Minister Petkov: The new disability law will be ready in the autumn

Draft Laws on Disabled People are expected to be submitted in the Bulgarian Parliament in the autumn, the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Bisser Petkov, told members of Parliament on 25^th of July. At the request of GERB party, he was heard in plenary hall on the progress of preparations for legislative changes by the social ministry to ensure the rights of people with disabilities.

He assured that the Ministry made every effort to reach agreement in the working group. It is realistic that the disability bill will be approved by the Council of Ministers and submitted to the National Assembly at the earliest by the end of September.

Bisser Petkov, Minister of Labour and Social Policy: We are doing our best to prepare and bring to the National Assembly the draft laws for the desired reform to improve the situation of people with disabilities in Bulgaria.

Demands for reforms of disability policies are not new and have their rationale in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by Bulgaria in 2012, but in recent months we have witnessed the escalation of requests bordering with anarchism, and sharp oppositions within the groups of people with disabilities, which makes it difficult to find a generally acceptable solution.

He pointed out that the social ministry had begun drafting the bill on social services and noted that work on the texts would continue intensively in August and urged the working group to have a draft Social Services Act ready by the middle of September.

The realistic deadline for completing the mandatory procedures of the draft law and submitting it to the National Assembly is the end of October - early November, the minister added.

Source: BTA