Chhattisgarh
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016
- 27 Apr 2024
- 4 min read
Why in News?
Recently, the Supreme Court expressed displeasure over the failure of some states in framing the requisite rules in implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
Key Points
- According to the Act, the rule-making powers of the state include the formation of a committee for research on disability, the composition of district-level committees and prescribing salaries, allowances and other conditions of services of the state commissioner and creating funds for persons with disabilities.
- The apex court observed that it had passed several orders calling for proper implementation of the Act but several states and Union Territories were yet to fulfill their obligations.
- States and UTs like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have not appointed the state commissioners.
- While Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Mizoram, West Bengal, Delhi, Daman and Diu, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh have not yet constituted the prescribed funds.
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016
- The Act was passed by the Parliament of India to give effect to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which India ratified in 2007.
- The Act replaces the earlier Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, which was considered inadequate and outdated in addressing the needs and challenges of persons with disabilities in India.
- One of the major changes introduced by the Act is the expansion of the definition and classification of disabilities.
- The Act recognises 21 types of disabilities, as compared to 7 types under the previous law. These are:
- Blindness, Low-vision, Leprosy cured persons,
- Hearing impairment (deaf and hard of hearing), Locomotor disability, Dwarfism,
- Intellectual disability, Mental illness, Autism spectrum disorder,
- Cerebral palsy, Muscular dystrophy, Chronic neurological conditions,
- Specific learning disabilities, Multiple sclerosis, Speech and language disability,
- Thalassemia, Hemophilia, Sickle cell disease,
- Multiple disabilities including deafblindness, Acid attack victim, and Parkinson's disease.
- It empowers the central government to notify any other category of specified disability.
- It defines a person with a disability as a person with a long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment which, in interaction with barriers, hinders his full and effective participation in society equally with others.
- It defines a person with benchmark disability as a person with not less than 40% of a specified disability where a specified disability has not been defined in measurable terms and includes a person with a disability where a specified disability has been defined in measurable terms, as certified by the certifying authority.
- It recognises persons with disabilities have high support needs and need intensive support from others for their daily activities.
