Question : Disability Benefits to Acid Attack Victims

(a) the details of the categories of disability that come under reservation for the purpose of Government jobs and educational institutes in the country;
(b) whether the Government proposes to grant disability benefits including reservation in Government jobs and educational institutions to acid attack victims and people suffering from schizophrenia;
(c) if so, the details thereof and the time by which the decision is likely to be taken by the Government in this regard; and
(d) the other steps taken/being taken by the Government for the benefit of these people?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
(SHRI KRISHANPAL GURJAR)
(a) As per Section 2(i) of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection Of Rights And Full Participation) Act, 1995 disability means blindness, low vision, leprosy-cured, hearing impairment, locomotor disability, mental retardation and mental illness.
As per 2(t) of the above Act, person with disability means a person suffering from not less than 40 percent of any disability as certified by a medical authority.
While as per Section 33, reservation for the purpose of Government jobs is applicable to persons with (i) blindness or low vision; (ii) hearing impairment; (iii) locomotor disability or cerebral palsy, as per Section 39 of the above Act reservation in seats in all Government educational institutions and other educational institutions receiving aid from the Government is applicable to all categories of persons with disabilities mentioned in the above Act.

(b) and (c) As per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014 introduced by the Government in the Rajya Sabha on 07.02.14, it has been proposed to provide the benefit of reservation in Government jobs to persons with mental illness also.
As regards grant of reservation benefits to acid attack victims, no decision has been taken by the Government in this regard. No time frame could be envisaged at this stage for taking a decision in this regard.

(d) The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection Of Rights And Full Participation) Act, 1995 provides various entitlements for Persons with Disabilities. It also mandates appropriate Government to take measures for the purpose of their education, rehabilitation, employment and social-security. In addition the Government implements various schemes to supplement the efforts of the States/UTs for empowerment of Persons with disabilities. Further, the Government has introduced the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014 in the Rajya Sabha on 07.02.14 which inter-alia provides for more rights and entitlements for Persons with disabilities.
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