintenance will be provided to the Autism, cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities. For setting up/implementation of National Trust will provide Rs. 1.00 crore and the same share will be met by the State Government. State Govt. also provide land for construction of Group Home Centre. National Trust desired acceptance of the State for setting up of these centres. This scheme will be run by the NGOs having vast knowledge/experience in the field of Disabled Welfare and having sound financial position.

Under this scheme the following facilities will be provided to the Disabled Persons:-

Barrier free environment will be provided to the inmates;
Healthy diet and hygienic food will be provided 3 times in a day;
Necessary clothes will be provided free of cost;
Health services will be provided round the clock like as physiotherapy, medical check-up, speech therapy etc.
An accidental insurance policy amounting to Rs.50,000/- for each inmates;
Educational and Vocational Training facilities will also be provided;
Recreational and supports facilities;
Female caretaker will be provided to female inmates separately;
Complete security arrangement.

A memorandum of agreement between the National Trust and care service provider will be signed.

Under this scheme a corpus fund will be set up in which an amount of Rs. 2.00 crore (1.00 crore National Trust & 1.00 crore State Govt.) out of which the expenses relating to building, furniture, boarding-lodging, utensils etc. will be met out. In the initial stage group home measuring approximately 5000 sq.foot covered area will be set up for 40 inmates and for this purpose Rs.50.00 lakh will be met out of the corpus fund. The interest amount accrued on the remaining 1.50 crore rupee (approximate Rs.15.00 lakh) will be utilised for running/providing facilities to the inmates. As per the estimate Rs.4,000/- per month, per inmate purposed to be utilised and in this way Rs.11,52,000/- ¼4000x24x12=11]52]000@&½ annually will be utilised.

Out of the 40 seats 24 seats will be reserved for the beneficiaries belonging to BPL category and remaining 16 seats will be kept as paid seat for the inmates belonging above poverty line category. For this Rs. 9.60 lakh per seat will be charged from the parents/guardians of the inmate.

As regards the availability of land for construction of building it is purposed that land available in the premises of District Rehabilitation Centre, Bhiwani can be utilised for construction of building for the group care centre boys and the land/building available with Mahila Ashram, Rohtak can be utilised for the female group care centre.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/information-about-schemes-for-disabled-haryana

INET Bangkok to Explore Internet’s Impact on Thailand’s Economy and Society

praskrishna — 2013-06-06T06:18:34Z

The Internet Society, in collaboration with the Thailand Internet community, the National Science & Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), and the Ministry of Information & Communication Technology (MICT), will host the INET Bangkok, 7-8 June 2013. The conference will be held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, and will focus on the power of the Internet as a force for economic and social progress.

This post was published in BusinessWire on May 30, 2013. Sunil Abraham is participating in this conference.

INET Bangkok will bring together Thai Internet stakeholders to engage in an open discussion on the Internet agenda. This event will specifically showcase the creative power of the Internet, promote the importance of participating in the Internet governance process, and share capacity building efforts to expand Internet access.

The INET Bangkok agenda will feature four tracks covering key drivers of the Internet in Thailand: Technology, Innovation, Society, and the Future. Noted speakers at the event include H.E. Anudith Nakornthap, Minister of Information & Communication Technology (MICT); Dr. Thaweesak “Hugh” Koanantakool, President, National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA); Paul Wilson, Director General of Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC); Dr. Rohan Samarajiva, Founder of LIRNEasia; Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, The Centre for Internet and Society; and Dr. Sak Segkhoonthod, President & CEO, Electronic Government Agency (EGA).

“The Internet has become a remarkable engine for social development and economic growth,” said Rajnesh Singh, Internet Society Regional Bureau Director for Asia-Pacific. “The Internet Society works closely with our Chapters, members, and regional community organizations to ensure the Internet continues to evolve as a platform for innovation, collaboration, creativity, and economic and social development. INET Bangkok will bring together leading Internet experts to discuss critical Internet issues for Thailand and across the region.”

A highlight of the event will be VIP Gala Dinner on 6 June 2013, celebrating the 25^th anniversary of the .TH group, Thailand’s ccTLD. For more details and to register, visit http://www.internetsociety.org/inet-bangkok.

About the Internet Society
The Internet Society is the trusted independent source for Internet information and thought leadership from around the world. With its principled vision and substantial technological foundation, the Internet Society promotes open dialogue on Internet policy, technology, and future development among users, companies, governments, and other organizations. Working with its members and Chapters around the world, the Internet Society enables the continued evolution and growth of the Internet for everyone. For more information, visit www.internetsociety.org.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/businesswire-may-30-2013-inet-bangkok-to-explore-internet-impact-on-thailand-economy-and-society

Indo - French Perspectives on Digital Studies

praskrishna — 2017-03-29T05:17:33Z

Anubha Sinha was a speaker at the Indo-French workshop on Open Access at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi on March 15, 2017. The event was organized by the Digital Studies Group.

Anubha Sinha broadly spoke on the state of open access in India, the features of the DBT-DST policy, ICAR policy, how to shape the future of open access movement in India and what are the obstacles in the same.

See the workshop schedule here

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/indo-french-perspectives-on-digital-studies

Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project #1: Visualising Basic Parameters

Sajjad Anwar and Sumandro Chattapadhyay — 2013-03-26T10:04:43Z

Sajjad Anwar and Sumandro Chattapadhyay bring you a visualisation of the growth of Indic Wikipedia in this first post on Indic Wikipedia Visualisation project. In doing so, the authors look into the different aspects of the past and present activities of Indic Wikipedias, and divide the visualisation into three different focus areas.

Introduction

Understanding how the Indic or the Indian language Wikipedia projects are growing is something that we have been interested in for quite sometime. We were delighted to come across this opportunity from the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) and Wikimedia Foundation. We divided our analyses into three focus areas: (1) basic parameters, (2) geographic patterns of edits, and (3) exploring the topics that receives the greatest number of edits. The existing infographics and data visualisations that we found about Indic Wikipedias mostly engaged on the first area, and also emphasised on yearly aggregates. We thought a more granular, that is monthly, understanding and a focus on the geographic and thematic spread of the edits would be very helpful to further appreciate the activities.

We began by collecting data about the following basic parameters:

Number of Editors
Number of Articles
Page Views
Number of Active Editors
Number of New Articles
Number of New Editors
Edit Size

Acquiring the data

We explored the MediaWiki API, ToolServer and the Wikimedia Statistics Portal. These are several ways of obtaining data about Wikipedia in general. Depending on the use case, such as the quantity of data required or the need for customised/selective data scraping, any one or more of these methods of data gathering can be chosen. The API had limitations in terms of how much data you can access, and it is meant to be used to access actual Wikipedia entries. We, however, were looking for metadata about the entries/articles (such as when it was first created, when and how many times it was edited, etc.) and not the actual entries/articles, that is the actual contents of Indic Wikipedias. ToolServer is an excellent way of running custom scripts. Although, this takes for granted that user (of ToolServer) has substantial command over the back-end infrastructures and processes that Wikipedia runs on. We wrote a few scrapers to extract metadata about Indic Wikipedia projects from the ToolServer but not exactly being experts in the Wikipedia back-end systems, we found scraping from ToolServer rather time-and effort-intensive. The statistics portal is a well organised and an accessible place for collecting data for analyses. However, we came across several missing parameters and projects, that is the statistic portal did not have all the parameters and Wikipedia projects we were interested in. In our search for Indic Wikipedia datasets so far, we realised that the Wikimedia Analytics Team (WAT) puts a lot of effort in writing scripts and collecting various data at different levels. Wikimedia developer Yuvi Panda and the Access to Knowledge team at CIS, aware of our difficulty in obtaining the data, also pointed us towards the WAT. While we were already scraping data on some of the parameters, we approached the WAT whose prompt and very supportive response much accelerated our work process. The fantastic Wikimedia developers, especially Evan Rosen (a big ‘thank you’ for him) shared the needed data, which we cleaned up and archived at the Github repository for the project.

We obtained data for the period from January 2001 to December 2012. It appears that the Indic Wikipedia projects began their activities around 2005. A big part of cleaning the data involved identifying when each of the projects started and dropping data. There are 20 Indic Wikipedia projects with 4,98,964 articles, 5,689 editors and over 3,35,49,102 readers.

Deciding upon chart types

We spent quite some time discussing different methods of visualising the data. The major difficulty is that there are too many entities to be plotted. As each language must be plotted as a separate entity — point, line, circle, etc. — the chart has a tendency to become cluttered and illegible. Even if we take only one variable — say New Editors — there will still be 20 points or lines to be plotted. Hence, using any of the conventional charts becomes difficult. For example, if we chose a line chart with New Editors on the Y-axis and months on the X-axis, there will be 20 lines each of a different colour, representing different languages. Also, the five-six year monthly timeline translates into 60-72 temporal data points.

We have adopted two strategies, and related chart types, to address this difficulty.

Firstly, we used a monthly calendar-like heatmap chart that limits the temporal spread of data to one year for each section of the chart and uses a positionally uniform set of columns for each language so as to make reading the chart easier. Limiting each chart section to 12 months allow the user to focus on more granular movements of the variable concerned, say the number of New Editors per month. By representing each languages on an unique column, and not by an upwards-and-downwards moving line as in a line chart, makes it easier for the user to follow movements in each language (where movement is shown by the intensity of colour, as characteristic of heatmaps) without the need to have a separate coloured entity — point, line, circle — for each language.

Secondly, we used a motion chart, as made famous by Dr. Hans Rosling, that removes the temporal axis from X- and Y-axes of the chart and uses animated transition to represent temporal change. Motion chart has the unique ability to handle as many as five variables in an organised manner, using the following visual elements: X-axis, Y-axis, Z-axis (animated temporal transitions), size of bubbles, and colour of bubbles. It is, however, recommended that represented variables be limited to a maximum of four for easier legibility. In our case, we have used the X- and Y-axes to plot various related variables (which can be selected by the user) such as New Editors and New Articles, the Z-axis to represent time, and the colour of the bubbles to represent a third optional variable (also can be selected by the user). Since different Indian language Wikipedia projects often take a wide range of values for most variables, using the size of the bubble to represent any of those variables is avoidable. Further, the motion chart gives the user a lot of controls to explore the various projects and variables according to their interest and especially to compare particular projects and variables to each other.

Discussing the chart types with the Access to Knowledge team, we decided to use simpler line charts — emphasising upon single Indic Wikipedia projects — on the language-specific pages that we will be creating next.

Calendar charts


Calendar heatmap chart of New Editors across Indic Wikipedia projects, 2008-2011. Source: http://bit.ly/XDb3fa

We visualised three parameters using the calendar heatmap strategy: (1) New Articles, (2) New Editors, (3) Active Editors.

The New Articles Calendar shows new articles posted on every Indic Wikipedias for every month since 2004. It was interesting to note the few number of articles in 2012 for all the languages. The first language to have the most number of new articles is Bengali. Hindi picks up around same time with fewer number of articles. Except Urdu and Nepali, every other language dropped in the number of new articles. However, we should remember that a lower number of new articles does not necessarily indicate at low overall activity in the project concerned.

Like the new articles, we wanted to explore the patterns in the number of new editors across all of the Indic Wikipedia projects. As you run through the new editors calendar chart, it is evident that there is consistent growth in the editor base for few projects like Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. If one takes a step back and compares this with the number of new articles chart, something is not very clear -- in some of the projects, there is a growth in the number of editors but not many new articles are posted. We are very keen to understand why this has happened.

If we look at the active editors calendar, Tamil started with 2 active editors in January 2004 and with few ups and downs grew to about 115 active editors in December 2012. Malayalam started slow in late 2004 with 2 editors and grew to 155 active editors in December 2012. We are sure the viewers should be able to find out more patterns by studying the charts closely and comparatively.

Motion chart

We developed a motion chart comparing five variables: (1) Active Editors (> 5 edits per month), (2) New Editors, (3) Total Editors, (4) New Articles, and (5) Total Articles. When the visualisation is opened, Total Editors is plotted on the X-axis, Total Articles is plotted on the Y-axis, the colour of the bubbles indicate the Active Editors (Blue is low and Red is high) and the sizes of the bubbles are kept the same for easier comparison.

The user can click on the drop down menus at the X- and Y-axes, and next to the size and colour variables, and make them represent different variables.

We chose to configure the X- and Y-axes to show the data in logarithmic scales and not in linear scales. Since most projects experience small increments over time and there exists a wide difference between the most and the least popular/active projects, the logarithmic scale is better suited to represent the changes in the given data. The user has the option to select linear scale at the end of both X- and Y-axes (click on "Log").

As evident in the visualisation, the Newari project and the Hindi-Malayalam project cluster show very interesting contrasting dynamics — while both achieve similar Total Articles numbers, the latter is much more editor-heavy. This suggests a smaller but more active editor community for the Newari project.

Please click on the image of the motion chart below to open the interactive version in a separate window. The code can be accessed at the project repository on Github.


Motion chart comparing multiple variables across Indic Wikipedia projects, 2001-2011. Source: http://bit.ly/Yw4Wzq

Sajjad Anwar is a programmer based in Bangalore. Sumandro Chattapdhyay is a researcher based in Delhi. They often work together.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/indic-wikipedia-visualisation-project-visualising-basic-parameters

Indic Scripts and the Internet

Dibyajyoti Ghosh — 2015-07-10T04:23:35Z

This post by Dibyajyoti Ghosh is part of the 'Studying Internets in India' series. Dibyajyoti is a PhD student in the Department of English, Jadavpur University. He has four years of full-time work experience in projects which dealt with digital humanities and specially with digitisation of material in Indic scripts. In this essay, Dibyajyoti explores the effects the English language has on the Internet population of India.

Internet Usage Statistics in India

According to the latest statistics [1], while the rural mobile tele-density in India is 47.78%, the urban tele-density for mobile phones is 143.08% (which means, more than one registered SIM card per person and this phenomenon is thus also reflected in the rural figures). On the other hand, roughly only 6.5% of the population has access to ‘broadband’ Internet (>= 512 kbps) through a phone or a dongle and only 1.23% has access to a wired-broadband connection. However, roughly 20% of India’s population is roughly connected to the Internet [2]. Thus, roughly 12% of the population has access to low-speed Internet. What these figures do not reveal is the quantum of consumption of data. It can be safely assumed given the comparatively high costs of mobile Internet usage and the difficult method of feeding large tracts of data through a mobile phone, that the quantum of consumption is significantly higher in the case of computer Internet users as opposed to mobile users. Though as these statistics reveal, the chances of India being connected to the Internet depends largely on mobile phones, rather than desktop/ laptop computers.

Thus, the status of the Internet in India is still that of a niche medium. Other than the cost-factor of having access to a device which can access the Internet and paying for the Internet data package, some other factors also hinder the growth of the Internet in India. One of them is the issue of language. Whereas the 1990s saw an over-domination of English on the Internet given the linguistic communities which were developing the world of computers and the world of the Internet [3], by 2015, some of the disparity with offline linguistic patterns has been reduced [4]. However, for Indic scripts, much less development has taken place. If one is studying the Internet in India, chances are one is studying it in English.

Languages the Indian Internet User Encounters Both Online and Offline

What does this hold for the future of these Indic scripts? Given the multi-lingual skills of Indian school-goers and the increasing amount of daily reading time of those connected to the Internet (which is somewhere between 12% and 20% of the population) being devoted to reading on the Internet, chances are reading is increasingly in English.

The importance of English-language skills in India, as indeed in the rest of the world, in 2015 is undeniable [5]. English is also a signifier of class in India. However, despite the three-language policy adopted by schools, schools which offer courses primarily in other Indian languages suffer from an inherent disadvantage that students face when these students enter colleges and universities where the medium of teaching is usually English, and later on take up jobs which require official reports to be written in English. Thus, Indian languages other than English offer much less incentive for parents and students to encourage their study. Whereas oral conversation among the Indian population is largely conducted in languages other than English, written conversation is increasingly being conducted in English. Language is not only a political issue but also a subject of social study, not to mention the issues of linguistics. The larger socio-political issues of language are perhaps too vast to be discussed in connection to Indic scripts and the Internet. Thus, apart from this basic point about the bias towards English, I am not delving into it further.

Indic Script Software and Data Entry

Let me start with discussing natively-digital material. In the digital domain, entering text in Indic scripts is a difficult task. Indic scripts are primarily abugida scripts, which are writing systems ‘in which consonant–vowel sequences are written as a unit: each unit is based on a consonant letter, and vowel notation is secondary’ [6]. This contrasts with the Latin script used to write English, in which vowels have status equal to consonants, and with abjad scripts such as the script used to write Arabic, in which vowel marking is absent or optional. Similar difficulty is also encountered in entering texts in other non-Latin scripts such as Chinese. Mandarin Chinese may be the world’s most-spoken language and China may be one of the software and hardware giants, but supposedly even Chinese is not particularly amenable to the Internet [7]. Entering Indic scripts on a computer is difficult because it usually involves the addition of new software or tweaking existing software which is slightly difficult for the novice/ casual user.

ISIS, developed by Gautam Sengupta of the University of Hyderabad and sponsored by the Government of India, is an early example of Indic script input software [8]. It is available online for free. It is not fully phonetic. iLEAP, developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), a Government of India funded agency, is now no longer extant but CDAC have produced other input software thereafter. Google too offers an Indic language input tool now [9]. For languages such as Bengali, there have been software such as Bijoy, which was made by Mustafa Jabbar of Ananda Computers, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and is sold commercially [10] and the free softwares BanglaWord and Avro. Avro was created in 2003 by Mehdi Hasan Khan of Mymensingh, Bangladesh, and subsequently developed by a team at Omicron Lab, Dhaka [11]. Such software exists for other individual Indic languages. Operating systems such as Windows [12] and Ubuntu [13] offer Indic script input as well, and make use of the InScript keyboard [14] too.

When it comes to mobile phones, prior to the introduction of touchscreen smartphones, text messaging had little option to use the Indic script. With the introduction of multiple keyboards in touchscreen smartphones, there are a few options to use the Indic script. Both Android and iOS offer Indic script keyboards. Yet these are even less easy to use than computer keyboards as one needs to toggle between several sets of keyboards to access all the characters required for Indic script input. Google has recently started handwriting input which supports Indic scripts [15]. It remains to be seen how much the feature is used.

In spite of this availability of input tools in recent years, the most common method of entering Indic language is through transliteration. Just like Pinyin for the Chinese script, Indic scripts too have official transliteration standards. The Indian National Bibliography (Kolkata: Central Reference Library, 2004) maintains one such standard. However, such transliteration mechanisms require diacritical marks, which are again difficult to enter. Thus, more often than not, these transliteration standards are not followed except when one is maintaining strict academic standards.

The point that I am trying to make is that despite the availability of tools for entering Indic scripts and even well-defined standards for transliterating Indic words in the Latin script, neither is universally followed. The reason is it involves extra labour, as opposed to simple transliteration without any standards. Thus, what often one ends up with in casual written communication (which outnumbers formal written communication by a wide margin) in the digital domain, be it in the form of SMSes, messages in Whatsapp or other instant messaging applications or emails, is Indic words in non-standard transliteration into the Latin alphabet. The introduction of SMS lingo and standards two decades back had already prepared the way for the wider acceptance of Indic words in non-standard transliteration into the Latin alphabet. When one comes to a semi-casual/ semi-formal medium, such as blogs and social networks, where the receiver of the message is usually more than one, the forms of expression are slightly different.

Mimetic Desires on Public Platforms

Digital, crowd-sourced public platforms, such as blogs and largely social networks, offer a different kind of discourse. On the one hand, private habits spill into the public realm. Thus, Indic words in non-standard transliteration into the Latin alphabet are a common practice. On the other hand, the public nature of such platforms offers a space for a kind of mimetic desire. Despite the availability of the user-interface of the most commonly accessed sites such as Gmail and Facebook in Indic languages, most prefer to retain their user-interface in the default English mode [16]. It is a different issue that enabling browsers to render Indic scripts correctly is often a difficult task and sometimes despite following every instruction in the manual, the problem remains unsolved. The overall English language and English script overdose on social networks such as Facebook generate a kind of desire to mingle in with the crowd. Thus, instead of typing Indic words in non-standard transliteration into the Latin alphabet, the data entered is actually more often than not in English. Often, other than formal job reports and letters, social networks are the only platform that a lot of Indians get where they can produce verbal communication in English. Thus, in addition to a mimetic desire to fit in with the English-writing crowd, social networks also offer a semi-public platform to write one’s thoughts in English, a platform which for a lot of Indians was perhaps last available to them when they had to write essays for their compulsory English-language paper in high school. Both of these desires further hamper the incentive to write on the Internet using Indic scripts.

Blogs occupy a space somewhere in between formal websites and casual for-the-nonce social network posts. Both the structure of blogs (more structured than a social network but less structured than a website) and the status of blogs lie somewhere in between these two major platforms. Also, with the rise of social networks, the rate of growth of blogs has decreased. Thus, blogs are usually less popular than both websites as well as social networks. On blogs, the content is usually more formal, as is the presentation. Also, the mimetic desire generated by a social network is perhaps less heightened in the case of blogs. Blogs present a more one-to-many approach as opposed to a social network which largely presents a many-to-many structure.

Spelling Skills in Indic Languages

At the other hand of the social class in India, is the class which went to an English-medium school and writes predominantly in English. Oral communication is often carried out in other Indian languages but these languages are not often used for written communication. Even when casual written communication in the digital domain, such as SMSes and other instant messaging applications or emails, is carried out using Indic words, it is in non-standard transliteration into the Latin alphabet. For this class, the problem is the lack of exposure to reading and writing in Indian languages other than English. Thus, even this minimal writing in transliteration mode may further weaken their spelling skills in these Indian languages.

There are of course other categories into which one can group Internet users in India. The equally strong multi-lingual Indian, the equally weak multi-lingual Indian and the Indian strong in one language are three such categories. Irrespective of which class the Indian Internet user belongs to, the Internet user’s exposure to material written in Indic scripts on the Internet is low. So far I have discussed natively-digital resources.

Digitisation of Pre-Digital Resources

Let me now turn to digitsation of pre-digital resources. Digitisation of such resources is a task involving a lot of money and labour. There are several organisations in India which are involved in such tasks. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) is one such organisation. The School of Cultural Texts and Records at Jadavpur University, Kolkata is another such organisation [17]. The Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata too is actively involved in digitisation of such material [18]. The West Bengal Public Library repository on Dspace [19] and the Digital Library of India [20] are also significant repositories, as is the portal of the National Archives of India, titled Abhilekh Patal [21]. There are some digital archives focussed on the output of a specific person, such as the MK Gandhi portal [22]. There have been a few instances of making public searchable text files from such digitised material, such as those by the Society for Natural Language Technology Research [23] and Bichitra: Online Tagore Variorum [24]. Other digitisation programmes are in progress, such as the long-running National Mission for Manuscripts [25]. Yet, in spite of this, such efforts are miniscule compared to databases, albeit commercial and not open-access, such as Early English Books Online or Eighteenth Century Collections Online. The Internet, while it offers the opportunity for an equitable digitisation of pre-digital resources in English as well as Indic scripts, does not contain as many resources in Indic scripts as it does in the Latin script. The reasons are because whereas Indic script resources are primarily digitised by Indian organisations where the money needed for such tasks is not available in great amounts, resources in English are digitised from a number of economies with a high per capita GDP. Given the more basic needs of enhancing the reach and level of primary, secondary and tertiary education in the country, an economy with a low per capita GDP such as India does not have the financial means to digitise vast quantities of pre-digital resources, be they in the Latin script or in Indic scripts.

When it comes to electronic books in Indic scripts, the refusal of major platforms such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing to list books in Indic scripts [26] is a major barrier for individuals to create e-books in Indic scripts. Whereas most major newspapers in Indic scripts have online editions, the case is not so for major book publishers. Unlike a newspaper which primarily relies on advertising for its revenue, book publishers depend on book sales. There is no infrastructure in place for selling electronic books in Indic scripts. The publishers perhaps also feel that the market for consumption of e-books in such languages is not of a significant scale, and thus do not feel incentivised enough to encourage the creation of e-books. Thus, the entire Kindle reading population in India (which is not very large in the first place [27]) is deprived of the chance of buying e-books in Indic scripts. If they read e-books in Indic scripts on Kindles and tablets, then such e-books are usually pirated scanned copies. There are some sites which make available pirated scanned copies of books printed in Indic scripts. However, such sites and the number of such books is so small, that they make no major dent to the revenues of the Indic-languages publishing industry.

Effects on the Indian Internet User

As a result, casual Indian Internet researchers and readers often depend on material written in English instead of material written in Indic languages. It is true that the serious researcher will of course make the effort of visiting physical libraries and archives to access books in Indic languages. But for casual reading and research, it is too much of a trouble. For such Internet users, not only are undigitised Indic verbal texts invisible, but the lack of engagement with such texts lead to the effacement of such texts from the public discourse and domain.

For Indian school students studying in schools where the medium of instruction is not English, the absence of such texts from the Internet means that they engage less with the Internet for academic purposes. For them, the Internet becomes more of a resource meant for non-academic purposes if they have trouble reading texts in English. It is true that English is one of the three languages that school students learn yet as the state of education goes, it is not fully satisfactory [28]. On the other hand, given the English language and English script overdose on social networks, the mimetic desire forces students to generate texts in English, not only the script but also the language. As a result, what is generated is often English of a less than satisfactory standard. A political strain of thought treats the language that people generate as ‘the language’. Measuring such an output against other standards of English is considered politically incorrect. In fact, the regional acceptance of such local sub-groups of English has led to the wider acceptance of English and its growing presence across the world. Yet, as the notion of class in India based on the command over English shows, such sub-grouping also leads to the creation of separate classes.

Effects of the Internet on Indic Scripts

Does the Internet alleviate or exacerbate the problem caused by the hierarchy of English over other Indic languages? I guess that the answer is not a simple nod in either direction. On the other hand, I conclude that the Internet increases the mimetic desire to generate written communication in English. Failure to communicate in English according to certain standards of English further exacerbates the creation of the classes based on the command over English. While the Internet, to a certain extent, helps in improving English spelling skills owing to a greater exposure to English, at the same time, it leads to a greater deterioration in spelling skills in Indic languages. Owing to the lack of availability of pre-digital resources in Indic scripts in the digital domain, there is a slow effacement of such resources from the public discourse at large.

Possible Measures to Enhance the Status of Indic Scripts on the Internet

These are some of the effects that the Internet in India has had on Indic scripts. Given that the Internet is a niche medium and those shaping the general discourse are more likely to have access to the Internet in the first place, the low visibility of Indic scripts on the Internet is a cause for concern. However, it is true that with the growing accessibility of the Internet in India, the resources in Indic scripts are bound to increase. It is perhaps dependent primarily on those in power, such as the central and state governments to ensure that their websites and mobile phone applications are in Indic scripts as well and the Indic script versions of their digital resources do not lack any feature of the English-language version of such resources. The private sector, especially the publishing industry also needs to create a market for electronic publication in Indic scripts. Just like e-commerce in India did not come after the entire infrastructure was in place, but rather the infrastructure kept building up as e-commerce kept growing, similarly the publishing industry also needs to create a digital Indic-script market, and then keep building it up. E-commerce, which perhaps has the greatest incentive to build resources, can also significantly alter the scenario by offering e-commerce in Indic scripts. Snapdeal has very limited components of their website in two Indic scripts. Other major e-commerce companies have not followed suit and neither is Snapdeal’s inclusion particularly effective. Yet, as the Flipkart-owned apparel company Myntra’s recent decision to go app-only and completely do away with their website has shown, e-commerce has its ways of incentivising customers to change their habits in a drastic manner. It is with such hope that I would have liked to end this brief essay on studying the Internet in India. Yet, as the language of this essay shows, such hopes are not particularly strong, as most scholarly writing in India on the Internet continues to be in English. Scholarly journals and research platforms in Indic scripts on the Internet continue to be so limited in number that it is hard to find particularly high-impact publications from among them. If one is studying the Internet in India, chances are one is both studying and writing in English.

Endnotes

[1] http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/PressRealease/Document/PR-34-TSD-Mar-12052015.pdf

[2] http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users-by-country

[3] Daniel Pimienta, Daniel Prado and Álvaro Blanco, Twelve years of measuring linguistic diversity in the Internet: balance and perspectives, UNESCO publications for the World Summit on the Information Society (2009), http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001870/187016e.pdf

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_used_on_the_Internet and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_total_number_of_speakers

[5] https://hbr.org/2012/05/global-business-speaks-english

[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abugida

[7] http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117608/chinese-number-websites-secret-meaning-urls

[8] http://isis.keymankeyboards.com/

[9] http://www.google.com/inputtools/

[10] http://www.bijoyekushe.net/

[11] https://www.omicronlab.com/

[12] http://www.bhashaindia.com/ilit/

[13] https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ibus

[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InScript_keyboard

[15] http://googleresearch.blogspot.in/2015/04/google-handwriting-input-in-82.html

[16] There is no open-access data for this from either Google or Facebook. Third-parties conduct such studies. A study can be found here: http://www.oneskyapp.com/blog/top-10-languages-with-most-users-on-facebook/

[17] http://www.jaduniv.edu.in/view_department.php?deptid=135

[18] http://www.savifa.uni-hd.de/thematicportals/urban_history.html

[19] http://dspace.wbpublibnet.gov.in:8080/jspui/

[20] http://www.dli.ernet.in/

[21] http://www.abhilekh-patal.in/

[22] https://www.gandhiheritageportal.org/

[23] http://www.nltr.org/

[24] http://bichitra.jdvu.ac.in/index.php

[25] http://www.namami.org/index.htm

[26] https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A9FDO0A3V0119

[27] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Ebook-readers-fail-to-kindle-sales-in-India/articleshow/45802786.cms

[28] Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2014, facilitated by Pratham, pp. 81-82, 86, 88-89, http://img.asercentre.org/docs/Publications/ASER%20Reports/ASER%202014/fullaser2014mainreport_1.pdf

The post is published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, and copyright is retained by the author.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/raw/blog_indic-scripts-and-the-internet

Indic Language Wikipedias as Open Educational Resources

subha — 2014-06-04T03:32:57Z

The Open Education Working Group sees supporting multilingual activities such as translation to and from languages which are not often used as one of its key future roles. Subhashish Panigrahi’s post while dwelling upon the growth of Indic Wikimedia communities critically examines Wikipedia as an educational resource.

The article by Subhashish Panigrahi was published in Open Education Working Group website on May 27, 2014.

Subhashish Panigrahi is an an educator and open source activist based in Bangalore, India. He is a long time Wikimedian and is involved in many activism and policy level debates around open education. Currently he is working at the Centre for Internet and Society’s Access To Knowledge program where he is working on designing implementation projects for catalyzing growth of Indic Wikimedia communities and content acquisition.

In the past, he has worked on building partnership with universities, language research organizations, government departments, GLAM institutions and individuals for bringing more scholarly and encyclopedic content on language, culture and history under free licenses. He is excited about experimenting on new methodologies in education, building interactive educational resources and bringing knowledge producing institutions, resourceful experts and scholars under one roof. He has been involved in various language related conferences and spoken in both policy and implementation discourses around open knowledge and open source.

Since the inception of four Indic language Wikipedias: Assamese, Malayalam, Odia and Punjab in 2002, the focus of Wikimedia Foundation has been diverse in many aspects.

Wikipedia’s focus oriented from Latin to non-Latin projects which was high-risk but revolutionary specifically in four of the aforementioned languages besides the other language Wikipedias that came a little later. It is quite obvious that the number of contributors to the Indic language Wikimedia projects were very few. Indic input in Unicode standard was less popular. Wikipedia struggled back then and still continues to struggle in terms of getting voluntary contributions and quality content because of these reasons.


Above: A screen shot of Assamese Wikipedia page

In its initial phase of community building the language projects faced difficulties in teaching people about typing in their own scripts. It was a painful exercise – starting from scratch to building language input tools and tutorials, conducting outreach for mass-awareness and educating them of the importance of building content for their future generation and other such activities. Today, about 12 out of the 20 Indic language Wikipedias are active in terms of growth in the size of the contributor community and quality content. However, since the available resources are more or less limited in general and also lacking more in regional languages, there has been dependence on text books as useful educational resources. There is a complete dearth of peer reviewed journals and research documents in Indic languages. If there are some, they have not been digitized and some of the digitized resources are not available in accessible formats. With this there is a need to rethink about the potential to open Wikipedia up for more contribution from the academia and researcher communities.


Odia Wikipedia workshop, IIMC, Dhenkanal 18-19 November 2013 [Source Wikmedia Commons]

Conventionally educational resources are created by subject experts in a limited time frame and reviewed for factual accuracy. Wikipedia, on the contrary could be edited by anyone at any point of time and the content is ever changing. Many-a-times stub class articles get created. Not all of the articles are also of good quality. All of these result in a mixed spectrum of articles of varied quality. So, the entire Wikipedia, per se cannot be taken as OER.. It is quite challenging to get dedicated volunteers to devote their time to enhance the quality and keep the articles updated.

The ever changing nature of Wikipedia could be a potential opportunity to look at it as an educational resource that is more dynamic and upgradable in nature. Some of the subjects such as science or humanities in our education syllabi have content that is perpetually true in nature. If well written, then these kind of articles could be taken as OER as these do not need constant change. However, many other study programs including the applied disciplines are not up to date because of the conventional mode of education. There is a need to revamp the educational system and bring a more dynamic and informative system. Wikipedia, for sure will be a good platform for specific areas of education like these. However, this could be attained only if there are a group of contributors while implementing mass-scale WikipediaEducation Programs.

While working with two different batches of masters students of journalism at Indian Institute of MassCommunication at Dhenkanal in Odisha, I experienced the multitude of such fast pace of information flow that does not exist in many other disciplines. In general, people working on current issues of the world remain in a high information zone. If such talents could be tapped by bringing Wikipedia into their zone of action, then something great could be leveraged. Similarly, many researchers and people that are involved in work related documentation could be tapped when looking at specific subject areas for creating a subset of educational resource building exercise from Wikipedia.


Screenshot of the Chatasabha which is a help desk on Odia Wikipedia

The drawback in the existing text book compilation process is that a fixed number of people might make it a monotonous process. Things like visual appeal and user experience, the layers of reuse, remix and reproduction that Wikipedia offers will be lacking. The process of bringing Indic language Wikipedias into the curricula also unleashes the opportunity of creating an inclusive community of experts and passively absorbing information from the existing resources including books that are currently the only educational resources. The constant discourse that a language or academic community that are subsets of a Wikipedia community, cross-pollination of ideas, information, experiments from inter-related and interdisciplinary collectives adds many additional layers of complexity to the way information get on to Wikipedia. This very complexity makes it stand out as a completely different system altogether that learns, changes the ways of approach, preserves learning and presents itself is an institution.

So far, most of the Indic languages Wikipedias are the largest reservoirs of knowledge despite the challenges of sustaining the contributing community. To take them to a new level needs the risk of allowing potential vandals of taking it to the larger audience as a contributor and taking to the knowledge seeking mass as an Open Educational Resource. As Wikipedia itself, this would be another happening journey if the challenges and mistakes are accepted. Otherwise, bringing the right balance and opening up the existing system might just take centuries and that is alarming for this society that cannot wait inside the cocoon of being completely perfect but outdated and afford to walk slower.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-education-working-group-may-27-2014-subhashish-panigrahi-indic-language-wikipedias-as-open-educational-resources

Indic Language Wikipedias — Statistical Report — 2012

shiju — 2013-02-03T02:40:48Z

I have compiled the statistical update of the Indic language Wikipedias for the year 2012. As usual, in this report, my aim is to provide my perspectives on the health of various Indic language communities as well as the state of various Indic language wikipedias.

(The period of analysis is editor contributions between December 1, 2011 to December 31, 2012. December to December data is taken to account for the seasonal variations). Read the 2011 report here and the 2010 report here. The data for this report and analysis is based on the statistical data published at http://stats.wikimedia.org. A special thanks to Erik Zachte for compiling all this information.

Here is my executive summary after analyzing the data for 2012 and my experince with building some wiki communities:

Steady and sustainable growth is available for communities which focus on community building.
Small languages with guidance and support are making huge progress than many big languages.
Lack of support from proper channels at the much needed time had affected the community growth of some communities.
Even though many outreach programs had happened across country, that is not showing up in terms of number of active editors.
Still many language communities (especially big languages) are not open to the idea of reaching out to the speakers of the respective language.
Pageviews of Indic projects continues to increase.

This report is presented in the following sequence. This is done so because I believe that community is central to the Wikimedia movement. Community will give us content which will drive readership.

Community
Content
Readership

Community

As mentioned above, according to me, community is the backbone of Wikimedia movement. But still many communities are not understanding the importance of this. It is important that all language wiki communities give adequate importance to community building to build the free knowledge repository in their language. The following table gives information based on two important parameters about the community. The first parameter shows the highly active editors (more than 100 edits per month) in wiki. The second parameter shows the active editors (more than 5 edits per month).

Like last year, Malayalam continues to show an upward growth in terms of the number of active users. It has close to 120 active editors now. The graphical summary shows that mean number of editors is around 100. Malayalam is the biggest wiki community among Indic languages even though Malayalam is only the 11th biggest spoken language in India. The sincere efforts put by Malayalam wikipedians to build its community is the only reason for this. The programs like Malayalam Wiki conference, Education program, CD project, wiki workshops, photo events, Wikimeetups, and many other outreach events started showing its result. If the community continues with these type of efforts then I am sure that the community strength in Malayalam Wikipedia will cross 150 in 2013. Apart from Wikipedia, the importance given to Malayalam Wikisource, Wiktionary, and more recently to Wikivoyage (in incubator) will attract more Malayalam speakers to the Malayalam wiki projects.
Tamil comes second with close to 80 active editors. However, the number of active editors has gone down from last year. The graphical summary shows that number of active users was around 70-75 especially during the last two quarters.
Bengali comes third with around 60 active editors. This is a slight increase from the last year’s number of active editors. The involvement of editors from India in Bengali Wikipedia is less. That needs to be changed. Bangladeshi wikipedians are having many outreach programs to build Bengali wiki community. It will be nice if they extend their support to Indian Bengali speakers also as Indian Bengali wikipedians are not growing.
Telugu, Urdu, Gujarati, and Punjabi are the wikipedia languages that show notable increase in the number of active editors. But it will be be a mistake from my part if I am not mentioning that these numbers are not encouraging and the current number of active users is not showing justice to the number of speakers these languages have. This statement is more significant when we consider the fact that some smaller languages are showing a better progress.
We have seen that last year (2011) the success stories were Odia and Assamese wikipedias. In 2012, the shining star is Punjabi. The community has grown from one active editor from last year to almost 15 active editors now. As mentioned in my blog posts (post 1, post 2, post 3, and post 4) about building Punjabi wikipedia community, the task of building community for Punjabi was very challenging. Initiated in 2002 along with Assamese, Punjabi is one of the first Indic language wikipedia. But nothing much had happened in that wiki until deliberate efforts to build community initiated. The news is now we have an active community in Punjabi Wikipedia. From the just one person last year (Guglani – who took lots of pain to travel to multiple locations to introduce Punjabi wikipedia), now Punjabi wikipedia has close to 15 active editors. Unlike Odia and Assamese, I have faced so many issues during Punjabi wikipedia community building (mostly conflicts between editors). But I am happy to see that community is slowly coming out of all that. The technical team has fixed some of the bugs related to typing tool which was very important for Punjabi wikipedia. Punjabi wikipedians require lot support from other wikipedians to sustain the current momentum and grow the community further. My best wishes to Punjabi wikipedians.
Gujarati and Urdu are the two other communities that made considerable progress in community growth. The efforts put by Gujarati wikipedians to reach out to Gujarati speakers started showing the results. I am sure with the significant attention also given to Gujarati Wikisource (which was created last year), more Gujarati speakers will be attracted to Gujarati wiki projects. The involvement of Indians in Urdu Wikipedia is very less. But it is good to notice that Urdu wiki community slowly started growing. May be Wikipedia is one place where Indians and Pakistanis can work together.
The wikipedia languages that haven't shown significant change in number of active editors are Marathi, Odia, Assamese, and Nepali. The respective communities need to start putting efforts to build community by taking lessons from other Indic language wiki communities.
The languages that have considerable reduction in number of editors are Hindi, Kannada, and Sanskrit. Among this, except Sanskrit, all are spoken by at least five crore people. It is not good to see that speakers of these languages are not giving any attention to the wiki projects in their respective language. The case of Hindi is very strange considering the fact that it has support of the central government and many state governments of India.
The dormant language communities are Sindhi, Bhojpuri, Kashmiri, and some other small languages. Considering the fact that Odia, Assamese, and Punjabi were also dormant two years before, I am sure if someone is putting effort to build communities for these now dormant communities, these language wiki communities will also grow like it happened for Odia, Assamese, and Punjabi. Now there are multiple entities to support wikimedia movement in India and I hope that someone will take care of this apart from concentrating on the bigger languages.
In short, the point I want to emphasis is, conscious efforts are required from different stakeholders to grow communities and to sustain that growth for all Indic language wikipedias.

Content

Number of articles is an important parameter, but it has misguided some wiki communities in the past. Fortunately that trend is coming down.

With more than 1,04,000 articles, Hindi continues to be the biggest Indic language wikipedia in terms of the number of articles. Almost 3500 articles were added to Hindi wikipedia in the year 2013.
Tamil and Malayalam had added around 7000 articles which is the "biggest growth" in terms of number of articles. Urdu and Nepali added close to 5000 articles.
If we consider percentage of increase then Assamese language has shown more than 100 per cent increase in the number of articles.
Some of the important milestones are, Tamil and Telugu crossing 50,000 articles, Malayalam crossing 25,000 articles, and Assamese crossing 1,000 article milestones.
The languages that have shown very slow growth in terms of number of articles are Gujarati, Telugu and Kannada. I assume at least for few of these languages the focus went into enhancing the existing articles and building the community rather than creating thousands of stub articles.
As mentioned in the past reports, communities don’t need to worry about the number of articles. Also the examples of Bishnupriya Manipuri and Newari Wikipedias shows the after effect of increasing the article count without focusing on building the community.

Readership (page views)

Unlike the number of editors, the number of page views in wiki is showing an upward trend irrespective of the language.(Please note that the information available in the below table is the total visits (page views) for a language wikipedia for a month from all the platforms combined. It includes visits by readers and editors. This is NOT the list of Number of Unique Visitors to the website).

This is the one parameter where the figures are showing relative justice to the number of speakers.
Hindi with 78 lakh page views is in the top position.
The page views for Tamil had increased by more than 50 per cent.
Assamese has more than 100 per cent growth in page views.
Since the support for Indic languages is increasing for smart phone operating systems, I am sure the page views are going to increase further.

Conclusion

I am concluding this report with the following thoughts:

Being the biggest language (or number of speakers) does not automatically build community for an Indic language wikipedia. Efforts from respective language speakers are necessary to build community.
Most Indians who have access to internet and computer still don’t know their respective language typing. This is the biggest road block to build Indic language wiki community.
Do not get obsessed by article counts or readership. These are natural outcomes of community building.
Focus on community building through community interaction (through meetups, talk pages, village pumps, and mailing lists).
Focus on community building through community collaboration (WikiProjects or planning outreach efforts or advocacy).
Focus on community building through doing more outreach, better outreach, and being supportive of newbies.
Stay away from bots and translation tools for article creation as they do more harm than good. Use bots in such a way that it is not affecting the growth of the community.

Wishing all of you a wonderful wiki year 2013.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/indic-language-wikipedias-statistical-report-2012

Indian Wikimedian Communities and the Gender Gap - A Space of Change, Negotiation, and Growth

bhuvana — 2020-03-09T12:15:16Z

This blog post covers key findings of the Wikipedia Gender Gap research completed by Ting-Yi Chang in April 2018. The paper was titled “Examining Female Editors’ Identity and Agency Negotiation Process within Indian Wikimedia Projects and Communities”. Here Ting-Yi brings us several observations on how the contributions by women editors' impacts Indian Wikimedia. This research focuses on participation of the women in Wikimedia activities with an emphasis on creating safe spaces and encouraging skill development.

More than two years have passed since I left India and the Indian Wikimedian communities who supported my research with considerable generosity and invaluable insights. The paper “Examining Female Editors’ Identity and Agency Negotiation Process within Indian Wikimedia Projects and Communities” was eventually finished in April 2018, featuring a qualitative analysis on 21 female Indian Wikimedians’ experiences within the communities^{^[1]}.

Due to the nature of a university thesis, the paper put great emphasis on theoretical framework testing and application, which was a good exercise for a young researcher but a rather non-approachable piece for the general public. This blog post serves to mitigate this gap to cover the key findings through 6 Q&As.

Research Context
When engaging with Indian Wikimedian Communities and looking at literature on Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D), I figured that a lot of attention was given to the question of access, awareness, and skills - “Do women have internet access and devices?” “Is there enough awareness among women?” “Do women have enough technical skills to participate in online activities?”

However, for me, empowerment means asking more than these questions. After a woman has gained enough access, awareness, and skills, shouldn’t we ask: “How does she feel when she goes online or participate in a project like Wikipedia editing?” “Does her identity as a woman influence her power and the choices she makes in a male-dominant online community?” “How can we do better as a community to sensitize ourselves and make women feel more welcoming in the online space?”

This research hence used Wikimedian Communities in India as a case study to answer the following questions:

Q1: Is a free and open knowledge movement friendly to female Wikimedians and beginners?
The research found that almost all female participants who we interviewed expressed that they are in support of a free and open knowledge movement. Some of them also stated that their pride and passion in their mother tongue and culture was a major factor that motivates their participation. However, while answering this question, many also mentioned the barriers posed by a “free” movement. Since participating in Wikimedia projects is a volunteer work, some female Wikimedians reflected that they had to face doubts and questioning from their family who did not see their involvement as something beneficial - at least not on a monetary level. Many also mentioned the opportunity costs that are unique to a female Wikimedian. For example, women may be expected to take up more caretaking and household chores that would prevent them from going to community meetups and editing events. In other words, a “free” and “volunteer-based” project imposes an invisible threshold of privileges - those who have higher educational backgrounds, more disposable income and time are more likely to participate. Hence, Wikimedia projects’ free and open nature could be a double edged sword.

Q2: Is a Wikimedian community an effective space for gender/feminist movements?
Since there is an increase in the awareness of the Wikipedia gender gap and in the number of Gender Gap Bridging initiatives, it is easy to assume that a Wikimedian community is an effective space for movements. However, our research found that these movements and initiatives in Indian Wikimedian Communities have usually been small by scale, temporary, and event-based (e.g. gender gap bridging themed edit-a-thons). The reason behind could be that Wikimedian Communities’ main objective is essentially content creation, resulting in the situation that movements are usually associated with content creating activities. Alternatively, having the space for “non-productive” discussion and sensitizing training could in fact be productive and helpful for the community health as a whole. For example, I noted that building a “socializing” space creates a sense of belonging to many female Wikimedians and could possibly increase their willingness to be part of the projects in the long run.

Q3: Do female Wikimedians find that their online identity are unaffected by offline identities such as gender?
To quickly answer this question - No, a woman’s offline identity is very much connected to her online identity and experience. Through the interview process, we’ve learned that many female Wikimedians have chosen to primarily engage online in order to avoid uncomfortable offline interaction. However, it was also mentioned that online harassment, threats, and discrimination are still a common experience. Some informants also mentioned that in such close-knit communities like the Indian Wikimedian Communities, it is hard to be fully online or anonymous. Offline interaction and events actually are a very important part of community engagement that female Wikimedians risk missing out on. Hence, reconstructing both the online and offline community space are necessary as there is no one space that is “genderless.”

Q4: Do female Wikimedians perceive that they are treated fairly and receive equitable resources and opportunities within the Wikimedian communities?
Many female Wikimedians reflected that they felt welcome and treated equality as members of the Wikimedian Communities. Some even raise examples on how they were recognized as key contributors in their language communities. However, there are also comments on the “tokenizing” aspect of a seemingly well-intended, equitable practice. In one interview, an informant mentioned that she was “reminded” that the opportunity she was given was a perk based on her gender. Yet another informant stated that she was given opportunities but not on a decision-making level. Some other informants also mentioned that in order for women to be recognized as productive contributors, there needs to be changes on the inherent biased guidelines on what is “verifiable” and “notable” knowledge. In other words, it is not only on a community level that women could face discrimination, it is also in the knowledge system where we must challenge inequality.

Q5: Do female Wikimedians feel free when they are editing and engaging in the communities?
Many female Wikimedians stated that they feel free as in free to edit and to learn. Some, however, stated that when it comes to procedural freedom on how they should be writing and how they should contribute in the community, there are still certain pressure on women imposed by more experienced Wikimedians.

Q6: Does participating in Wikimedian community activities help female Wikimedians gain confidence and skills to pursue self-realization?
Most female Wikimedians who had worked on the projects for a while and took leadership positions in their communities commented that the experience enabled them to adopt new skills and confidence that they found useful in Wikimedia projects and beyond. Many commented that they were able to explore different possibilities and knowledge through the projects and through learning with the communities who have taught to inspired them. Some, however, also mentioned that although they have gained new skills, there is a certain level of self-censorship on things a female Wikimedian could say and edit on. For example, they take “calculated risk” when editing Wikipedia pages on feminist topics and other more debated gender issues which often attract conflicts. Some also mentioned that their self-realization and accomplishments need to be recognized instead of belittled or brushed off because of their gender. This reminds us that building confidence, skills, and pursuing self-realization is not an individual goal, it is so intrinsically connected to the community that we work together. Creating and maintaining a healthy community culture is hence imperative.

The link to the full paper can be found here.

^{^[1]} There were 23 informants participating in the research data collection process. 21 of them were female-identified individuals while the remaining 2 non-female interviewees were key informants within the communities.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/indian-wikimedian-communities-and-the-gender-gap-a-space-of-change-negotiation-and-growth

Indian surveillance laws & practices far worse than US

pranesh — 2013-07-12T11:09:39Z

Explosive would be just the word to describe the revelations by National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Pranesh Prakash's column was published in the Economic Times on June 13, 2013. This research was undertaken as part of the 'SAFEGUARDS' project that CIS is undertaking with Privacy International and IDRC.

Now, with the American Civil Liberties Union suing the Obama administration over the NSA surveillance programme, more fireworks could be in store. Snowden's expose provides proof of what many working in the field of privacy have long known. The leaks show the NSA (through the FBI) has got a secret court order requiring telecom provider Verizon to hand over "metadata", i.e., non-content data like phone numbers and call durations, relating to millions of US customers (known as dragnet or mass surveillance); that the NSA has a tool called Prism through which it queries at least nine American companies (including Google and Facebook); and that it also has a tool called Boundless Informant (a screenshot of which revealed that, in February 2013, the NSA collected 12.61 billion pieces of metadata from India).

Nothing Quite Private

The outrage in the US has to do with the fact that much of the data the NSA has been granted access to by the court relates to communications between US citizens, something the NSA is not authorised to gain access to. What should be of concern to Indians is that the US government refuses to acknowledge non-Americans as people who also have a fundamental right to privacy, if not under US law, then at least under international laws like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ICCPR.

US companies such as Facebook and Google have had a deleterious effect on privacy. In 2004, there was a public outcry when Gmail announced it was using an algorithm to read through your emails to serve you advertisements. Facebook and Google collect massive amounts of data about you and websites you visit, and by doing so, they make themselves targets for governments wishing to snoop on you, legally or not.

Worse, Indian-Style

That said, Google and Twitter have at least challenged a few of the secretive National Security Letters requiring them to hand over data to the FBI, and have won. Yahoo India has challenged the authority of the Controller of Certifying Authorities, a technical functionary under the IT Act, to ask for user data, and the case is still going on.

To the best of my knowledge, no Indian web company has ever challenged the government in court over a privacy-related matter. Actually, Indian law is far worse than American law on these matters. In the US, the NSA needed a court order to get the Verizon data. In India, the licences under which telecom companies operate require them to provide this. No need for messy court processes.

The law we currently have â€” sections 69 and 69B of the Information Technology Act â€” is far worse than the surveillance law the British imposed on us. Even that lax law has not been followed by our intelligence agencies.

Keeping it Safe

Recent reports reveal India's secretive National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) â€” created under an executive order and not accountable to Parliament â€” often goes beyond its mandate and, in 2006-07, tried to crack into Google and Skype servers, but failed. It succeeded in cracking Rediffmail and Sify servers, and more recently was accused by the Department of Electronics and IT in a report on unauthorised access to government officials' mails.

While the government argues systems like the Telephone Call Interception System (TCIS), the Central Monitoring System (CMS) and the National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid) will introduce restrictions on misuse of surveillance data, it is a flawed claim. Mass surveillance only increases the size of the haystack, which doesn't help in finding the needle. Targeted surveillance, when necessary and proportional, is required. And no such systems should be introduced without public debate and a legal regime in place for public and parliamentary accountability.

The government should also encourage the usage of end-to-end encryption, ensuring Indian citizens' data remains safe even if stored on foreign servers. Merely requiring those servers to be located in India will not help, since that information is still accessible to American agencies if it is not encrypted. Also, the currently lax Indian laws will also apply, degrading users' privacy even more.

Indians need to be aware they have virtually no privacy when communicating online unless they take proactive measures. Free or open-source software and technologies like Open-PGP can make emails secure, Off-The-Record can secure instant messages, TextSecure for SMSes, and Tor can anonymise internet traffic.

http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/economic-times-june-13-2013-pranesh-prakash-indian-surveillance-laws-and-practices-far-worse-than-us

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/economic-times-june-13-2013-pranesh-prakash-indian-surveillance-laws-and-practices-far-worse-than-us

Indian super-cops now patrol the www highway

praskrishna — 2011-08-19T06:48:48Z

There's discontent brewing in the Indian cyberspace. And it has to do with the government blocking content that it deems "objectionable". What has raised hackles of Internet freedom activists is a new set of rules that allow Internet service providers (ISPs) and blogging sites to remove "objectionable" content from the Web.

This Wednesday, in a written reply, minister of state for information and technology Sachin Pilot told the Lok Sabha that the recently notified rules under the IT Act to regulate the use of Internet, "don't give any power to the government to regulate the content"? Pilot added that the rules did not raise issues "pertaining to privacy and violation of freedom of speech and expression."

Are the rules likely to affect you and I? They may have already begun do so. Last fortnight, when surfers went on to popular file-sharing sites to download clips of a new Bollywood release, what they got instead was a screen with the message: This site has been blocked as per instructions of the Department of Telecom.

The fine print

The new rules demand that the intermediary notify users not to publish or use information that is derogatory, abusive, insulting or which violates intellectual property rights or impacts the sovereignty of the nation. In a country that has 81 million Internet users, this can never be easy.

The rules put the onus of intercepting, blocking and removing objectionable content on intermediaries — telecom service providers, search engines, social networking sites and online payment sites — turning them into super-cops of the Web. "Although the Act is an improvement on the previous one, the rules put too much onus on intermediaries," says Dr Subo Ray, President, Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). "The intermediaries have become the judge, the jury and the executioner," says Ray.

In a nation where social mores are in a flux, interpretation of what is objectionable under the new rules is wide and subjective, says technology lawyer Rodney D Ryder. "Content deemed 'disparaging', 'harassing', 'blasphemous' or 'hateful' can be blocked. But who will decide what is disparaging?"

The worst bit about such censorship, says Nikhil Pahwa, editor of Medianama, a portal that discusses issues related to digital media, is its opacity. "It is a distress signal for civil liberties and India's version of Egypt's kill-switch. With the UID, the government would know who I am. With the help of telecom operators, they can track me within 50 metres and with my mobile number, snoop in on my conversations. On top of that, do we need Internet rules that don't have a provision of appeal?"

Ryder concurs: "The regulations do not even provide a way for content producers to defend their work or appeal a decision to remove content. This is against the principles of natural justice."

The rules are a case of deceptive legislative drafting says cyber lawyer Pawan Duggal, chairman of Assocham's cyber law committee. "The provisions hide more than what they disclose. Cosmetically, the new rules says that if you are an intermediary, then you shall not be liable for any third-party data, information or communication link made available or hosted by you. Provided, and this is crucial, you follow a number of stringent conditions."

Duggal says many intermediaries in India are not aware of these conditions. "An intermediary will not be liable for any third-party data made available or hosted by it, provided it complies with the law, exercises due diligence, does not abet, conspire or play an active role in a criminal activity and further, provided that once it is notified of any offending activity, removes or disables access of the said offending content expeditiously. If it fails to fulfil one of the conditions, it is open to criminal exposure and civil exposure upto unlimited damages by way of compensation."

Is it gagging net freedom?

In China and Saudi Arabia, governments routinely censor content and redirect search requests to error pages. In Vietnam, bloggers who criticise the government are sometimes arrested. And in Cuba, there is talk of creating "a national Internet". Still, any talk of comparing India with these restrictive regimes is alarmist and stupid, says Ray of IAMAI.

But over the past few years, the government has been gradually building censorship muscle over the Internet, say activists. In 2006, it blocked Typepad, the blog hosting service and a bulk SMS site.

A right to information plea filed by the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society reveals the government blocked 11 sites between 2008 and 2011 (see box). These range from sites hosting the predictable girl wallpapers and Kamasutra to blogs discussing the freedom of speech.

Yet, in his written reply to the Lok Sabha, Pilot insisted that the rules "do not give any power to the government to regulate the content".

If this sparks any discontent in you about privacy, freedom of speech and civil liberties, think twice before sharing the content on the Internet.

This article by Aasheesh Sharma was published in the Hindustan Times on August 6, 2011. The original can be read here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/indian-super-cops-patrol-www-highway

Indian Privacy Code

Admin — 2018-07-20T13:54:35Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/indian-privacy-code

Indian language localization community meets in New Delhi

praskrishna — 2016-10-03T13:26:31Z

Localization is one of the less glamorous aspects of computing. Despite the fact that less than 6% of the world speaks English, a majority of projects don't feel inclined to accommodate the rest of the population. One of the primary reasons for sticking to English is the steep learning curve and the lack of standardization in various aspects of the localization process.

The post by Mayank Sharma was published by Opensource.com on October 3, 2016. Dr. U.B. Pavanaja was quoted.

The FUEL Project organized the GILT conference in New Delhi, India September 24-25 to highlight and address these issues. The annual event showcases the efforts of language technology organizations and volunteer communities, but this year's also gave a platform for non-technical users to voice their concerns. The Indic computing developers were joined by academics, reporters, language researchers, publishers, and entrepreneurs who rely on localization tools to connect and interact with audiences in the various regional languages in India. The brainstorming between the two groups, both on and off the stage, was one of the highlights of the conference.

Focus on standardization

Another recurring theme discussed in detail at the conference was the need for standardization. The FUEL Project spearheads standardization efforts with its terminology management system to preserve consistency across translations. The project also created translation style guides for various languages, including Spanish, German, French, Scottish Gaelic, and several Indian languages. In addition to these guides, the project is also working on a couple of tools to help maintain the accuracy of the translations. One that caught the attention of the translators at the conference is the Unicode Text Rendering Reference System (UTRRS). It's a web app that lets you enter a character, word, or phrase and then compares it to a reference image generated by a text rendering engine.

The current state of localization

The conference began with an inaugural address by the keynote speakers. Rajesh Ranjan, who heads the FUEL Project and is currently the open source community manager at the Indian Government's National eGovernance Division (NeGD), kicked things off by talking about the evolution of the 8-year-old project. There was also an enlightening address by Jeff Beatty, who heads localization efforts at Mozilla. He talked about the role of his alma mater, the University of Limerick, in the initiation and growth of multilingual computing. Later, Vinay Thakur, director of project development at NeGD, discussed the Indian Government's increased interest in localization and listed the various initiatives currently underway.

This was also reiterated by Mahesh Kulkarni, assistant director at CDAC's GIST research labs. He talked about the scale of the government's plan for making all its official websites available in all the officially recognized 22 Indian languages.

Addressing problems

Kulkarni also chaired a panel discussion later in the day. The panel members talked about the issues plaguing the localization community and what it would take to solve them. Sudhanwa Jogalekar, a well-respected contributor to Indic computing, suggested that translators should get ISO certified as a first step toward standardization. Jogalekar pointed to the ISO 7001:2015 standard, which certifies conformity in translation services. Another panel member, Prabhat Ranjan, executive director of the technology think tank TIFAC, talked about the stress on translation in the Vision 2035 document recently released by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ranjan's team found English to Hindi translation easier when documents are first translated into another Indian language. Based on this experience, Ranjan bounced the idea of agreeing on a meta language to ease the translation process.

A chat with the Document Foundation

The conference also had a video conference session by the Document Foundation's Italo Vignoli about LibreOffice. While the talk was fairly overview-ish the Q&A generated some valuable suggestions that Vignoli promised to take up with the LibreOffice developers. One of the concerns raised by Pavanaja U.B. was that localizing the office suite was a cumbersome process, as it involved recompiling the entire application. Pavanaja, who is well-known in the localization community for creating the Kannada version of the Logo programming language, requested Vignoli ask LibreOffice developers to brainstorm a less tedious process for the localizers. Later in the day, Pavanaja also talked about his experience localizing Wikipedia in Kannada and Tulu languages.

Unicode

^{Karunakar G demos an in-development spell checker for the Hindi language. Photo by Mayank Sharma. CC-BY 3.0.}

The second day began with a session on the evolution and current status of the Unicode standard. It was delivered by Karunakar G, one of the stalwarts of the Indic localization community. A longtime localization developer, Karunakar also demoed the support for Indian languages in LibreOffice. He highlighted a few missing features, such as the lack of an Indic thesaurus and autocorrect functionality.

Sailfish OS

Karunakar was followed by Raju Vindane, who introduced the audience to the Sailfish OS. He also demoed the only Sailfish OS phone available in the Indian market, the Intex Aqua, which retails for about $90. Vindane mentioned that while the community is encouraged to contribute and improve the Indic translations to the Sailfish OS project, these wouldn't be included in the Indian phone, as Intex does its translations in-house.

Other highlights

^{Ryan Northey asks the community to explore the use of XLIFF (XML Localization Interchange File Format). Photo by Mayank Sharma. CC-BY 3.0.}

The day also had introductory presentations by Ryan Northey, lead developer at Translate House, and Satdeep Gill from the WikiTongues project. Northey mentioned that there's been a disconnect between software development and localization, and that going forward localization should become a part of the software development cycle.

In addition to the scheduled sessions, there were several fruitful discussions during lunch and tea breaks. The presentation-free exchange of gray matter between the stalwarts and the young padawans were a delight to witness. The 2016 edition of the GILT conference helped bring together longtime developers and experts from the government with niche communities and individuals working on different aspects of localization in various parts of the country. The conference ended with the participants hoping that the Government's increased focus on localization would translate into a considerable leap in the quality and quantity of localized content and localization tools.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/open-source-mayank-sharma-october-3-2016-indian-language-localization-community-meets-in-new-delhi

Indian Intermediary Liability Regime

Admin — 2018-05-20T15:03:25Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/indian-intermediary-liability-regime