Dimapur, July 11 (MEXN): Against the backdrop of the launching of the ‘Nagaland Vision 2030,’ Nagaland State Disability Forum (NSDF) has urged the State Government to work collaboratively with people with disabilities and their representatives in the development of policies, programmes and systems that affect people with disabilities. In a presentation titled ‘A Nagaland where ‘No one is left behind,’ Diethono Nakhro, Member, National Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (NCRPD) and Advisor, Nagaland State Disability Forum (NSDF) asserted that there cannot be a sustainable, progressive and viable Nagaland if Nagas with disabilities are left out from the Nagaland Vision.
Giving an overview of the disability scenario in Nagaland, Nakro stated that people with disabilities represent the most excluded of all groups in Naga society. They are completely missing from the development landscape. To shift the present gear on disability, the presentation suggested that a State Disability Strategy must be developed with a time-bound State Plan that addresses issues in all areas of life that exist solely on the basis of disability. The strategy must articulate long-term goals across key policy areas which impact on people with disabilities, their families and careers, it added.
“Our vision is a Nagaland where no one is left behind. A Nagaland where all citizens have equal opportunities to realise their rights, achieve their potential and live in dignity, free from poverty, exclusion, stigma, discrimination and violence. A Nagaland where people with disabilities have a voice, choice and control over the decisions that affect them; where they participate in and benefit equitably from everyday life, everywhere,” further stated the presentation, which was addressed to the Nagaland Vision 2030 expert group.
