1. Unit-VII
Welfare of Persons with Disabilities
DR.ANJALATCHI MUTHUKUMARAN
VICE PRINCIPAL
ERA COLLEGE OF NURSING

2. List of scheme and program for
disabled person in india
• Schemes / Programmes
• Accessible Elections
• Accessible India Campaign
• ADIP Scheme
• Assistance for Differently abled
• Composite Regional Centre for Skill Development, Rehabilitation and
Employment of Persons with Disabilities Composite Regional Centre
(CRC) for Skill Development, Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons
with Disabilities
• Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme
• GST concession to PWDs This topic provides information about GST
concession to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) provided by the
Department of Heavy Industries.
• GST rate for specified items for Physically Challenged Persons This topic
provides information about GST rate for specified items for Physically

3. Continued
• Challenged Persons.
• Legal Guardianship This topic provides information about Legal
Guardianship for the differently abled.
• National Awards for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities This topic
covers the information related to National Awards for Empowerment of
Persons with Disabilities
• National Handicapped Finance Development Corporation This topic
provides information about National Handicapped Finance Development
Corporation (NHFDC).
• Schemes of The National Trust This section provides information about
various schemes of The National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with
Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities.
• Scholarships for Persons with Disabilities This topic covers the
Information related to Scholarships for Persons with Disabilities.
• Unique Disability ID This topic provides information related to Unique
Disability ID.

4. Differently-abled population statistics
in India
• As per the Census 2011, the differently-abled population in India is
26.8 million. In percentage terms, this stands at 2.21 %. There has
been a marginal increase in the differently-abled population in
India, with the figure rising from 21.9 million in 2001 to 26.8 million
in 10 years.
• There are 14.9 million men with disabilities as compared to 11.8
million women in the country. The total number of differently-abled
people is over 18 million in the rural areas and just 8.1 million
enumerated in the urban settings.
• The percentage of men with disabilities is 2.41 as against 2.01 in
women.
• Social groups wise analysis shows, 2.45 per cent of the total
disabled population belong to the Scheduled Castes, 2.05 to the
Scheduled Tribes and 2.18 per cent to other than SC/ST.
• Even among these two social groups, the proportion of men with
disabilities is higher as compared to women.

5. Continued
• State-wise data shows, Andhra Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir
have more than 2.51 per cent disabled
population whereas in Tamil Nadu, Assam,
Meghalaya, Assam and Nagaland, the
percentage is less than 1.75.
• For State/ UT wise Persons with Disability
statistics,

6. Continued
• Over 5.4 million people have some kind of physical
disability, followed by hearing impairment affecting 5.07
million and 5.03 million who have problems with their
vision. Just about 2 million have speech disability, and 2
million are affected by mental retardation and other mental
illnesses.
• The proportion of women suffering from seeing, hearing
and multiple disabilities is higher than men. Disability in
seeing, hearing and movement and multiple disability is
more among STs than SCs and others while disability in
speech and mental retardation is more among others than
SC/ST.
• Age-wise break-up of the data suggests disability is more
among people aged 80 years and above, and the least
among children aged up to 4 years. Disability among STs in
lower age groups up to 40-49 years is significantly lower
than the other social groups whereas in the higher age
group (60 plus), it is high among STs.

7. Continued
• Census 2011 data on Disabled Population in the age-group
5-19 by their Attendance Status in Educational Institutions
and type of Disability indicates that there are about 65.7
lakh disabled population in age-group 5-19, out of which
40.2 lakh (61.2%) are attending educational institutions, 8.0
lakh (12.1%) attended educational institutions earlier and
17.5 lakh (26.7%) never attended any educational
institutions.
• Further, out of 40.2 lakh disabled persons attending
educational institutions, 22.8 lakh (56.7%) are males and
17.4 lakh (43.3%) are females. As such, there is an
improvement of about 11 percentage points in the status of
attending educational institutions by disabled persons in
the age-group 5-19 during the decade 2001-2011.

8. Continued
• It is further noticed that disabled persons with ‘Any other
disability’ shows the highest percentage (71.2%) in
attending educational institution followed by ‘Seeing’
(68.0%), ‘Hearing’ (67.0%), ‘Movement’ (59.6%), ‘Speech’
(58.9%), ‘Mental retardation’ (47.2%), ‘Multiple disability’
(37.2%) and least with ‘Mental illness’ (34.1%).
• Maximum percentage of disabled persons who attended
educational institution earlier is seen in ‘Movement’
(17.7%) followed by ‘Mental illness’ (15.5%), and least in
‘Multiple disability’ (8.4%). The proportion of disabled
persons, who never attended any educational institution in
2011 was found to be highest among persons with
‘Multiple disability’ (54.4%), followed by ‘Mental illness’
(50.3%) and ‘Mental retardation’ (41.2%) whereas persons
with ‘Any other disability’ (17.7%) show the least
percentage.
•

9. Differently-abled welfare in India
• The Constitution of India ensures equality, freedom, justice and dignity of all individuals and
implicitly mandates an inclusive society for all, including persons with disabilities. The Constitution
in the schedule of subjects lays direct responsibility of empowerment of disabled persons on the
State governments. Therefore, the primary responsibility to empower the disabled rests with the
State governments.
• Under Article 253 of the Constitution read with item No. 13 of the Union List, the Government of
India enacted ‘The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full
Participation) Act, 1995’, in an effort to ensure equal opportunities for persons with disabilities and
their full participation in nation-building. The Act extends to the whole of India, except the State of
Jammu and Kashmir. The Government of Jammu and Kashmir has separately enacted ‘The Persons
with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights & Full Participation) Act, 1998’.
• A multi-sectoral collaborative approach, involving all the appropriate governments, i.e., ministries
of the Central Government, the State Governments/UTs, Central/State undertakings, local
authorities and other appropriate authorities is being followed in the implementation of various
provisions of the Act.
• India is a signatory to the ‘Declaration on the Full Participation and Equality of People’ with
Disabilities in the Asia-Pacific Region. India is also a signatory to the Biwako Millennium Framework
working towards an inclusive, barrier free and rights-based society. India signed the UN Convention
on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities on 30th March,
2007, the day it opened for signature. India ratifies the UN Convention on 1st October, 2008

10. Department of Empowerment of
Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan)
• In order to give focused attention to Policy issues and
meaningful thrust to the activities aimed at welfare and
empowerment of the Persons with Disabilities, a separate
Department of Disability Affairs was carved out of the
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on May 12,
2012.
• The Department was renamed as Department of
Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) on
08.12.2014.
• The Department acts as a Nodal Agency for matters
pertaining to disability and Persons with Disabilities
including effecting closer coordination among different
stakeholders: related Central Ministries, State/UT
Governments, NGOs etc. in matters pertaining to disability.

11. List of ACT related to disability
• The Department has the vision to build an inclusive society
in which equal opportunities are provided for the growth
and development of Persons with Disabilities so that they
can lead productive, safe and dignified lives.
• The Department deals with the following Legislations
governing different aspects of disability and welfare &
empowerment of the Persons with Disabilities :
• The Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992,
• The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities,
Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995; and
• The National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism,
Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities
Act , 1999

12. Policies and Standards
• Acts and Rules This topic covers Information about Acts and Rules
pertaining to welfare of the Differently-abled.
• Guidelines for conducting written examination for PwD This topic
provides information about guidelines for conducting written examination
for persons with benchmark disabilities.
• Inclusiveness and Accessibility Index This topic provides information
about Inclusiveness and Accessibility Index to measure inclusiveness and
accessibility of PwDs across different kinds of organisations.
• National Mental Health Policy This topic explains about the National
Mental Health Policy.
• National Policy For Persons with Disabilities, 2006 This topic covers about
the national policy for persons with disabilities.
• Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 This topic provides
information about Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
• Standards of accessibility This topic provides information about the
Standards of accessibility.

13. ACT and Rules , Regulation
• Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016
• The National Trust Rules, 2000
• The National Trust Regulations, 2001
• Rehabilitation Council of India Regulations, 1997
• Rehabilitation Council of India (Conditions of Service of the
Member-Secretary, the officers and other employees)
Regulations, 1998
• Rehabilitation Council of India (Standards of Professional
Conduct, Etiquette and Code of Ethics for Rehabilitation
Professionals) Regulations, 1998.
•

14. Guidelines for conducting written
examination for PwD
• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has
issued the "Guidelines for conducting written examination
for persons with benchmark disabilities 2018".
• Persons with Benchmark disabilities
• According to Section 2(r) of the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities Act, 2016, a "person with benchmark disability"
means a person with not less than forty percent of a
specified disability, as certified by the certifying authority.
21 types of disabilities have been covered under the Act.
•

15. Inclusive and Accessibility Index
• The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD),
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, GoI in collaboration with
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) have
introduced an index, to measure inclusiveness and accessibility of PwDs
across different kinds of organisations.
• The composite index is split into two independent sub-indices that
separately measure inclusiveness, and accessibility (I&A). The
Inclusiveness and Accessibility Index (I&A Index) is not a substitute for the
legal obligations that exist under national or international regulatory
regimes. It aims at assessing the current stage of inclusiveness and
accessibility of PwDs in an organisation and also acts as a guide for taking
progressive steps to increase support, inclusiveness and accessibility
towards persons / employees with disabilities.
• The details of the sub indices are as follows.
•

16. National Mental Health Policy
• As per Census 2011, there are 15,05,624 mentally
challenged persons in the country.
• The vision of the National Mental Health Policy is to
promote mental health, prevent mental illness, enable
recovery from mental illness, promote destigmatization
and desegregation, and ensure socio-economic
inclusion of persons affected by mental illness by
providing accessible, affordable and quality health and
social care to all persons through their life-span within
a rights-based frame work.
•

17. National Policy For Persons with
Disabilities, 2006
• The Government of India formulated the National Policy for
Persons with Disabilities in February 2006 which deals with
Physical, Educational & Economic Rehabilitation of persons
with disabilities. In addition the policy also focuses upon
rehabilitation of women and children with disabilities,
barrier free environment, social security, research etc.
• The National Policy recognizes that Persons with Disabilities
are valuable human resource for the country and seeks to
create an environment that provides them equal
opportunities, protection of their rights and full
participation in society.
•

18. Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act,
2016
• The Act replaces the Persons with Disabilities
(Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and
Full Participation) Act, 1995. It fulfills the
obligations to the United National Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD),
to which India is a signatory.
• According to the The Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016, enacted on
28.12.2016 and came into force from 19.04.2017,
Disability has been defined based on an evolving
and dynamic concept. .

19. Standards of accessibility
• Built Up Environment
• Transport Systems
• ICT Eco System
• Do's and Don'ts of Accessible buildings
• Related resources
•

20. Schemes / Programmes
• Accessible Elections This topic provides information related to
steps taken for Accessible Elections in India.
• Accessible India Campaign This topic provides information about
Accessible India Campaign - Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan
• ADIP Scheme This topic covers the scheme Assistance to Disabled
persons for purchasing / fitting of aids / appliances (ADIP).
• Assistance for Differently abled This topic covers about various
schemes of National Handicapped Finance and Development
Corporation (NHFDC).
• Composite Regional Centre for Skill Development, Rehabilitation
and Employment of Persons with Disabilities Composite Regional
Centre (CRC) for Skill Development, Rehabilitation and Employment
of Persons with Disabilities
• Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme This topic covers the
information related to DDRS Scheme,Objectives and its Strategy

21. • GST concession to PWDs This topic provides information about GST
concession to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) provided by the
Department of Heavy Industries.
• GST rate for specified items for Physically Challenged Persons This topic
provides information about GST rate for specified items for Physically
Challenged Persons.
• Legal Guardianship This topic provides information about Legal
Guardianship for the differently abled.
• National Awards for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities This topic
covers the information related to National Awards for Empowerment of
Persons with Disabilities
• National Handicapped Finance Development Corporation This topic
provides information about National Handicapped Finance Development
Corporation (NHFDC).
• Schemes of The National Trust This section provides information about
various schemes of The National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with
Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities.
• Scholarships for Persons with Disabilities This topic covers the
Information related to Scholarships for Persons with Disabilities.
• Unique Disability ID This topic provides information related to Unique
Disability ID.

22. Mobile Aided Note Identifier
• Mobile Aided Note Identifier (MANI) is a mobile application
for aiding visually impaired persons to identify the
denomination of Indian Banknotes. It has been developed
by Reserve Bank of India.
• Features of the app
• Indian banknotes contain several features which enable the
visually impaired (colour blind, partially sighted and blind
people) to identify them, viz., intaglio printing and tactile
mark, variable banknote size, large numerals, variable
colour, monochromatic hues and patterns. Technological
progress has opened up new opportunities for making
Indian banknotes more accessible for the visually impaired,
thereby facilitating their day to day transactions.

23. Guidelines for the Development of e-
Content for Children with Disabilities
• The guidelines for the Development of e-Content for Children with
Disabilities was released by the Ministry of Education (MoE).
Background
• A comprehensive initiative, PM e-VIDYA was launched on 17th May 2020,
with an aim to unify all efforts related to digital / online / on-air education.
The programme interalia envisages development of special e-content for
the Divyang (Children with Disabilities-CwDs). In pursuance of this vision,
the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education
(MoE) had constituted a Committee of experts, for recommending
guidelines for developing e-content for these children.
• For the first time, an attempt was made to prepare guidelines for CwD,
also referred to as Children with Special Needs (CWSN), children so that
the goal of inclusive education is fulfilled. The Committee submitted a
report titled “Guidelines for the Development of e-Content for Children
with Disabilities” comprising of eleven Sections and two Appendices. This
report was shared, presented, discussed and accepted by the MoE.

24. Important days
related to disabled person
• International Day of Sign Languages This topic provides
information about International Day of Sign Languages.
• Global Accessibility Awareness Day This topic provides
information about Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
• International Day of Persons with Disabilities This topic
provides information about the International Day of
Persons with Disabilities - December 3.
• World Autism Awareness Day This topic provides
information about World Autism Awareness Day - April 2.
• World Braille Day Provides information about World Braille
Day - 04 January..

25. GST rate for specified items for
Physically Challenged Persons
• The GST rates fixed for specific devices for
physically challenged persons are as follows.
• Assistive devices and rehabilitation aids for
physically challenged persons
• GST rate for specified items for Physically
Challenged Persons listed below, have been
kept at the concessional 5% GST rate:

26. Accessible Elections
• One of the laudable features that the Founding Fathers of the
nation embedded in our Constitution is Part XV Elections; that
provides for an Independent Election Commission, Universal adult
suffrage, maintenance of electoral rolls and all the other
fundamentals for conduct of free, fair and inclusive elections. These
features have helped the polity evolve into a vibrant and a rich
democratic culture marked by faith of Indian People in the electoral
exercise, its non partisan nature, and with the basic tenet of 'No
Voter should be left behind.' - a perfect blend for inclusion and the
consequent everlasting determination and endeavor for maximizing
of the base of democracy in India

27. ADIP Scheme
• The main objective of the Assistance to Disabled persons
for purchasing / fitting of aids / appliances (ADIP) scheme is
to assist the needy disabled persons in procuring durable,
sophisticated and scientifically manufactured, modern,
standard aids and appliances that can promote their
physical, social and psychological rehabilitation, by reducing
the effects of disabilities and enhance their economic
potential. The aids and appliances supplied under the
Scheme shall conform to BIS specifications to the extent
possible.
• The scheme is implemented through implementing
agencies such as the NGOs, National Institutes under this
Ministry and ALIMCO (a PSU).

28. Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation
Scheme
• The umbrella Central Sector Scheme of this Ministry called the
"Scheme to Promote Voluntary Action for Persons with Disabilities"
was revised w.e.f. 01.04.2003 and was renamed as the "Deendayal
Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS)". However, while revision of
the scheme took place in 2003, the cost norms of 1999 had
remained unchanged. The revision of the cost norms has become
imperative to compensate for the price rise. The Consumer Price
Index (CPI) for Industrial workers has risen by 38% from 1999 to
2007. It has been decided to revise the cost norms for honoraria,
recurring items and nonrecurring items of expenditure. The scheme
has also been revised to the extent that there has been widening of
the scope of the model projects.
•

29. National Handicapped Finance
Development Corporation
• National Handicapped Finance and Development
Corporation (NHFDC) is an Apex corporation under the
aegis of Department of Empowerment of Persons with
Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice &
Empowerment and is working since 1997.
• It is registered as a company not for profit and provides
financial assistance to the Divyangjan/Persons with
Disabilities (Divyangjan/PwDs) for their economic
rehabilitation and provides number of skill
development programmes to empower them to grow
& sustain their enterprises.

30. Schemes
• 1. Divyangjan Swavalamban Yojna
• 2. Vishesh Microfinance Yojana
• 3. Educational loan

31. Legal Guardianship facilities
• A guardian is a person who is appointed to look after
another person or his property. He or she assumes the care
and protection of the person for whom he/she is appointed
the guardian. The guardian takes all legal decisions on
behalf of the person and the property of the ward. The
occasion for taking care of another person may be his
minority that is, a person who has not completed 18 years
of age. It can also refer to guardianship of a person who
because of physical and mental deficiencies is unable to
take care of himself or his property. A guardian takes
decision on behalf of the minor for protecting the interests
of the minor and his property.
• Source - Guardianship and Wards Act, 1890. Indian
Contract Act-1872. Mental Health Act 2017

32. Unique Disability ID
• "Unique ID for Persons with Disabilities” project is
an initiative of Department of Empowerment of
Persons with Disabilities, Government of India. It
aims at building a holistic end-to-end integrated
system for Issuance of Universal ID & Disability
Certificates for Person with Disabilities with their
identification and disability details.
•

33. National Awards for Empowerment of
Persons with Disabilities
• Empowerment of persons with disabilities is an
inter-disciplinary process, covering various
aspects namely, prevention, early detection,
intervention, education, vocational training,
rehabilitation and social integration etc. Apart
from resources, it requires dedicated efforts of
persons and institutions involved in the process
of empowerment. In order to recognise their
effort and encourage others to strive to achieve
excellence in this field, the National Awards for
Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities are
being awarded every year.

34. • Till 2017, the Award Scheme was governed under the
National Awards Rules, 2013 which provided 7
categories of disabilities as per the Persons with
Disabilities Act, 1995. However, with the coming into
force of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act,
2016 w.e.f. 19th April 2017, the number of specified
disabilities increased from 7 to 21 under the new Law.
Accordingly, all the 21 disabilities have been included
under the National Award Guidelines which have been
notified in the Extraordinary Gazette of India dated 2nd
August, 2018.
•

35. Categories for Awards
• Best Employees/Self-Employed With Disabilities
• Best Employers and Placement Officer/Agency
• Best individual and institution working for the Cause of persons with disabilities
• Role Model Awards
• Best Applied Research/Innovation/ Product Development Aimed At Improving the
Life of Persons with Disabilities
• Outstanding work in the creation of barrier – Free Environment for the persons
with disabilities
• Best district in providing Rehabilitation services
• Outstanding creative adult persons with Disabilities
• Best Creative Child with Disabilities
• Best Braille Press
• Best State in promoting empowerment of persons with disabilities
• Best Sport person with disability.
•

36. Who can apply
• Applications are invited from eligible
candidates or establishment or institutions
fulfilling the prescribed criteria. To get the
criteria laid down for each of the above
categories of awards, and full details of the
Scheme of National Awards,

37. Application procedure
• The applications should be in Hindi or English only.
• The applications of those employed in the
Central/State Government/Union Territory
Administrations/Public Sector Undertakings should be
sent in the prescribed proforma (either in Hindi or in
English only) through the Ministry/Department/State
Government/ Union Territory Administration/Public
Sector Undertaking concerned duly approved by the
competent authority in such
Govt./Administration/Undertaking.

38. • In case of others (including self-employed, those in the private
sector organizations/ unorganized sector and sportspersons),
applications should be routed through and recommended by one of
the following:-
– Department of the concerned State Government/Union Territory
Administration dealing with disability matters.
– Central Ministry/Department dealing with the relevant subject or
area.
– A National Institute (under the Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment or Health and Family Welfare) dealing with
rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities.
– Principal Secretary/Secretary, Welfare of the concerned State.
– Collector of the concerned District.
– A past recipient of National Award for the Empowerment of Persons
with Disabilities.

39. • Applications in the prescribed proforma should be accompanied by
the following:-
– Two passport sized photographs (in the case of individuals).
– Bio-data along with summary of achievements and documents in
support therof; and
– Draft citation (not exceeding one page)
• Application duly recommended and complete in all respect should
be sent to
Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities
(Divyangjan),
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment,
Room No. 519, B-II, 5th Floor, Paryavaran Bhavan, C.G.O Complex
New Delhi- 110 003,
•

40. Selection procedure
• Initially, selection will be made by a committee appointed by each State/Union
Territory. The composition of the committees will be left to the State
Governments/Union Territory Administration.
• There shall be screening committees for short listing of awardees in different
categories of national awards to ensure objective selection of the awardees in the
context of nature of the award and relative merit. The desired attributes for each
category of the award may be listed and the panel of awardees may be
determined/short - listed in the order.
• The convenors of the Screening Committees will assist the National Selection
Committee in selection process.
• The Chairpersons/Members of the different committees shall be decided in
advance with the approval of Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment.
• The National Selection Committee while selecting the candidates for the National
Awards shall keep in mind that adequate representation should be given to all
regions of the country and a balance between rural and urban awardees has to be
kept. Due representation may also be given to women while selecting awardees in
various categories for national awards.

41. Disha
• Objective
• This is an early intervention and school readiness scheme
for children in the age group of 0-10 years with the four
disabilities covered under the National Trust Act that aims
at providing training (specifically school readiness) and
counselling to both children and parents.
• The Disha scheme aims at setting up Disha Centres for early
intervention for Person with Disability (PwD) in 0-10 years
of age covered under the National Trust Act, through
therapies, trainings and providing support to family
members. The Scheme is available in the entire country
except Jammu and Kashmi

42. Eligibility Criteria
• Eligibility criteria for PwD
• Following are the eligibility criteria that a PwD should
have to be enrolled under Disha Centre(whether
funded by the National Trust or not):
• PwD should be in the age group of 0-10 years
• PwD should have one of the disabilities covered under
the National Trust Act, 1999, which are Autism,
Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple
Disabilities
• PwD should not be registered under Samarth scheme
•

43. Eligibility criteria for Registered
Organization (RO)
• RO should fulfil the following eligibility criteria
to enrol for Disha scheme.
S. No. Eligibility Criteria Required Documents
1 Applicant should be registered with the National Trust Valid registration certificate under the
National Trust Act
2 Applicant should have a valid registration under the PwD Act 1995 at the
time of enrolment
Registration Proof/certificate
3 RO should have minimum 2 years of experience of working with Person with
Disability (PwD) with at least one year in one of the four disabilities under
the National Trust Act
Declaration by the RO detailing the work
4 Applicant should not have been blacklisted at the time of enrolment by the
National Trust/any other government organization
Declaration by the RO

44. Services provided in the Disha centres
• Registered Organization (RO) should provide following minimum facilities
in their Disha Centre:
• Day Care
– RO should provide day-care facilities to PwD for at least 4 hours in a day
(between 8 am to 6 pm) along with age specific activities.
– Day care should be open for at least 21 days in a month. The minimum
attendance required for a PwD in the Disha centre is 15 days per month for
the National Trust to fund the PwD.
– Batch size of a Disha centre is 20 PwDs with a maximum number of PwDs
allowed is 30% extra of batch size i.e. 26 for Disha Centres. On reaching the
maximum limit of 26 PwDs, Disha centre shall not allow anymore PwDs to
enrol in the centre.
– RO should maintain a ratio of 1:1 for LIG (including BPL) and above LIG PwDs
(which will be paid seats for RO). Payment for the above LIG seats could be
received by RO from parents, guardians, family members, RO or any other
institute/ individual directly as per mutual agreed terms and conditions
between RO and the other party involved (parents, guardians, family
members, RO or any other institute/ individual)

45. • Staffing
• There should be a provision of a Special Educator or Early Intervention
Therapist, Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist and Counsellor for
PwD along with Caregiver and Ayas in the centre. Availability of a Physical
trainer and speech therapist in these centres is also desirable.
• Infrastructure facilities
• Disha centre must have one Medical/ Assessment room (with
therapeutical aides and appliances), one activity room and one recreation
room (all rooms to be of reasonable size) for PwD. Disha centre should
also have provision for a personal computer, scanner and net connection
for the office purpose, for sending fund request, submitting reports etc. to
the National Trust.
• Assessment and Evaluation
• PwD should be assessed and evaluated by experts in the related field on a
regular basis to understand their individual needs and also to monitor the
progress of the PwD. The Disha centre should maintain a record of the
growth and development charts of the PwD on a regular basis (with the
help of experts).

46. • CounsellingCounselling and guidance especially for Activities for
Daily Living (ADL) must be provided to parents or guardians of PwD
with regular follow ups by RO to ensure that parents or guardians
attend a minimum number of counselling sessions. RO should
provide assistance to PwD for further admissions in mainstream
schools.
• Transport Facilities
• RO can also provide transportation facilities to PwD in case it is
mutually suitable for both. The National Trust will provide
additional but limited transport allowance to RO only for PwD who
are availing transport facilities provided by RO.
•

47. Financial assistance to ROs
No. Funding Head Amount (in INR) Frequency of funds
disbursement
1 Setup Cost 1,55,000/- One time
2 Sustenance
Cost
4,500/-
reimbursement per
Differential PwD
#
per
month
Monthly for initial 3
months
3 Monthly
Recurring
Cost
4,500/- per PwD per
month
Monthly

48. Mobile Aided Note Identifier
• Mobile Aided Note Identifier (MANI) is a mobile application for
aiding visually impaired persons to identify the denomination of
Indian Banknotes. It has been developed by Reserve Bank of India.
• Features of the app
• Indian banknotes contain several features which enable the visually
impaired (colour blind, partially sighted and blind people) to
identify them, viz., intaglio printing and tactile mark, variable
banknote size, large numerals, variable colour, monochromatic hues
and patterns. Technological progress has opened up new
opportunities for making Indian banknotes more accessible for the
visually impaired, thereby facilitating their day to day transactions.
•

49. Guidelines for the Development of e-
Content for Children with Disabilities
• The guidelines for the Development of e-Content
for Children with Disabilities was released by the Ministry
of Education (MoE).
• Background
• A comprehensive initiative, PM e-VIDYA was launched on
17th May 2020, with an aim to unify all efforts related to
digital / online / on-air education. The
programme interalia envisages development of special e-
content for the Divyang (Children with Disabilities-
CwDs). In pursuance of this vision, the Department of
School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education (MoE)
had constituted a Committee of experts, for recommending
guidelines for developing e-content for these children.

50. Divyanayan,
• Divyanayan, an initiative of CSIR-Central Scientific
Instruments Organisation (CSIO), Chandigarh, is a
reading machine for visually impaired or illiterate
person where any printed or digital document can be
accessed in the form of speech output. The device uses
a contact line scanner for acquiring the image of a
printed document. User manually scans the document
by placing the device on printed document without
knowing the direction of text flow, moving the device
over the document to be read. It uses optical character
recognition technique to convert the image into text
and a text to speech converter further converts the
text into audio.

51. Important days
• International Day of Sign Languages On 19 December 2017, the UN
General Assembly declared 23 September as International Day of
Sign Languages (IDSL).
• Global Accessibility Awareness Day The Global Accessibility
Awareness Day (GAAAD) is commemorated every year on the third
Thursday of May.
• The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and
learning about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) access/inclusion
and people with different disabilities.
• International Day of Persons with Disabilities This topic provides
information about the International Day of Persons with Disabilities
- December 3.
• World Autism Awareness Day This topic provides information
about World Autism Awareness Day - April 2.
• World Braille Day Provides information about World Braille Day - 04
January..

52. Policies and Standards for disabled
person
• Acts and Rules This topic covers Information about Acts and Rules
pertaining to welfare of the Differently-abled.
• Guidelines for conducting written examination for PwD This topic
provides information about guidelines for conducting written examination
for persons with benchmark disabilities.
• Inclusiveness and Accessibility Index This topic provides information
about Inclusiveness and Accessibility Index to measure inclusiveness and
accessibility of PwDs across different kinds of organisations.
• National Mental Health Policy This topic explains about the National
Mental Health Policy.
• National Policy For Persons with Disabilities, 2006 This topic covers about
the national policy for persons with disabilities.
• Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 This topic provides
information about Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
• Standards of accessibility This topic provides information about the
Standards of accessibility.

53. Act
• Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016
• The Act replaces the Persons with Disabilities
(Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and
Full Participation) Act, 1995. It fulfills the
obligations to the United National Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(UNCRPD), to which India is a signatory. The
Act came into force during December 2016.

54. • The National Trust Rules, 2000
• The National Trust Regulations, 2001
• The Regulations provide for conditions of
service of the Chief Executive Officer and
other officers and staff of the Trust, form and
manner in which application is to be made for
registration of NGOs and procedure for
appointment of guardians e

55. • Rehabilitation Council of India Regulations, 1997
• The Regulations provide details about powers
and duties of the Chairperson, powers of the
Council and about the meetings of the General
Council and Executive Committee, their quorum
and proceedings etc.
• For More Information: Rehabilitation Council of
India Regulations-
•

56. • Rehabilitation Council of India (Conditions of
Service of the Member-Secretary, the officers and
other employees) Regulations, 1998
• The Regulations provide for the conditions of
service of the Member Secretary, other officers
and employees of the Rehabilitation Council of
India.
• For More Information: Rehabilitation Council of
India Regulations,1998 (1.9MB)
•

57. • Rehabilitation Council of India (Standards of
Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Code of Ethics for
Rehabilitation Professionals) Regulations, 1998.
• These Regulations lay down the standards of
professional conduct, etiquette and code of ethics for
rehabilitation professionals.
• The Regulations provide for the conditions of service of
the Member Secretary, other officers and employees of
the Rehabilitation Council of India.
• Source : Rehabilitation Council of India
Regulations,(Professionals) (1.9MB)

58. National Policy For Persons with
Disabilities, 2006
• The Government of India formulated the National Policy for
Persons with Disabilities in February 2006 which deals with
Physical, Educational & Economic Rehabilitation of persons
with disabilities. In addition the policy also focuses upon
rehabilitation of women and children with disabilities,
barrier free environment, social security, research etc.
• The National Policy recognizes that Persons with Disabilities
are valuable human resource for the country and seeks to
create an environment that provides them equal
opportunities, protection of their rights and full
participation in society.
•

59. National Mental Health Policy
• Vision
• As per Census 2011, there are 15,05,624 mentally
challenged persons in the country.
• The vision of the National Mental Health Policy is to
promote mental health, prevent mental illness, enable
recovery from mental illness, promote destigmatization and
desegregation, and ensure socio-economic inclusion of
persons affected by mental illness by providing accessible,
affordable and quality health and social care to all persons
through their life-span within a rights-based frame work.
•

60. Inclusiveness and Accessibility Index
• The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities
(DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, GoI in
collaboration with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FICCI) have introduced an index, to measure inclusiveness
and accessibility of PwDs across different kinds of organisations.
• The composite index is split into two independent sub-indices that
separately measure inclusiveness, and accessibility (I&A). The
Inclusiveness and Accessibility Index (I&A Index) is not a substitute
for the legal obligations that exist under national or international
regulatory regimes. It aims at assessing the current stage of
inclusiveness and accessibility of PwDs in an organisation and also
acts as a guide for taking progressive steps to increase support,
inclusiveness and accessibility towards persons / employees with
disabilities.

61. Guidelines for conducting written
examination for PwD
• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has
issued the "Guidelines for conducting written examination
for persons with benchmark disabilities 2018".
• Persons with Benchmark disabilities
• According to Section 2(r) of the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities Act, 2016, a "person with benchmark disability"
means a person with not less than forty percent of a
specified disability, as certified by the certifying authority.
21 types of disabilities have been covered under the Act.
•

62. Standards of accessibility
• Built Up Environment
• An accessible physical environment benefits everyone, not just
persons with disabilities. Measures should be undertaken to
eliminate obstacles and barriers to indoor and outdoor facilities
including schools, medical facilities, and workplaces. These would
include not only buildings, but also footpaths, curb cuts, and
obstacles that block the flow of pedestrian traffic.
• An accessible government building is one, where persons with
disabilities have no barrier in entering it and using all the facilities
therein. This covers the built environment – services, steps and
ramps, corridors, entry gates, emergency exits, parking – as well as
indoor and outdoor facilities including lighting, signages, alarm
systems and toilets.

63. Related resources
• Guidelines of the Scheme
• Online submission of applications for the
scheme
• Check list for providing Minimum Standard of
Living (Disha)
• List of ROs

64. Source
• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
• Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities
(Divyangjan)
• National Handicapped Finance and Development
Corporation
Related resources
• ISO 21542:2011, Building Construction – Accessibility and
Usability of the Built Environment
• National Urban Transport Policy, 2014
• ISO/IEC 40500:2012 [Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG) 2.0]