Differently abled. Photo: OnmanoramaNew Delhi: Kerala has not fared so well in explaining the actions taken to ensure the rights of differently abled persons, the Supreme Court has observed. The court said that the state had not laid out the progress it made so far in the implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
The Supreme Court gave states 12 weeks to inform it of the actions they have taken to implement the new law, while hearing a petition filed by the Delhi-based Justice Sunanda Bhandare Foundation that a 1995 law for the welfare of differently abled persons was not being implemented in its spirit.
The Kerala government had submitted an affidavit with a roadmap to implement the Act but the court wanted to know what the state has done so far.
India has 2.68 crore differently abled persons, according to the 2011 census. Differently abled persons make up 2.21 percent of India’s population, more than the population of Uttarakhand, Goa, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Sikkim taken together.
The 2016 Act covers 21 categories of disability including 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.
People with at least 40 percent disability come under the ambit of the law, which guarantees them free education up to 18 years and reservation in 4 percent of government jobs. The law contains provisions to ensure active participation of differently abled persons in mainstream society.
Apart from free education up to 14 years, differently abled persons are also guaranteed study materials free of cost and reservation in 5 percent of seats in government and aided educational institutions.
The Act also covers cooperative and private institutions. The local self-government bodies are required to incentivize private employers to reserve 5 percent of jobs to differently abled persons. Private establishments with at least 20 staff must explain their equal-employment opportunity policy.
Cruelty to differently abled persons will be punished with imprisonment and fines.
Differently abled persons have to have Aadhaar number to receive disability certificates. A certificate has to be provided to a differently abled person within one month of application. The authorities are duty bound to respond to the applicant within a month even if they choose to reject the request.
The Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry has published draft guidelines based on the Act on April 21. The public are free to provide feedback for 30 days.
