site.btaCouncil for Monitoring of Disability Policies Holds First Meeting

112 POLITICS-COUNCIL-PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Ampl

Council for Monitoring
of Disability Policies
Holds First Meeting


Sofia, July 8 (BTA) - National Ombudsman Maya Manolova on Monday opened the first meeting of the new council for monitoring of disability policies and disabled people. Manolova chairs the new body which was established under the latest revisions to the People with Disabilities Act. The meeting was attended by Health Minister Kiril Ananiev, Labour Minister Bisser Petkov, public officials and members of civic organizations.

The nine-member monitoring council will work to prevent violations of the rights of people with disabilities, draw up annual rеports, and review national legislation.

The council is to draw up the rules of its organization and prepare an annual working programme.

Labour Minister Petkov said that after changes to the legislation, now over 640,000 people with disabilities receive monthly financial support. This is by 144,335 people more compared to those who received integration benefits under the law applicable until the end of 2018. No one receives less under the new rules, he stressed.

Petkov said that the government is open to discuss with the disabled persons organizations better ways to distribute this aid. In his words, the Labour Ministry's budget for policies on disabled persons reached 550 million leva in 2019.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Minister Ananiev said that he had made a commitment to scrap a deadline for reassessment of the degree of disability in order for people to qualify for larger support.

Manolova said that several categories of people with disabilities believe that they have been discriminated against with the larger monthly support.

The Ombudsman said she expected from the Labour Minister to make the necessary estimates so that all groups are entitled to fair support from January 1, 2020.

According to Manolova, the largest group of people (30,342) who receive inadequate support are those who draw an old age retirement pension and a personal assistance allowance because they became disabled later in life.

Also, the meeting discussed the new mechanism for personal assistance which will take effect. Manolova said that there have been multiple alerts that the information is inaccurate and that there are bureaucratic obstacles. LI/PP, DS

/ДЛ/