I RECALL Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, in observing “International Day of Persons with Disabilities” last year, spoke of the need to promote awareness of disability issues as well as secure the fundamental rights for individuals with all forms of disabilities.

His remarks highlighted the “investment in resources at the various levels” by his government, but I believe he failed, possibly out of unawareness, to mention that the mentally challenged on a locally made plastic wheelchair are demeaned by their very constitution.
The president- appointed National Commission on Disability and the Ministry of Legal Affairs can surely revise the wording of this law. Whether it is “Mentally handicapped”, “Mentally impaired” or “Intellectual disability”, our lawmakers have several politically- correct options.
If Thomas Jefferson is a model legislator, as he should be, then we will agree “…that the minority possesses their equal rights, which the law must protect equally, and to violate would be oppression. January 25, 2013, the Ministry of Health has provided two plastic wheelchairs to the Periwinkle Club, a release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said.
The handing-over ceremony took place on Wednesday in the compound in the Ministry of Health on Brickdam in the presence of Minister of Health Dr Behri Ramsarran. The least intellectually challenged of the lot will be “Morons” who have an I.Q of 51-70. Those with a sense of compassion will no doubt be incensed at even these scientific gradations, since almost every conscientious individual feels empathy for the people herein mentioned. For the law then to treat two distinct terms synonymously, and at the same time pejoratively, underlines a cancerous form of intellectual ignorance, snobbery and stereotyping.
The wheelchair standard was formulated in an effort to improve the quality of wheelchairs being produced and sold on the local and overseas market. It is expected that this standard would be utilised by health organisations and other related manufacturers, thereby promoting standardisation for this particular commodity for the disabled. From the fore-going, it should be recognised that there is a great need for issues of occupational safety and health to be seriously addressed with these locally made wheelchairs .None here will dispute that safety and health care are health issues.
Further, by law, the Ministry of Health is duty bound to provide standard wheelchairs to patients.