The three ruling parties will draw up and soon present to the Diet a bill to make it illegal to discriminate against disabled people, according to coalition sources.

The Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partners, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party, have assembled a team to draft the bill to revise the basic law for disabled people to stipulate a ban on discriminatory practices, the sources said.

The bill is expected to include a call for the promotion of employment opportunities for disabled people, propose that all public facilities be made barrier-free and clarify the rights of disabled people to receive support in areas such as nursing care and education.

The team will begin discussions in early May. It will also address income security for disabled people, including relief measures in the event they are discriminated against, basic disability pension and social welfare.

The basic law for the disabled was revised in 1993, when the central and local governments were called upon to come up with measures to support disabled people.

But groups supporting disabled people complained there was no legal statement spelling out the rights of disabled people and that it remains legal to discriminate against them.

It is illegal in more than 40 countries to discriminate against disabled people.