Question : Employment to Differently Abled

(a) whether Government has made any priority for employment and promotion to the differently abled persons;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether Government has observed the fact that the partly blind employees are unable to compete with others in writing departmental promotion test;

(d) if so, whether Government is actively considering to give promotion to such persons on the basis of their merits in service in respective departments; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and the time by which the final decision is likely to be taken in this regard?

Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office. (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)
(a) & (b): Section 33 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 mandates every appropriate Government to appoint in every establishment such percentage of vacancies not less than three per cent for persons or class of persons with disability of which one per cent each shall be reserved for persons suffering from (i) blindness or low vision, (ii) hearing impairment and (iii) locomotor disability or cerebral palsy, in the posts identified for each disability
(c) to (e): Promotions to the higher grades are made as per provisions of the relevant Recruitment Rules. In some of the Recruitment Rules, provisions exist for promotion either on the basis of seniority in service or through Limited Departmental Competitive Examinations. The candidates, who do not qualify the Limited Departmental Competitive Examination are promoted on the basis of their inter-se-seniority in the feeder grade.
However, in cases where the departmental promotion test is the only mode of promotion, proposal to give promotion on the basis of the seniority or merit in service alone is not under consideration.
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