why the rpwd act of 2016 is a landmark for disability rights in india

Written by Hardik Chetal

My first personal interaction with a person having a disability was at a Model UN Conference in 2017 in a reputed engineering college of Delhi. The fellow delegate in question had cerebral palsy but oh my, excellent debating skills. Yes, I did feel uncomfortable at first because it was my first encounter with someone like him, but over the next two days, he inspired me in a way nobody had ever done before. Every few hours his father would take the metro, come to the committee and help him with going to the washroom and then leave. Later on, I got to know that my friend had recently started traveling independently in the metro. Slowly, I started understanding this individual sitting next to me, it was not easy for him to write chits so I would help him a little but his speeches were immaculate. He didn’t win an award at the conference but he won all of our hearts, it wasn’t surprising when he won an award at the next conference where I saw him as he was given a standing ovation in the award ceremony by everyone. This man touched me and I hope his story inspires you as well. The question arises that when we have such capable minds amongst us who live with a disability, why don’t we as responsible citizens or the Government do enough to bring them into the mainstream or help them gain the same opportunities that people without disabilities have?

On 14 December 2016, the Lok Sabha passed the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014 and the President assented to it on 27 December 2016. The act finally came into effect on 15 June 2017.

India has approximately 27 Million citizens who live with a disability. According to the census they amount to a staggering 2.21% of India’s population. The fight for the equal rights of people with disabilities has been going for a very long time. In order to understand the RPWD Act of 2016, let us have a glance at the previous legislation as well :-

Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995

The PWD Act, 1995 came into force on February 7, 1996, and was a big step towards ensuring equal opportunities and a greater role in nation-building for persons with disabilities. The Act provides for both the preventive and promotional aspects of rehabilitation like education, employment, and vocational training, reservation, research and manpower development, creation of a barrier-free environment, rehabilitation of persons with a disability, unemployment allowance for the disabled, special insurance scheme for the disabled employees and establishment of homes for persons with severe disability, etc. It recognizes people with the following disabilities as eligible for availing benefits under this act-

  1. Blindness- “blindness” refers to a condition where a person suffers from any of the following conditions, namely:—
    • (i) the total absence of sight.
    • (ii) visual acuity not exceeding 6/60 or 20/200 (Snellen) in the better eye with correcting lenses; or
    • (iii) limitation of the field of vision subtending an angle of 20 degrees or worse,
  2. Low Vision- “person with low vision” means a person with impairment of visual functioning even after treatment or standard refractive correction but who uses or is potentially capable of using vision for the planning or execution of a task with an appropriate assistive device.
  3. Leprosy-cured- “leprosy cured person” means any person who has been cured of leprosy.
  4. Hearing Impairment-“hearing impairment” means loss of sixty decibels or more in the better year in the conversational range of frequencies.
  5. Locomotor Disabilities – “locomotor disability” means disability of the bones, joints, or muscles leading to substantial restriction of the movement of the limbs.
  6. Intellectual Disability- It means a condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind of a person which is especially characterized by subnormality of intelligence. For ex.- Down Syndrome, etc.
  7. Mental Illness- “mental illness” means any mental disorder other than Intellectual Disability

The RPWD Act, 2016 has given a major boost to the fight for disability rights in our country, it has been hailed as a game-changer which has led the movement into a new era of disability rights. Here is what you need to know about it.

Brief Background:
  • The bill was based on the 2010 report of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment’s expert Sudha Kaul Committee and had 119 amendments before being passed.
  • The Act was brought to comply with the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which India ratified in 2007.
Changes made to PWD ACT, 1995

The revised bill expands the list of disabilities from 7 to 19, the new additions being- Dwarfism, Haemophilia, Multiple Sclerosis, Autism, Thalassaemia, Acid Attack Victims, Parkinson’s Disease, Muscular Dystrophy, Specific Learning Disabilities, Speech & Language disability, Sickle Cell Disease, Multiple Disabilities including deaf-blindness. 

Yes, I know that such a long list of Medical Terms may not be easy to understand, hence, you may refer to the definitions provided at the end of this document to help you out!

  • An increase in job reservations and higher education institutions from 3% to 4%.
  • A person may be jailed for up to 2 years and fined 5,00,000 if found of discriminating against an individual with a disability.
  • Individuals with a minimum of 40% of a disability are entitled to all benefits under this law.
  • The Act authorizes the Central Government to appoint a Chief Commissioner for persons with disabilities.
Problems with the Act
  • Section 3 (3) of the Act provides offenders with a grey area as it justifies  discrimination against a disabled person if it is “a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.”
  • Many people have gone on to complain that even though the number of disabilities covered under the Act has substantially grown, still many remain unrecognized such Diabetes Type 1 patients who face a lot of discrimination when searching for jobs.
  • One needs to have at least 40% of a disability in order to avail the benefits of this law, this particular clause has face a lot of criticism as people feel it is unfair to people who do not meet this criterion but should be able to avail the rights this law provides.
Way Forward

Even though the fight for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has progressed greatly over the past two decades, there still remains a long road ahead. A person with a disability has to put triple the effort in order to enter the mainstream. Very few public places such as restaurants, malls, etc. are disability-friendly in major cities and next to none in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Educational organizations aren’t able to accommodate persons with disabilities due to a lack of infrastructural facilities such as lifts or ramps for the wheelchair ridden.

Not only is there a need for more legal reforms in this regard but also for better social awareness, better infrastructural facilities throughout the nation which make life easier for persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities should be given their due.

Definitions
    1. Blindness- “blindness” refers to a condition where a person suffers from any of the following conditions, namely:—
      • (I) the total absence of sight.
      • (ii) visual acuity not exceeding 6/60 or 20/200 (Snellen) in the better eye with correcting lenses; or
      • (iii) limitation of the field of vision subtending an angle of 20 degrees or worse,
    2. Low Vision- “person with low vision” means a person with impairment of visual functioning even after treatment or standard refractive correction but who uses or is potentially capable of using vision for the planning or execution of a task with an appropriate assistive device.
    3. Leprosy-cured- “leprosy cured person” means any person who has been cured of leprosy.
    4. Hearing Impairment-“deaf” means persons having 70 DB hearing loss in speech frequencies in both earsLocomotor Disabilities – “locomotor disability” means disability of the bones, joints, or muscles leading to substantial restriction of the movement of the limbs.
    5. Intellectual Disability- It means a condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind of a person which is especially characterized by subnormality of intelligence. For ex.- Down Syndrome, etc.
    6. Mental Illness- “mental illness” means any mental disorder other than Intellectual Disability.
    7. Dwarfism-“dwarfism” means a medical or genetic condition resulting in an adult height of 4 feet 10 inches (147 centimeters) or less.
    8. Haemophilia- “hemophilia” means an inheritable disease, usually affecting only male but transmitted by women to their male children, characterized by the loss or impairment of the normal clotting ability of blood so that a minor would result in fatal bleeding.
    9. Autism- means a neuro-developmental condition typically appearing in the first three years of life that significantly affects a person’s ability to communicate, understand relationships and relate to others, and is frequently associated with unusual or stereotypical rituals or behaviors.
    10. Thalassemia- “thalassemia” means a group of inherited disorders characterized by reduced or absent amounts of hemoglobin.
    11. Acid Attack Victims- “acid attack victims” means a person disfigured due to violent assaults by throwing of acid or similar corrosive substance.Parkinson’s Disease- “Parkinson’s disease” means a progressive disease of the nervous system marked by tremor, muscular rigidity, and slow, imprecise movement, chiefly affecting middle-aged and elderly people associated with degeneration of the basal ganglia of the brain and a deficiency of the neurotransmitter dopamine.
    12. Muscular Dystrophy- “muscular dystrophy” means a group of hereditary genetic muscle diseases that weaken the muscles that move the human body and persons with multiple dystrophy have incorrect and missing information in their genes, which prevents them from making the proteins they need for healthy muscles.
    13. Specific Learning Disabilities- “specific learning disabilities” means a heterogeneous group of conditions wherein there is a deficit in processing language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself as a difficulty to comprehend, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations and includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, and developmental aphasia;
    14. Speech & Language disability-  “speech and language disability” means a permanent disability arising out of conditions such as laryngectomy or aphasia affecting one or more components of speech and language due to organic or neurological causes.
    15. Sickle Cell Disease- (iii) “sickle cell disease” means a hemolytic disorder characterized by chronic anemia, painful events, and various complications due to associated tissue and organ damage;
    16. Multiple Disabilities including deaf-blindness- Multiple Disabilities (more than one of the above-specified disabilities) including deaf-blindness which means a condition in which a person may have a combination of hearing and visual impairments causing severe communication, developmental, and educational problems.

  3. Disclaimer: The views and opinions put forth in the blog are of the authors alone. Raindrops Foundation does not endorse any statements or claims expressed in the article.

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