Question : Rights of Persons with Disabilities

(a) whether the Government has any proposal to enact a new law/amend the existing law on Rights of persons with disabilities;
(b) if so, the details and the present status thereof;
(c) whether the Government has fixed any time frame for the implementation of the said law/amendments and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Government proposes to expand the list of disabilities in the new Disability Act and if so, the details thereof and the extent to which the persons with disabilities are likely to be benefited; and

(e) whether the Government has set up any Committee in this regard and if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT

(SHRI KRISHANPAL GURJAR)

(a)&(b) The Government had introduced the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014 in the Rajya Sabha on 7/02/2014 to replace the existing Persons with Disabilities ( Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.The Bill was referred to Parliamentary Standing Committee for examination and report. The Parliamentary Standing Committee submitted its report on 7/05/2015 and its recommendations have been examined.

(c) No definite time frame for enactment and implementation of the new proposed law has been envisaged.
(d) & (e) The Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 recognizes 7 disabilities namely (i) blindness, (ii) low vision, (iii) leprosy-cured, (iv) hearing impairment, (v) locomotor disability, (vi) mental retardation and (vii) mental illness . The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014 contains 19 specified disabilities namely, (i) Autism Spectrum Disorder, (ii) blindness, (iii) cerebral palsy, (iv) chronic neurological conditions, (v) deafblindness, (vi) hemophilia, (vii) hearing impairment, (viii) intellectual disability, (ix) leprosy cured person, (x) locomotor disability, (xi) low-vision, (xii) mental illness, (xiii) muscular dystrophy, (xiv) multiple scelerosis, (xv) specific learning disabilities, (xvi) speech and language disability, (xvii) thalassemia , (xviii) sickle cell disease and (xix) multiple disability. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2014 envisages various rights and entitlements such as right to equality and non-discrimination, community life, protection from cruelty and inhuman treatment, access to justice etc for persons with disabilities. The Bill also mandates the appropriate Governments to take various measures, frame schemes and programmes for empowerment of persons with disabilities in the area of education, skill development and employment, social security, rehabilitation and recreation etc.


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