Law Commission report : ‘Eliminating Discrimination against Persons Affected by Leprosy'
1)
Diagnosis
and treatment of leprosy is now considered easier and more effective. Since
1983, the disease is curable with multidrug therapy (MDT).
2)
MDT
was successfully assimilated into India's health programmes, leading to a
reduction in the overall rate of leprosy incidence. But since 2005 the rate of
decline has slowed.
3)
As
of 2014, India accounts for 58% of all new leprosy cases in the world. During
2013-14 1.27 lakh new cases were detected.
4)
The Law Commission of India’s 256th Report, ‘Eliminating
Discrimination against Persons Affected by Leprosy’, will initiate a new
chapter in India’s fight against leprosy.
5)
Its recommendations clearly draw from the constitutional values of
dignity, equality and freedoms. It also recognises India’s international obligations
arising out of the UN General Assembly Resolution on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Persons affected by Leprosy, 2010, as well as its
obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
2007.
6)
The focus of the report is on how several of the laws are
themselves discriminatory, needing amendment or repeal.
i.
Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956 contains discriminatory
provisions wherein higher premium rates are charged from persons affected by
leprosy due to a supposedly higher risk to their lives.
ii.
Personal laws such as the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the
Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939 that are also discriminatory,
mistaking leprosy as an ‘incurable and virulent disease’.
iii.
Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 does not include all
categories of persons affected by leprosy within its purview, denying them
special privileges under the law.
7)
Recommendations of the
report :
i.
The report recommends non-discriminatory laws and affirmative action,
for their greater integration into employment and educational institutions.
ii.
Controversial recommendation : The report suggests that persons
living in colonies for leprosy patients need to be granted ownership title to
property in their possession.
8)
Overall, the Commission's recommendations are forward-looking and progressive.
They must be implemented soonest.
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Net Neutrality
1)
Net
neutrality/network neutrality/Internet neutrality/net equality is the principle that Internet
service providers and governments should treat all data on
the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging differentially
by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or
mode of communication.
2)
Neutrality
proponents claim that telecom companies seek to impose a tiered
service model in order to control the pipeline and thereby remove
competition, create artificial scarcity, and oblige subscribers to buy
their otherwise uncompetitive services.
3) Examples :
i.
In December, 2014 Airtel planned to charge VoIP
(Voice over Internet Protocol) data i.e. levying charge on skype calls, video
and voice chats etc. They could not implement planned changes due to heavy
criticism.
ii.
Facebook has announced a tie-up with Reliance
Communications to launch Internet.org in India. The tie-up gives subscribers of
Reliance Communications who have Internet-enabled handsets free access to 38
websites – a mix of news, music, education, weather and health sites.
iii.
The
recent move incentivising usage of only certain applications under ‘Airtel
Zero’ plan.
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