Javed Abidi, noted disability rights activist passes away

Javed Abidi (53), the noted disability rights activist, has passed away in New Delhi on March 4, 2018. A former civil servant, Abidi was one of the most authoritative voices in the field of disability rights and believed in engaging the government for ensuring betterment of the persons with disabilities. Abidi was instrumental in the drafting and passage of The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 and was the director of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), which he has set up in 1996. He was also the founder of the Disability Rights Group, and the Convener of the National Disability Network (NDN), India. Born in Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh) in 1965 with congenital spina bifida, a developmental disorder, he traversed the world on a wheelchair, advocating the rights of the disabled.