Disfigurement caused by burns likely to be considered a disability under proposed State policy

Karnataka is set to become the first State in the country to have a separate comprehensive policy for victims of burns.

Karnataka is set to become the first State in the country to have a separate comprehensive policy for victims of burns. The policy, which will incorporate insurance, housing, rehabilitation, employment and other welfare measures including pension for burn victims, is likely to consider disfigurement due to burns as a disability.

Fulfilling a decades-long demand of women activists, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced that the State will come out with a burn injury prevention and treatment policy.

A draft policy for prevention and treatment of burns and rehabilitation and empowerment of burn survivors formulated by Aweksha, a women’s trust working to end gender-based violence, has been submitted to the Health Department.

Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao told The Hindu on Saturday that the  objectives and operational strategies of the policy will be discussed with the women activists and an expert group soon after the State Budget gets approved. “In all probability, the policy should be ready in a month or two,” he said. 

“The policy should not only look at streamlining treatment and providing quality care but should also consider the overall welfare of the burn survivors. The women activists have been demanding that disfigurement due to burns should be considered as a disability. I think this is essential and doable. We will deliberate and formulate a comprehensive policy,” the Health Minister said.

Women’s rights activist and Aweksha co-founder Donna Fernandes said that as burns cause severe disfigurement and disability, the existing provisions for the disabled such as reservations or concessions must be extended to burn victims.

Pointing out that the State help should extend beyond just concessions, she said, “The Victim Compensation Scheme mandates that the victim needs to file an FIR to receive compensation. However, most often survivors do not want to file FIRs due to various reasons. They may not want to complain because of social stigma around reporting one’s spouse, society’s emphasis on protecting the sanctity of marriage or to ensure that their children’s futures, false hope of a happy marriage by the husband are not affected and so on.”