Xinhua Insight: China strives for equal rights for disabled

Li Hulian, 44, from a fishing village in Ganzhou City, east China's Jiangxi Province, was among the country's impoverished population with disabilities.

Eight years ago, Li was diagnosed with a mental illness. The ensuing medical expenses, in addition to the tuition fees he must pay for his children's education, made his family's life even more difficult.

His situation improved a lot last year, when his household was included in the local government's poverty relief program.

Li's two children now study at a vocational school and each receives an annual education grant of 2,000 yuan (about 302 U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, his wife secured a new, higher-paying job after completing a free skill course offered by the government.

Li is now entitled to free medication from this year. Still more help is coming to people like him.

China now has 85 million disabled people, with more than 70 percent living in the countryside. As many disabled are unable to work, they struggle to make ends meet -- making them a key target in the country's poverty relief work.

On Wednesday, the central government released a plan vowing greater support for the disabled, outlining how their lives will be improved over the next five years.

In addition to offering public services and products, the document contains more favorable policies that will help the disabled, especially those in rural areas.

A disability welfare system will be established and measures will be rolled out to help the disabled secure employment or establish their own businesses.

Legal protection and supervision of the employment, education, social benefits and other aspects of disabled people's lives will also be developed, according to the plan.

"The plan, once again, shows China's determination to ensure equal rights and interests for all its citizens," said Liu Huawen, executive director of the institute of human rights studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

FIGURES SPEAK

Shaking off poverty is the most crucial step in protecting human rights,said Liu.

From 2012 to 2015, 4.96 million impoverished people with disabilities in rural areas were lifted out of poverty and 3.17 million poor disabled residents in rural areas received training, according to a government report reviewing human rights during this period, published in June.

By 2015, the state had established a living benefits system for financially-challenged disabled population and nursing care allowances for the severely disabled.

Besides, the central government allocated a total of 3.74 billion yuan in rehabilitation and poverty-relief loans to support 743,000 impoverished disabled people.

MUCH TO BE DESIRED

Song Zhongqiao, who is in Wuhan in the central province of Hubei, was left paralyzed in his right leg after suffering from polio.

With the help of the local government and a federation for the disabled, Song has learned to be a hairdresser and now owns four hairdressing salons, employing 22 staff, including 14 with disabilities.

"The disabled should also be entitled to feeling self-worth through work, just like the able bodied," said Song.

According to an official survey in 2015, among over 15 million working age population with disabilities in both rural and urban areas, over 40 percent are employed, almost the same level as developed countries.

Unluckily for Tan Jinsong, a visually-impaired law undergraduate from a university in Hunan, finding work was not so easy.

Tan was turned down by a public institution in Hunan's Yueyang City due to his disability, despite ranking first in both the written and oral tests.

At present, Tan, supported by the local disabled persons federation, is trying to appeal the decision.

People like Tan may not need to struggle if the new plan is implemented successfully.

According to the plan, Party and government agencies at all levels, public institutions as well as state-owned enterprises should take a leading role in employing the disabled.

The plan also urged considering a publicity system that displays the fulfillment of quotas in employing the disabled of various employers.

Sheng Mingke, professor with Xiangtan University in Hunan, suggested that equal rights will be better protected if governments can have special posts saved for them. Endi