Annual Report 2009-2010 C. • The States and Union Territories covered in the Western Regional Review Meeting were Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli. It was organized in Pune on 24 July 2009 in collaboration with the Maharashtra Institute of Mental Health. • The North-Eastern Regional Review Meeting was convened on 11 February 2010 in Tezpur in partnership with the L.G.B Regional Institute of Mental Health. • The Southern Regional Review Meeting was organized in association with the Institute of Mental Health in Chennai on 12 March 2010. The States/Union Territories covered in the meeting were Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. Rights of Persons with Disability 6.19 The NHRC played a major role in the dra�ing of the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and advocated for incorporating of Article 33 in the said convention which relates to national implementation and monitoring mechanisms. It also advocated to the Government of India for earlier ratification of CRPD. The Government of India ratified the CRPD on 1 October 2007. As reported in the last Annual Report, the NHRC as a follow- up measure, constituted a Core Group on Disability and organized five Regional Review Meetings on the issue of disability during the year 2008-2009 across the country from the point of view of making an overall assessment of the existing programmes and policies relating to persons with disabilities. 6.20 During the year under review, the Core Group on Disability was reconstituted under the chairmanship of Shri P.C. Sharma, Member, NHRC. Its other Members were as follows: 1. Shri Prasanna Kumar Pincha, Special Rapporteur, NHRC 2. Dr. (Smt.) Uma Tuli, Founder and Managing Secretary, Amar Jyoti Rehabilitation & Research Centre, New Delhi 3. Dr. G.N. Karna, Honorary President, Society for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies, New Delhi 4. Major General (Retd.) Ian Cardozo, Chairman, Rehabilitation Council of India, New Delhi 5. Shri S.K. Rungta, General Secretary, National Federation of Blind, New Delhi 6.21 Member Member Member Member Member The re-constituted Core Group has the following terms of reference: • Advise the Commission on implementation of rights mentioned in CRPD and gaps in implementation, if any, from time to time. • Study the functioning of focal points/coordination mechanism set up by the Centre and States and suggest improvements to the Commission for greater effectiveness. NHRC 91