Centre for Internet and Society

National Resource Kit : The West Bengal Chapter (Call for Comments)

anandi — 2013-11-07T06:19:34Z

The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of West Bengal.

Note: The chapter is an early draft and will undergo subsequent modifications. We welcome comments and feedback from our readers.

Executive Summary

The state of West Bengal has issued the West Bengal Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Rules 1999 to implement the provisions under the central Persons with Disabilities (Protection of Rights, Equal Opportunities and Full Participation) Act 1995.

The Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare is primarily responsible for the welfare of persons with disabilities in the state. The government of West Bengal has issued six notifications in education, ten notifications in employment and training, ten notifications in health and rehabilitation, ten notifications in social protection and two notifications in transport for persons with disabilities.

Capital: Kolkata

Population: 91,347,736

Population of persons with disabilities: 1,847,184

Literacy: 77.08%

HDI: 0.625 Ranked: 19th (2005 status)

Department: Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare

Other authorities: Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities

Click to download the West Bengal chapter (PDF, 344 Kb)

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/the-west-bengal-chapter

National Resource Kit: The Madhya Pradesh Chapter (Call for Comments)

anandi — 2013-11-07T08:51:38Z

The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

Note: The chapter is an early draft and will undergo subsequent modifications. We welcome comments and feedback from our readers.

Executive Summary

The Department of Social Justice is responsible for the welfare of persons with disabilities in Madhya Pradesh. The state has an estimated population of 14,08,528[1] persons with disabilities of the total population of 72,597,565 people.[2] Madhya Pradesh has issued five notifications for Education, one notification for Skill Training and Employment, six notifications for Social Security, Health, Rehabilitation and Recreation and one notification for Accessibility.

Legal Provisions

The notifications issued by the state for persons with disabilities are listed categorically as below:

Education

1.1 The government implements a scheme that provides scholarships for eligible students with disabilities to pursue higher education abroad. [3] Students applying for scholarship under this scheme should fulfil the prescribed educational requirements, not be more than 35 years of age on the 1st January of the year of application and the total family income should not be more than Rs. 96,000 per annum. This scholarship is available to only one child per family. Application should be made on the prescribed format with all required attachments including witness form, income certificate, caste certificate, disability certificate and domicile proof.

1.2 Madhya Pradesh implements a scheme that enables students with disabilities to pursue higher education in the fields of medicine, engineering, computer science and management studies through provision of maintenance and transport allowances and scholarships.[4]

Fees of the disabled students of government universities and colleges would be directly paid by the Department. For students studying in private universities and colleges, fees equal to the government fees would be paid by the department and the balance is to be borne by the student. The students are eligible for a maintenance allowance of Rs. 1500 for a period of ten months which will be directly paid to the college. Students with disabilities are eligible to receive an amount of Rs. 500 from the Nagar Nigram Kshetra and an amount of Rs. 300 from the Nagar Palik Kshetra towards transport allowance for a period of 10 months. This amount would be directly paid to the college authorities. Applications under this scheme are to be made in the prescribed format. Applicants should fulfil the following conditions:

Should have a minimum disability of 40 per cent.
Should be natives of Madhya Pradesh and should apply to study in universities and colleges within Madhya Pradesh.
Annual income of the family should not exceed Rs. 96,000.
Should not be in receipt of tuition fees and transport allowance from any other plan.
Students belonging to SC / ST or backward categories will have to choose to receive assistance for either SC/ST and backward classes, or for disabled students.

1.3 Scholarships are awarded to eligible students with disabilities at the following rates.[5]

Category	Boys	Girls
Primary School	Rs. 25 per month	Rs. 35 per month
Higher Primary	Rs. 30 per month	Rs. 40 per month
Middle School	Rs. 110 per year (SC / ST) (rural)	Rs. 120 per month (regular)
Middle School (Scholarships)	Rs. 500 per month	Rs. 500 per month
Higher Middle School (SC / ST)	(Daily) Rs. 60 per month	(regular) Rs. 60 per month
Higher Middle School (SC / ST)	Rs. 50 per month	(scholarship) Rs.60 per month
Pre University level (General / Other Backward Classes)	(Regular) Rs. 250 per month	(Regular) Rs. 250 per month
Pre University level (General / Other Backward Classes)	(scholarship) Rs. 500 per month	(scholarship) Rs. 500 per month
Pre University level (SC/ST)	(regular) Rs. 65 per month	(regular) Rs. 65 per month
Pre University level (SC/ST)	(scholarship) Rs. 60 per month	(scholarship) Rs. 60 per month
After Graduation (General / Other Backward Classes)	(regular) Rs. 300 per month	(regular) Rs. 300 per month
After Graduation (General / Other Backward Classes)	(scholarship) Rs.525 per month	(scholarship) Rs.525 per month
After Graduation (SC / ST)	Rs. 60 per month	Rs. 60 per month

Students with disabilities belonging to SC / ST category studying in technical colleges are also eligible to apply for scholarships. In addition to the scholarship given by the SC / ST boards, the Department of Social Justice also provides scholarship to weak SC / ST students. The annual income of parents whose children apply for scholarship should not exceed Rs. 96,000.

Students with disabilities belonging to SC / ST category who score 80 per cent in Class VIII are eligible to receive grant of Rs. 2500 as encouragement to continue higher studies. Similarly, disabled students of SC / ST category who score 60 percent in Class XII are eligible to receive Rs. 3000 as encouragement to continue higher studies in local colleges. Students with visual impairment belonging to SC / ST category and pursuing higher studies will be given reader allowance as listed below.

Course	Reader Allowance
Graduation	Rs. 100
Post Graduation	Rs. 125
Technical	Rs. 150

1.4 Madhya Pradesh implements a scheme to aid opening of hostels for students with disabilities.[6] The responsibility of opening and maintaining the hostel rests with the educational institution. Hostels may be opened with a minimum of five students. Separate hostels should be established for boys and girls. In case of rented buildings, the educational institution is eligible to receive a maximum of Rs. 1500 towards rent.

Boarding facilities are available only to students of government and non government educational institutions who are in Class XI or above and have applied for scholarship post matriculation. Students applying for hostels should be domiciled in Madhya Pradesh and their total family income should not exceed Rs. 96,000 per annum.

1.5 The Higher Primary Education Board has issued an order[7] stating that extra time of 20 minutes for every hour will be provided to students with disabilities in the upper limbs and students with cerebral palsy if attempting the exam without aid of a scribe. Extra time would not be granted to the students of the above category if using the services of a scribe. Extra time of 20 minutes per hour would be granted to students with visual impairment even if services of a scribe are used.

Skill Training and Employment

2.1 The government provides financial assistance to persons with disabilities as encouragement for succeeding in the civil services examination of Madhya Pradesh.[8] Assistance will be provided in the following scale

Level	Assistance
Passing preliminary examination	Rs. 20,000
Passing main examination	Rs. 30,000
Passing final selection	Rs. 20,000

Applications have to be made to the Composite Coordinators of Social Justice of the respective districts within 30 days of declaration of results.

Social Security, Health, Rehabilitation & Recreation

3.1 The Department of Social Justice implements a scheme called Persons with Multiple Disabilities and Mental Retardation Grant 2009.[9] Persons with multiple disabilities and mental retardation who are above six years of age and receive a grant of Rs. 500 under this scheme are eligible to be covered by the Niramaya health insurance scheme being implemented by the National Trust. All beneficiaries will be insured by the district administration.

3.2 Persons with disabilities in the age range of six to 18 years with disability of not less than 40 percent and belonging to BPL families are eligible for pension of Rs. 150 per month under the Overall Social Safety Pension Scheme.[10]

3.3 The government implements a scheme to encourage marriages for persons with disabilities by providing a grant of Rs. 25,000 for marriages where either the groom or the bride is disabled. For marriages where both the bride and groom are disabled, a grant of Rs. 50,000 is provided.[11]

Individuals who are natives of Madhya Pradesh and who are non income tax payers are eligible to apply. The grant is available only for the first marriage of the disabled person. Applicants should be above 18 years of age in case of women and 21 years of age in case of men and should have a minimum disability of at least 40 per cent to be eligible.

3.4 Persons with multiple disabilities or mental retardation who are above the age of six years and whose parents / guardians are below poverty line are eligible to apply for aid from the Department of Social Justice.[12] The grant-in-aid will be directly deposited in the bank account of the applicant. Applicants should fulfil the following eligibility criteria:

Should be natives of Madhya Pradesh.
Should produce age proof stating that they are above six years of age that is issued by the town municipality, city corporations, town Panchayat or the grama Panchayat.
Should produce a disability certificate stating a minimum of 40 per cent disability
The bank account of the beneficiary should be a joint account with either parents or guardians and should be held in a nationalised bank, a co-operative bank or a regional rural bank.

3.5 The government has enhanced The aid to beneficiaries from the aided voluntary organisations to Rs. 1000 per month.[13]

3.6 The government has issued an order providing disabled employees of the state government with travel allowance of Rs. 500 per month.[14]

Accessibility

4.1 The Department of Information Technology has issued an order notifying all government departments to make their websites WCAG 2.0 compliant and use Unicode font in order to make all information accessible for persons with disabilities.[15]

[1]. http://www.pacsindia.org/hi/node/325.

[2]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhya_Pradesh.

[3]. Department of Social Justice No. 1-3-36/2008/26-2 Dated: Bhopal, 24.11.2008.

[4]. Department of Social Justice Sl. F. 3-35-2008-20-2 Dated: Bhopal, 30.12.2009.

[5]. Department of Social Justice, Sr. No. 1-3-120/2007/26-2 Dated: Bhopal, 8.02.2008.

[6]. Department of Social Justice, No. 1-3-44/2008/26-2 Dated: Bhopal, 8.09.2008.

[7]. Higher Primary Education Board, Sl. No. 7 Vidyochith/2007 Dated: Bhopal, 8.01.2007.

[8]. Department of Social Justice No. 1-3-59/2008/26-2 Dated: Bhopal, 8.08.2006.

[9]. Department of Social Justice Sr. F 1897/2012/26-2 Dated: Bhopal, 10.09.2012.

[10]. Department of Social Justice No. F 2-87/2010/26-2 Dated: Bhopal, 25.06.2013.

[11]. Department of Social Justice No. 1-3-42/2008/26-2 Dated: Bhopal, 12.06.2008.

[12]. Department of Social Justice Sr. No. 1-3-40/2008 Dated: Bhopal, 18.06.2009.

[13]. Department of Social Justice No. 3-12/2013/126-2, Sr. No. 906/2013/26-2 Dated: Bhopal, 30.04.2013.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/the-madhya-pradesh-chapter

National Resource Kit : The Haryana Chapter (Revised)

anandi — 2014-02-20T09:00:49Z

The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of Haryana.

Note: The chapter was revised based on the comments and feedback from our readers.

Introduction

The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment is responsible for the welfare of persons with disabilities in Haryana. The state has an estimated population of 4,55,040 persons with disabilities in a total population of 25,353,081.

Haryana implements two schemes under Women and Children with Disabilities, three schemes under Education, three schemes under Skill Development and Employment, and five schemes under Social Security, Health, Rehabilitation and Recreation.

1. General Entitlements

Haryana does not implement any scheme / policy that can be listed in this category.

2. Women & Children with Disabilities

2.1 Financial assistance is provided to children with disabilities not attending school due to their disability.

2.2 Haryana provides financial assistance to children of persons with disabilities.

Sr. No.	Issuing Authority	Notification No.	Details
1	Social Justice & Empowerment Department	No. 2351-SW(4)-2008 Dated: 30.01.2009	Financial assistance to disabled children not attending school due to disability
2	Social Justice & Empowerment Department	No. 1953-SW(4)-2009 Dated: 30.10.2009	Financial assistance for non school going children with severe disability Disability more than 70% / IQ less than 50% for mental disability Assistance of Rs. 300 per month Assistance provided to multiple children from same family Age up to 18 years Domiciled and resided in Haryana for past six months Total family income not to exceed Rs. 3510 per month Beneficiaries drawing other assistance are not eligible to apply
3	Social Justice & Empowerment Department		Financial assistance to children of persons with disabilities Assistance – Rs. 500 per month Age below 21 years Total family income not exceeding Rs. 30,000 per annum Domiciled and residing in Haryana

3. Education

3.1 Rules outlined for residential school for visually impaired students ‘Government Institute for the Blind’ in Panipat. Application forms available at the offices of Dy Commissioner, SDOs (Civil), Tehsildars and Department of Social Justice & Empowerment DSJE).

3.2 Scholarship is provided to disabled students. Applicants should not be in receipt of assistance from any other source. Rates of scholarship listed below:

Sr. No.	Class	Scholarship (Day scholars) per month	Scholarship (hostellers) per month	Reader Allowance (only visually impaired) per month
1	Class 1 – 4	400/-	-	-
2	Class 5 – 8	500/-	-	-
3	Class 9 – 12	600/-	600/-	300/-
4	B.A/B.Sc/B.Com	600/-	800/-	400/-
5	B.E/B.Tech./MBBS/LLB/B.Ed and diploma in professional & engineering studies etc.	800/-	1000/-	500/-
6	MA/MSC/M.Com/LLM/M.Ed/M.Tech etc	1000/-	1000/-	500/-

Sr. No.	Issuing Authority	Notification No.	Details
1	Department of Social Justice & Empowerment	No. GA.I SW. 71, Dated Chandigarh	Rules for residential school for the visually impaired Age between 6 – 18 years Eligibility up to middle school Domiciled and residing in Haryana
2	Department of Social Justice & Empowerment	No. 1971 /DDSW-GA-II/71	Criteria for scholarship Age up to 20 years Total family income not exceeding Rs. 10,000 per month Domiciled and residing in Haryana
3	Department of Social Justice & Empowerment	Memo No. 848-SW(4)-2011 Chandigarh, dated 28-11-2011	Rates of scholarship (given in table above)

4. Skill Development & Employment

4.1 Rules outlined for residential skill training facility for the visually impaired ‘Training Centre for Adult Blind’ at Panipat. Application forms available at the offices of Dy Commissioners, SDOS (Civil), Tehsildars and DSJE.

4.2 Annual awards given to most efficient disabled employees, disabled self-employed, outstanding employers and placement officers for disabled.

S.No	Category of Award	Nature of the Award No. of Awards	Present rates and certificate	Revised rates and certificates
1	Employee/ Self Employed	First Prize (one) Second Prize (one) Third Prize (two) Fourth Prize(three)	Rs.5000/- and certificate Rs. 4000/- ad certificate Rs. 3000/- and certificate Rs. 2000/- and certificate	Rs. 10000/- and certificates. Rs. 8000/- and certificate Rs. 6000/- and certificate Rs. 4000/- and certificate.
2	Employers of disabled	First Prize (one) Second Prize (one)	A big shield and certificate of merit. A small shield and certificate of merit.	Rs. 5000/- and certificate of merit. Rs. 3000/- and certificate of merit.
3	Placement Officer of disabled	One Prize	Rs. 4000/- and certificate of merit.	Rs. 8000/- and certificate of merit.

4.3 Age relaxation up to 10 years in the upper age limit for joining government service for persons with disabilities. Retirement age of persons with 70% or more disability is increased to 60 years.

Sr. No.	Issuing Authority	Notification No.	Details
1	Department of Social Justice & Empowerment	No. GA.I SW. 71, Dated Chandigarh No. 1971 /DDSW-GA-II/71	Rules for residential skill training unit for visually impaired Trainees granted maintenance for 3 years Extra 6 months for persons above 52 years old Domiciled and residing in Haryana
2	Department of Social Justice & Empowerment	No. 1759SW(1) /2008 Chandigarh, Dated: 4.02.2008	Awards for disabled employees, employers and placement officers (for details see table above)
3	Department of Social Justice & Empowerment		10 years relaxation in upper age limit in recruitment to govt service Retirement age increased to 60 years for persons with 70% or more disability

5. Social Security, Health, Rehabilitation and Recreation

5.1 Unemployment allowance given to all educated unemployed persons with disabilities. Rates of allowance are:

Sr. No.	Education	Allowance per month	Allowance per month for 100% disabled
1	Matric/ Middle Pass Diploma Holder	Rs. 200	Rs. 1000
2	Graduate/ Matric Pass Diploma Holder	Rs. 250	Rs. 1500
3	Post Graduate, Graduate Diploma Holder	Rs. 300	Rs. 2000

5.2 Disability pension to persons with 70% or more disability (IQ less than 50 for persons with mental disabilities). (note 3)

5.3 Financial assistance of Rs. 500 per month to dwarf persons. (note 3)

5.4 Persons with visual impairment and 100% orthopaedic impairment are eligible for free travel on state transport buses. Disabled employees of the state government are provided a conveyance allowance of 10% on basic pay. (note 4)

5.5 Visually impaired employees of the state government are given priority in allotment of government accommodation. (note 4)

Sr. No.	Issuing Authority	Notification No.	Details
1	Department of Social Justice & Empowerment	No. 3012-SW (1)2003. Dated, 8.12.2003 No. 94-SW (1)2007. Dated: 24.01.2007	Unemployment allowance (for rates see table above) Allowance given for 6 years from date of registration with employment exchange Applicants must not be in receipt of any other assistance
2	Department of Social Justice & Empowerment		Disability pension for persons with 70% or more disability (less than 50 IQ for mentally disabled) Pension – Rs. 500 per month Pension (for 80% or more disability) – Rs. 750 per month Income not to exceed income of unskilled labourers as specified by Labour Department.
3	Department of Social Justice & Empowerment		Financial assistance of Rs. 500 per month to dwarf persons
4	Department of Social Justice & Empowerment		Free travel on state transport buses for persons with visual impairment and 100% orthopaedic impairment 10% conveyance allowance for government employees with disabilities
5	Department of Social Justice & Empowerment		Priority for visually impaired employees in allotment of govt accommodation

6. Accessibility

6.1 The government of Haryana is yet to implement schemes and policies under accessibility.

7.    Certification

7.1 Haryana has not identified any hospital / medical officer for issueing of disability certificates.

8.    Schemes & Grants for Organisations & Individuals for Disabilities

8.1    The government of Haryana is yet to implement schemes and policies under this category.

9. Disability Authorities

Haryana has two authorities responsible for the welfare of persons with disabilities:

Department of Social Justice and Empowerment
Commissioner for Disabilities

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-haryana-chapter-call-for-comments

Response to RTI Applications from Different States on Accessibility

anandi — 2015-02-08T08:30:27Z

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) had sent right to information (RTI) applications from various states seeking information on the allocation and expenditure in the budget for implementing various schemes for persons with disabilities. CIS received the first set of documents.

Click to download the documents received from various states here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/response-to-rti-applications-from-different-states-on-accessibility

National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility – An Analysis

anandi — 2013-12-27T07:49:47Z

Electronics and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are widely used in all areas of life such as education, health care, employment, entertainment, banking and finance management and other aspects of daily living.

They not only make life easier for people in general, but have the potential to revolutionise the lives of persons with disabilities through larger inclusion and participation in these areas and by enabling independent living through use of appropriate assistive technologies (ATs).

In the year 2010, the erstwhile Department of Information Technology, Government of India circulated a draft consultation paper on the National Policy for Electronic Accessibility that sought to regulate the provision of accessible Electronics and ICTs services and products and universal design concepts for persons with disabilities. Post consultation and deliberation, the Government of India has passed the National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility (National Policy) in 2013. This is a brief analysis of the policy and the provisions therein.

The draft consultation paper had clearly identified the requirements of persons with disabilities that had to be kept in view while designing electronic accessibility solutions:

Eliminating discrimination on the basis of disabilities and facilitating equal access to Information and Communication Technologies and Electronics (ICTE)
Understanding the diversity of persons with disabilities and creating solutions for their specific needs
Ensuring that accessibility standards and guidelines and universal design concepts are adopted and adhered to.

While the draft consultation paper only sought to provide equal access to ICTE products and services to persons with disabilities, the objective of the National Policy has been expanded to include not just equal but also barrier free access. The category of disabilities has also been expanded to include mental disabilities. Further, the policy seeks to facilitate local language support and sync universal access with barrier free access that should be usable without adaptation.

The scope of the National Policy continues to cover access to ICTE products and services to persons with disabilities in the areas of universal design, assistive technologies and independent living aids as in the draft consultation paper, but the National Policy expands on the broad roles and functions of the major stakeholders.

The National Policy clearly defines the following points that were not discussed in the Draft Consultation Paper:

The Department of Electronics and Technology is named as the nodal authority for monitoring the implementation of the policy.
Recommends constitution of a high level advisory committee of multiple stakeholders – central and state. ministries and department, industry, academia, disabled persons organisations and persons with disabilities for guiding and implementing the policy.
Recommends an amendment in the Information Technology (IT) Act to protect persons with disabilities who inadvertently break the law.
Lays emphasis on providing support in local languages to accessible Electronics and ICTs.

The strategy and Action Plan defined in the Draft Consultation Paper have been augmented and restructured to include the following points described in the National Policy:

Creating awareness on universal electronics accessibility and universal design

The National Policy specifically provides that the Department of Electronics and Information Technology will play the lead role.
Other central and state ministries, departments and agencies will also be responsible.
Carried out through Media, campaigns, conferences, workshops and seminars.
Will also include available and emerging assistive technologies and independent living aids and schemes.
Information to be made available in public domain in local languages in accessible format.

Capacity building and Infrastructure Development

The National Policy requires that schemes for capacity building on accessibility and assistive technologies be taken up within the government and for persons with disabilities.

Education and Assistive Technologies Centres

Accessibility standards and guidelines and universal design concepts to be included in the curriculum of Electronics and ICTs education.
Assistive technologies and independent living aids to be included in the curriculum of Special Education and Rehabilitation.
Model Electronics and ICTs centres to be set up to provide training and demonstration to special educators and persons with disabilities including persons with mental disabilities.

Conducting research and development

To develop assistive technologies and independent living aids based on accessibility standards and guidelines and universal design concepts
To provide incentives for the research and development of such products
To formulate schemes to support research and development organisations for developing such products
To include persons with disabilities and rehabilitation professionals in formulation, implementation and monitoring the schemes.

Accessibility Standards

The draft consultation paper provides that the accessibility standards and guidelines be taken or modified from existing standards and guidelines in accessibility
The National Policy specifically names existing accessibility standards and guidelines such as the following as examples

W3C Accessibility Standards
ATAG (Authoring Tools Accessibility Guidelines)
WCAG 2.0 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
UAAG (User Agent Accessibility Guidelines)

Accessibility compliance would be monitored for government websites, websites for disability issues, general citizen centric websites and important websites with high traffic or high consumer transaction.

Accessible format for content

Content published in electronic format including text books, journals, publications, multimedia etc are required to be published in accessible format
Support in local languages to be provided for all content

Developing programmes and schemes

The National Policy lays emphasis on schemes for women and children with disabilities

Developing procurement guidelines for Electronics and ICTs for accessibility and assistive needs

The draft Consultation Paper merely states that ICTE procurement guidelines and processes should include accessibility standards and guidelines.
The National Policy requires that Electronics and ICTs procurement policies be evolved to confirm to the requirements of the National Policy.
Higher cost of accessibility compliant hardware and software to be budgeted for at procurement.
Incentives to be provided by the government to assist with the procurement of such products.
Any scheme formulated by the central or state governments for persons with disabilities should be linked with ongoing schemes for universal electronic accessibility.

Affordable Access

The Draft Consultation Paper requires that schemes be formulated to provide access to ICTE services and products to persons with disabilities at affordable costs.
Information about these schemes to be made available in the public domain in local languages in accessible format.
The National Policy promotes open source usage to meet affordable access requirements.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-policy-on-universal-electronic-accessibility-analysis

National Resource Kit : The Kerala Chapter (Call for Comments)

anandi — 2013-11-07T06:20:04Z

The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of Kerala.

Note: The chapter is an early draft and will undergo subsequent modifications. We welcome comments and feedback from our readers.

Statistics

Capital: Tiruvananthapuram
HDI Rank: 1^st

Literacy: 1^st in India with a literacy of 93.91 per cent

Population:33,387,677
Population of Persons with Disability: 2.7 per cent. The district of Malappuram has the highest number of persons with disabilities, followed by Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam.[1]

Ministries and Departments

Department of Social Welfare – responsible for protection of rights of persons with disabilities.
Directorate of Social Welfare (under Department of Social Welfare) – nodal authority that implements central and state government programmes in Kerala.

Government run Organisations

The Kerala State Handicapped Persons Welfare Corporation
The Commissionerate of Persons with Disabilities
The National Institute of Speech and Hearing
The Central Social Welfare Board

Legal Provisions

Kerala does not have a legislation specifically for persons with disabilities in the state but implements the central legislation – the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995. The state also issues various schemes, policies and notifications for persons with disabilities. The Department of Social Welfare has implemented some central and state schemes for persons with disabilities in the state,[2] while some schemes are being implemented by the Kerala State Handicapped Persons Welfare Corporation (KSHPWC).[3] These are listed below under various categories as:

Accessibility
The Department of Local Self Governance vide G.O. (MS) No.41/11/LSGD, Thiruvananthapuram, dated 14/02/2011 have issued rules for housing which also include special provisions for accommodation of the requirements of persons with disabilities. These include provision of ramps, lifts, convenient parking slots and removal of architectural barriers.
Personal mobility

Persons with disabilities with a regular and reasonable income and having to travel regularly on work are given a subsidy of Rs. 2000 linked with bank loan for procuring motorised tricycles / vehicles.[4]

KSHPWC supplies aids and appliances every three years to Persons with Disabilities with annual income less than Rs. 60,000 (see note 3). These include: artificial limbs, tricycles, wheelchairs, callipers, crutches, hearing aids, white canes, colostomy bags, etc. The beneficiaries are selected at medical camps held at district, block and panchayat levels.
Subsidy of Rs.10,000 is provided by KSHPWC to each self-employed young disabled person for procuring motorized tricycle upon applying in the proper format with attested copies of original bill, registration and insurance documents, and photographs (see note 3).
Education
Through the Kerala Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010, the government provides free and compulsory education for children with disabilities until the age of 18. The rules also provide for inclusive education, special schools for severely disabled children, learning aids and appliances, training for special teachers and vocational training for children with disabilities.
Three seats are reserved for persons with disabilities in arts and science colleges and engineering colleges, nine seats are reserved in polytechnic colleges, five seats are reserved in ITIs, five per cent seats are reserved in junior technical colleges and 25 per cent seats are reserved for teachers in special schools (see note 4).

Scholarships are given to children with disabilities where annual income of parents is less than Rs. 24,000 at Rs. 30 per month for children in classes I – IV and Rs. 45 per month for children in classes V – VIII. For students in higher classes, scholarships are provided for day scholars and residential students with special allowance for readers. In addition to the scholarships, students with orthopaedic impairment are given Rs. 25 per month for maintenance of prosthetic / orthopaedic aids (at the recommendation of the head of the institution) and Rs. 50 per month as transportation allowance (see note 4).
Children with mental disabilities where the annual income of parents is less than Rs. 24,000 are given scholarships upto the age of 21 at the scale of Rs. 60 per month with dress allowance of Rs. 40 and school requisite allowance (see note 4).
The government runs two vocational training centres for persons with disabilities at Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode (see note 4).
Students with Disabilities who top their districts in the categories of Orthopaedic disability, speech and hearing impairment, visual impairment and mental retardation; in the SSLC and Higher Secondary exams are awarded Rs. 2,500 each. Awards of Rs. 5000 are given to state rank holders in the above categories (see note 3).
Health: Details of policies / schemes for health unavailable.
Rehabilitation: The state runs community based rehabilitation programmes and vocational training centres for persons with disabilities (see note 2).
Employment: The state provides three per cent reservation in classes I, II (videG.O. (RT) No. 291/2012/SWD dated, Thiruvananthapuram 20^th June 2012), III and IV (vide G.O. (P)No.20/98/P&ARd dated, Thiruvananthapuram, 14 July, 1998) of state government jobs and PSUs. Three per cent reservation is also provided on part-time contingency posts and one per cent worker class vacancies in the government, corporations and companies are reserved for persons with disabilities (see note 4).

An age relaxation of ten years on the upper age limit is provided to persons with disabilities for applying to government jobs. Upto 10 grace marks can be given to persons with disabilities at the discretion of the Public Service Commission for direct recruitment to various posts except those that are specifically excluded (see note 4).
Persons with disabilities are allowed a special casual leave of 15 days for treating an illness that is directly connected with their disability vide G.O. (P) 249/84/Fin. Dated 9–5–84.
Loans for self employment are being given to persons with disabilities by banks through KSHPWC for setting up self employment programmes. A subsidy of Rs. 2000 linked with the bank loan is given to each beneficiary (see note 4).
KSHPWC channelizes loans from the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation to Persons with Disabilities at low interest rates for self-employment. Applicants must have at least 40 per cent disability and their family income should not exceed Rs. 3,00,000 for rural and Rs. 5,00,000 for urban applicants (see note 3).
KSHPWC runs the following commercial units to provide employment to persons with disabilities (see note 4): Sowbhagya Department Store – Thiruvananthapuram, Sowbhagya Department Store – Kozhikode, Sowbhagya Extension Counter, MLA Quarters – Thiruvananthapuram, Photocopier Unit, MLA Quarters – Thiruvananthapuram, and Envelope Making Unit – Thiruvananthapuram.
KSHPWC together with the Kerala State Lotteries Department implements the scheme through which disabled persons are identified throughout the state for undertaking agency for Lottery tickets and are given financial assistance of Rs. 5,000 for purchase and sale of lottery tickets.

Social Protection

Persons with disabilities in the categories of vision impaired, hearing impaired and orthopaedically disabled whose annual family income does not exceed Rs.3,600 are given a disability pension of Rs.85 per month.
Conveyance allowance of Rs.100 for vision impaired and locomotor disabled employees of aided schools and government departments and Rs.50 for part time employees are given vide G.O.(P) No. 521/87/Fin, dated 15.6.87.
Free travel facility is provided to the vision impaired on buses and boats and for the locomotor disabled on buses. Persons with 50 per cent or more locomotor disabilities are given 70 per cent concession on private buses to travel upto 40 kilometres (see note 4).
A distress relief fund has been created for persons with disabilities vide G.O. (MS) No. 4/95/SWD dated 24/1/95. A maximum amount of Rs. 2000 can be given for a case in a financial year and the amount can be extended to Rs. 8000 in exceptional cases. Persons with disabilities whose annual income does not exceed Rs. 12,000 can claim financial assistance for the following reasons (see note 4): for medical treatment including surgery, disability incurred due to an accident, any other purposes not covered by existing schemes for persons with disabilities, grant by the government under the grant-in-aid to persons with disabilities under the Deendayal Disabled Scheme (see note 2).
Under the Rajiv One Million Housing Scheme (see note 4), one per cent of the houses constructed for the economically backward class have been reserved for persons with disabilities.
KSHPWC operates a scheme for children who are below 8 years of age and have 60 per cent or more disability and whose parent’s have an annual income of less than Rs.60,000, the corporation deposits an amount of Rs. 15,000 for boys and Rs.20,000 for girls. The fund under this scheme is released after the child attains the age of 18 years for self-employment or marriage or as per requests after assessing the case. (see note 3).
A scheme run by the state offers marriage assistance to women with disabilities and to daughters of Persons with Disabilities (see note 2).
KSHPWC runs an old-age home for persons with disabilities at Parassala (see note 3).

Miscellaneous

State awards of Rs. 3000 per head are given to outstanding and efficient employees among persons with disabilities (see note 4)
Persons with disabilities are exempted from professional tax and road tax. They are given an additional income tax exemption of Rs. 5000 (see note 4).
The state also gives grant-in-aid for voluntary organisations running homes for the disabled and financial assistance for advocates with orthopaedic or visual impairment (see note 2).

Government Orders

Category	Headline	Issuing Authority	Number & Date	Briefs
Employment	Public Services Reservations for Physically Handicapped Persons – three per cent reservation for Class III and Class IV posts	Personnel and Administrative Reforms (Advice) Department	G.O. (P)No.20/98/P&ARD Dated, Thiruvananthapuram, 14 July, 1998	Orders issued for a maximum of 50 appointments each in the categories of subordinate service, last grade service and part-time contingent service being set apart every year for the appointment of persons with disabilities to the public services.
Employment	Reservation of three per cent vacancies in Class I and II posts in Public Services for appointment of physically disabled persons – post of Assistant Engineer (Civil), Public Works Department – eligibility for full participation in the selection process and appointment in respect of certain categories of physically disabled persons – clarified orders	Social Welfare Department	G.O. (RT) No. 291/2012/SWD. Dated, Thiruvananthapuram 20^th June 2012	This order has been issued in clarification to earlier orders issued for identification of posts for Persons with Disabilities.
Building construction	Kerala Panchayat Building Rules 2011	Local Self Governance Department	G.O. (MS) No.41/11/LSGD Dated, Thiruvananthapuram 14/02/2011.	Notification has been issued to regulate building construction. Provides for accessibility and elimination of architectural barriers.

Special Schools and Vocational Training Centres

Centre for Training and Rehabilitation of the Mentally Retarded, Thiruvananthapuram
Adarsha Rehabilitation Institute for Spastics and Neurologically Impaired, Kochi
Asha Niketan, Kozhikode
Jagathy Government School for the Blind, Thiruvananthapuram
Jagathy Government BHSS for the Deaf, Thiruvananthapuram
Kunnamkulam GS for the Blind, Kunnamkulam, Thrissur
Kunnamkulam GS for the Deaf, Kunnamkulam, Thrissur

Non Governmental Organisations for Persons with Disabilities

National Association of the Blind, Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala Federation of the Blind, Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala Institution of the Blind, Thrissur
All Kerala Association of the Deaf, Thrissur
Kerala Government Deaf Employees Union
Association for the Welfare of the Handicapped, Kozhikode
Kerala State Physically Handicapped Employees Association

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-kerala-chapter-call-for-comments

Smartphones and the Return to Dependency

anandi — 2014-09-07T06:32:52Z

The new age smartphones that operate by touch mean much more than exciting new technology to persons with visual impairment, they signify the return to the world of dependency, a situation that the group had successfully steered out of some years ago with the support provided by accessible devices and assistive technology.

The older models of feature phones with hard keyboards were of great use especially to the visually impaired community due to the simplicity of navigation afforded by tactile keys and the support offered by assistive screen reader software. Also, multiple models of these phones were available in various price ranges, thus making them affordable to a large cross section of persons with visual impairment. These aspects made it possible for visually impaired persons to start using mobile phones independently for all communication and information purposes.

However, the popularity of touchphones have made every manufacturer of mobile phones shift the focus of development to the new technology and away from production of feature phones. This shift has proved to be exceptionally challenging for persons with visual impairment as it means a forced move to using touch phones and has once again created the need to depend on sighted assistance.

It may be argued that the smart phones do come in equipped with accessibility features that should make it easy to use them. However, a range of issues from excessive time loss in exploring the features and functions by touch to difficulty in sending and receiving texts due to the immense time consumed in navigating keys on the soft keyboard to difficulties faced in swiping on the indicated lines to answer or reject calls make it difficult for persons with visual impairment to use the current generation smartphones with the same level of ease and comfort as the older feature phones.

There are also other accessibility challenges: some of the soft keys are not labelled, hence the visually impaired user is unable to use these keys independently; accessibility options do not permit text content to be read with internal navigation i.e. navigating within the text to read word by word, or even character by character, but the text is read as a whole thus hindering comprehension and requiring sighted assistance in reading the text — this not only compromises independence but also the privacy of the individual; and the feature that reduces the sound of the screen reader during a call makes it difficult to navigate and end a call independently — a major difficulty in a country with high levels of noise in public places.

In addition, the new generation smartphones also pose an affordability challenge — smartphones that are equipped with comparatively better accessibility features are at the top end of the price spectrum and consequently out of reach of the majority of visually impaired users and smartphones in the affordable price range come with many accessibility limitations that force the users to depend on external help.

One of the ways this situation can be addressed is by requiring manufacturers of smartphones to also develop smartphones with hard keyboards parallely with regular devices, another way could be to encourage the continuation of production of feature phones that were being used so successfully by persons with visual impairment. In addition to being of use to persons with visual impairment, these phones will also be of use to senior citizens who also struggle with various types of sensory and muscular impediments and face difficulty in adapting to new technology due to advancing age.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/smartphones-return-to-dependency

National Resource Kit: The Himachal Chapter (Call for Comments)

anandi — 2013-11-07T06:15:57Z

The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

Executive Summary

Himachal Pradesh has issued a state policy for persons with disabilities to implement the provisions in the central laws. The government has brought out an integrated scheme for persons with disabilities in 2008 to implement certain sections of the Persons with Disabilities Act 1995. Through this scheme the government has made provisions for education, employment, training, health, rehabilitation and social protection for persons with disabilities.

State Profile

Capital: Shimla
Population: 6,856,509[1]
Population of Persons with Disabilities: 1,55,950
Literacy: 83.78%
HDI: 0.652 Ranked 3rd
Department: Department of Social Justice and Empowerment
Directorate: Directorate of SC, ST and Minority Affairs

Legal Provisions

Himachal Pradesh has brought out a state policy for persons with disabilities to implement the provisions under the two central laws, namely:

Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 (Persons with Disabilities Act)

National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple disabilities Act 1998 (National Trust Act)

The government of Himachal Pradesh has passed an integrated scheme for persons with disabilities in 2008 to implement Section 25 (A), Section 25 (E), Section 26, Section 30 (D), Section 39, Section 38 (I) (a), Section 41 and Section 66 of the Persons with Disabilities Act 1995.[2] Through this scheme the government has created provisions for education, employment, training, health, rehabilitation and social protection for persons with disabilities.

In order to elicit all relevant information related to persons with disabilities, the government has modified the Families Survey Register of ICDS to give an updated survey year on year. This is intended to help in understanding the nature and type of disabilities, educational and social status of families of persons with disabilities, employment status of disabled family members and the status of benefits availed under various scheme by persons with disabilities.

Accessibility

The integrated scheme for persons with disabilities provides for awareness generation and orientation through awareness camps, seminars and workshops with an idea of creating sensitivity among policy makers and social workers regarding the requirements of persons with disabilities. It also aims to educate the masses regarding barrier free environment and create a pool of access auditors for creating free access to persons with disabilities in public places and buildings. The scheme provides funds for the workshops, seminars and awareness camps to be held at various state, district and block levels.

Education

The government provides scholarships to students with disabilities from Class I to post graduate level and for diploma / vocational / technical / professional education. Students with disabilities whose annual family income from all sources does not exceed Rs. 60,000 are eligible to apply in the prescribed format with copies of bonafide Himachal Pradesh domicile certificate, disability certificate issued by competent authority, annual progress report of the student for the last year from the educational institution and the income certificate of the family. Rates for the scholarships:

Class	Rate for day scholars (per month)	Rate for hostellers (per month)
Class I to Class V	Rs. 150	Rs.300
Class VI to Class VIII	Rs. 200	Rs.400
Class IX – Class X	Rs. 250	Rs.500
Senior Secondary	Rs. 300	Rs.600
BA / B Com / B Sc	Rs. 350	Rs.700
BE / B Tech / MBBS / LLB	Rs. 400	Rs.800
MA / M Com / M Sc / LL M	Rs. 450	Rs.900

The government provides three per cent reservations for students with disabilities in all the educational institutions under the regular budget and programmes of any of the government departments.

The state has set up special schools for children with visual impairment and hearing impairment at Sunder Nagar for girls and at Dali for boys under the DSJE and SPCCD respectively.

Employment & Training

The state policy provides three per cent reservation in all state government posts from Class I to Class IV for persons with disabilities divided into one per cent each for persons with visual impairment, hearing impairment and orthopaedic disability. The policy further provides that employees with severe disability – 60 per cent or more – will be posted to stations of their choice as far as possible.

The government of Himachal Pradesh offers vocational / technical / livelihood training to persons with disabilities in collaboration with nongovernmental organisations and industrial bodies to promote self employment among persons with disabilities. The ventures will be financed by government finance development corporations.

Persons with disabilities who fulfil the following criteria should respond to the government’s call for training programmes in the prescribed format: the applicant Should be a bonafide resident of HP, should be between the age of 18 to 45 years on the date of application, should have passed the minimum educational qualification as required for the particular training programme and the annual income of the family should not be more than Rs. 1,00,000.

During the training, candidates will be provided a maximum assistance of rs. 1000 per month by the Department of SJE.

The government has also made provisions to provide financial assistance in form of subsidy in addition to the loans being provided by the HP Minority Financial Development Corporation to persons with disabilities for encouraging self employment. Candidates should apply to the HP Minority Finance and Development Corporation. Subsidy payable will be 20 per cent of the project cost or Rs. 10,000 whichever is less.

Himachal Pradesh recognises and awards best employers of persons with disabilities and best employees with disabilities. One award of Rs. 25,000 with citation is given to an employer who fulfils the following conditions: employs maximum number of persons with disabilities within the organisation, provides barrier free access within the premises, offers equitable working conditions for persons with disabilities on par with the other employees and provides additional facilities like travel and housing for employees with disabilities. Three awards of Rs. 10,000 each are given along with citations to one employee with disability each in the categories of visual impairment, hearing impairment and orthopaedic disability. Candidates for the awards will be either nominated by their employers or by the Deputy Commissioner (Disabilities) or recommended by the DWO of their respective districts.

Health and Rehabilitation

The integrated scheme for persons with disabilities creates provisions for early detection and prevention of disabilities through screening of children at regular intervals. The examination of children upto the age of six years will be carried out by Anganwadi workers while the examination of children upto 12 years will be undertaken by the Health and Family Department.

The scheme further provides for medical camps to be conducted to carry out regular checkups for persons with disabilities and certify their disabilities, recommend suitable aids and appliances for them and for the distribution of disability identity cards.

Social Protection

The state policy for persons with disabilities provides three per cent reservation in all poverty alleviation schemes for persons with disabilities.

The government provides marriage grants for persons with disabilities through its integrated scheme for marriages where either one or both parties are with disabilities. The scheme provides for a grant of Rs. 8000 for the marriage of a person who has a disability between 40 per cent and 74 per cent. It provides a grant of Rs. 15,000 for the marriage of a person with more than 75 per cent disability. Application for the grant is to be submitted in the prescribed format with copies of the birth certificate, bonafide domicile certificate for Himachal Pradesh, disability certificate issued by the district medical board and marriage registration certificate of the applicant along with an undertaking from the applicant that such a grant has not been received before.

Category	Notification No.	Details
All	Department of Social Justice and Empowerment NO.SJF-C(10)-31/2006, Dated Shimla-2	Integrated Scheme for Persons with Disabilities

[1]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himachal_Pradesh

[2]. Department of Social Justice and Empowerment No. SJF-C(10)-31/2006, Shimla - 2.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-kit-himachal-pradesh-call-for-comments

National Resource Kit: The Lakshadweep Chapter (Call for Comments)

anandi — 2014-02-20T10:00:32Z

The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of Lakshadweep.

The Department of Social Justice, Empowerment and Culture is responsible for welfare of persons with disabilities in Lakshadweep. The union territory has an estimated population of 1678 persons with disabilities in a total population of 64,429 people. Lakshadweep implements two schemes under Skill Development & Employment, three schemes under Social Security, Health, Rehabilitation & Recreation and has notified authorities for disability Certification and certifying Organisations & Individuals for Persons with Disabilities.

Click to download the full chapter (PDF, 187 Kb)

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-lakshadweep-chapter-call-for-comments

A Discussion on Intercept between UNCRPD & CEDAW

anandi — 2013-03-27T10:04:30Z

A seminar was jointly organized by the Shanta Memorial Institute of Rehabilitation – Odisha, CBR Network and Mitra Jyoti to discuss the intercept between the United Nations Convention for Protection of Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) on February 4, 2013 at Mitra Jyoti in Bangalore. Anandhi Viswanathan participated in the seminar and shares her experiences in this post.

The aim of the seminar was to explore the challenges faced by women with disabilities and the need to set up a national network of women with disabilities in India. The discussions were led by Dr. Asha Hans of the Shanta Memmorial Institute of Rehabilitation, Indumathi Rao of the CBR Network and Madhu Singhal of Mitra Jyoti.

Participants at the seminar discussed some of the challenges that women with disabilities faced in the country on a regular basis. Violence against women with disabilities was a major concern raised by several participants. It was felt that many disabled women are victims of violence — physical, emotional or sexual in nature, which are perpetuated on them either in their homes or at their workplaces or outside in general.

Health and sanitation concerns of women with disabilities were also discussed. The lack in general awareness of the health and sanitation requirements of women with disabilities and the non-availability of facilities to cater to these needs were felt to be some of the major concerns in this sphere. Participants also felt that the lack of awareness and the general social attitude towards women with disabilities lead to their marginalisation and alienation in society.

Women with disabilities face double discrimination — on grounds of their disability and for their gender. They are not included in discussions on disability which revolve around men with disabilities, or on discussions on women which more often than not focuses on women without disabilities, and unfortunately this “minority” group of women with disabilities is left on its own. The challenges faced by women with disabilities are unique. These are quite different from challenges faced by either by men with disabilities or by women without disabilities. Women with disabilities are yet to be categorised as a separate group by the government for considering and addressing their difficulties.

The participants at this event further felt that the challenges being faced by women with disabilities could be addressed by introducing provisions specific to their needs in the legislations for persons with disabilities. The seminar concluded that two exercises must be undertaken to consolidate the case for including provisions specific to women with disabilities in legislations:

Developing a system of including women with disabilities as a separate category in all the data pools being compiled by the government, and
Creating a database of issues being faced by women with disabilities on all levels across the country.

It was proposed that a network of women with disabilities be set up in order to create a platform for women with disabilities to showcase challenges and seek solutions. The group felt that the network could play an active role in documenting issues faced by women with disabilities and aid in creating a database of challenges. The network could also play a part in seeking for women with disabilities to be included as a separate category in all national data pools compiled by the government.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/discussion-on-intercept-between-uncrpd-and-cedaw

National Resource Kit: The Punjab Chapter (Call for Comments)

anandi — 2013-11-07T06:14:03Z

The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of Punjab.

Executive Summary

Punjab has not enacted any specific law or state policy for persons with disabilities in the state. The Social Security and Women and Child Development Department, which is primarily responsible for the welfare of persons with disabilities within the state, has implemented several schemes for the benefit of persons with disabilities. There are eight schemes in education, seven schemes in employment and four schemes in social protection.

State Profile

Capital: Chandigarh
Population: 27,704,236
Population of Persons with Disabilities: 4,24,523 (2001 Census)
Literacy: 76.68%
HDI: 0.679 Rank: 9^th (2005)[1]
Department: Social Security and Women and Child Development Department

Legal Provisions
The government of Punjab has not enacted any law for persons with disabilities nor has any state policy been introduced or implemented for persons with disabilities. However, the department that is primarily responsible for the welfare of persons with disabilities in Punjab has been implementing several schemes for the persons with disabilities. These schemes have been listed below as:

Education
Students with visual impairment are allowed The government provides three per cent reservation for persons with disabilities in different courses in all the universities in Punjab.

Students with visual impairment are allowed the use of a scribe while appearing for their examinations. The government provides students with visual impairment a sum of Rs. 50 per month as allowance for their helper.

The government provides a scholarship of Rs. 200 per month for students with disabilities up to class VIII and Rs. 300 per month scholarship for disabled students from class IX onwards. In addition to the above scholarship, girls with disabilities and disabled rural learners up to class X are provided an attendance scholarship of Rs. 1500 every year along with a scholarship of Rs. 1000 per year towards uniform and stationery. The government has a provision to award a scholarship of Rs. 1500 per year towards clothes and Rs. 1500 per year towards stationery for girls with disabilities studying in class XI and above.

The Punjab School Education Board has exempted students with visual impairment and students with hearing impaired from appearing for the middle standard Examinations.

Students with disabilities are exempted from appearing for practical examinations. They are graded based on their performance in the written examination.

The government of Punjab provides free books to students with visual impairment upto the age of 18 years.

Students with visual impairment are permitted to select two optional subjects in place of science and mathematics. These include additional languages, music and musical instruments.

Employment
The government of Punjab provides three per cent reservation for direct recruitment of persons with disabilities in all the state departments, boards and corporations. The government further provides three per cent reservation in the promotion of employees with disabilities in groups A, B, C and D. The three per cent reservation is split up as one per cent for visually impaired, one per cent for hearing impaired and one per cent for physically disabled.

The state government has opened an employment office for providing employment opportunities to persons with disabilities at SCO no. 118-119, Sector 22, Chandigarh.

The government of Punjab provides three per cent reservation for direct recruitment of persons with disabilities in all the state departments, boards and corporations. The government further provides three per cent reservation in the promotion of employees with disabilities in groups A, B, C and D. The three per cent reservation is split up as one per cent for visually impaired, one per cent for hearing impaired and one per cent for physically disabled.

The state government has opened an employment office for providing employment opportunities to persons with disabilities at SCO no. 118-119, Sector 22, Chandigarh.

Punjab provides persons with disabilities an age relaxation of ten years in fixed age limit during the recruitment process. The government has also extended the service period for persons with disabilities by extending their retirement age to 60 years from the regular 58 years.

Persons with disabilities who are unable to type are exempted by the government from taking the typing examination during the tests for recruitment of clerks.

Persons with disabilities who are employees of the state government are provided a conveyance allowance of Rs. 450 per month in addition to their salaries.

The National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation, Faridabad provides loans at low interest rates for persons with disabilities to start their own business ventures. The state government has declared the Scheduled Caste and Finance Corporation the state channelizing agency.

The department runs the Government Workshop for the Physically Disabled at Ludhiana to impart training to persons with disabilities in occupations such as weaving, hosiery, caning, candle making etc. Trainees enrolled for the courses are eligible to receive a scholarship of Rs. 300 per month.

Health & Rehabilitation
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (Government of India) has established the Regional Spine Injuries Centre at Sector 70 SAS Nagar, Mohali. Spinal operations for the patients from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir are done at this centre.

Social Protection
The government provides a disability pension of Rs. 250 per month to persons with disabilities.

Persons with disabilities who are unemployed and have registered themselves with the employment exchange are provided with unemployment allowance based on their disability and educational qualification.

Category	Matric / Under graduate	Graduate / Post Graduate
Visually impaired / Hearing impaired	Rs. 450 p.m.	Rs. 600 p.m.
Physically disabled	Rs. 225 p.m.	Rs. 300 p.m.

The state government has made provisions to award employees with disabilities for outstanding achievement at the workplace. The state government also recognises outstanding employers, institutions for the disabled, social workers and other players for their contribution through cash awards.

Persons with disabilities who are visually impaired or physically disabled are eligible for free transport on state transport buses – Punjab Roadways and PRTC.

[1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjab,_India

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-kit-punjab-chapter-call-for-comments

National Resource Kit: The Uttarakhand Chapter (Call for Comments)

anandi — 2013-11-07T06:15:11Z

The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of Uttarakhand.

Executive Summary

Uttarakhand is yet to enact any specific legislation for persons with disabilities. The state currently implements certain social security schemes and provides scholarships for students with disabilities.

State Profile

Capital: Dehradun
Population: 10,116,752
Population of Persons with Disabilities: 1, 94, 769 (2001 Census)
Literacy: 79.63%
HDI: 0.515 Rank: 7th[1]
Department: Social Welfare Department
Directorate: Directorate of Social Welfare

Legal Provisions
The government of Uttarakhand has not enacted any legislation specifically for persons with disabilities. The state has implemented some social protection initiatives and schemes for education. These are listed categorically as below:

Education
Students with disabilities or students whose guardians are persons with disabilities and whose monthly income does not exceed Rs. 2000 are eligible to receive scholarships.

Scholarships are provided from class 1 to post-graduate level education as per the below mentioned rates and standards:

Category	Standard for Scholarship			Period (Maximum)
Handicapped Student	Class	Rate Per Month	Limit of Income of Parents
	1 - 5	Rs. 50/-	Maximum Rs.2000/- per month	12 months
	6 - 8	Rs. 80/-	Maximum Rs.2000/- per month	12 months
	9 - 10	Rs. 170/-	Maximum Rs.2000/- per month	12 months
Standard for Scholarship	Rate Per Month		Limit of Annual Income of Parents	Period (Maximum)
	Hosteller	Day Scholar	Maximum upto Rs.24,000/- per year	From the date of admission to the month of examination of the last year. (If the admission is taken after the 20th day of the month than the scholarship will be applicable from following month).
Inter	Rs.140/-	Rs. 85/-
Graduation	Rs.180/-	Rs. 125/-
Post Graduation and other Vocational Course	Rs.240/-	Rs.170/-

Social Protection
The government of Uttarakhand provides a maintenance grant to destitute persons with disabilities at the rate of Rs. 600 per month. Disabled persons eligible for this pension should either belong to the BPL category or persons whose monthly income does not exceed Rs. 1000. Persons with disabilities in the age group of 18 to 65 years with 80 per cent or more disability or who have multiple disabilities and are below the poverty line are eligible to receive a grant of Rs. 400 from the state government and Rs. 200 from the Government of India under the National Disability Pension Scheme. Persons with disabilities who are leprosy cured are eligible for a grant of Rs. 1000 per month. Persons with disabilities applying for the grant should at least have 40 per cent of disability as certified by the concerned Chief Medical Officer. He / she should not have any other source of income. Those applicants whose sons / grandsons are below 20 years of age and who live below the poverty line are eligible to apply for the grant.

The government has brought out a scheme that honours employees for achievements with state level awards for the best employee in case of employees with disabilities and persons with disabilities who are self employed. Other categories include best employer and placement officers. The government provides a cash award of Rs. 500 along with a letter of appreciation by the Department of Social Welfare.

The state provides marriage grants for persons with disabilities provided that the couple are citizens of India and are domiciled in Uttarakhand or have been residing in the state for five or more years and provided that neither the bride nor the groom have been convicted in any criminal case. Rs. 11,000 is given as a grant when the bridegroom is disabled and a grant of Rs. 14,000 is given in cases where either the bride or both bride and groom are disabled.

The government of Uttarakhand has introduced a shop construction rehabilitation scheme wherein those persons with disabilities who have their own land will be provided a loan of Rs. 20,000 to set up their shop. The government provides Rs. 15,000 as loan at an interest of four per cent and the remaining Rs. 5000 is given as a grant.

Persons with disabilities are eligible to travel free of cost on buses belonging to the State Road Transport Corporation.

The Department of Social Welfare provides a maximum grant of Rs. 3500 to persons with disabilities for the purchase of artificial organ and hearing aid equipment. Persons with disabilities applying for this grant should not have a monthly income of more than 1000

Under the central ADIP scheme, persons with disabilities are provided grants to acquire artificial organs, aids and appliances through the implementing agencies / institutions. These are:

Narayan Sewa Sansthan Trust, Sewadham Sewanagar, Hiran Magari, Sector-4, Udaipur – 313040 – Rajasthan
Bajaj Institute of Learning, 155, Rajpur Road, Dehradun
National Institute for the Blind, 116, Rajpur Road, Dehradun.

The state government conducts camps and seminars for persons with disabilities to sanction their pensions. These camps are conducted near their village panchayats or judicial panchayats for the convenience of persons with disabilities.

[1].https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttarakhand

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-kit-uttarakhand-chapter-call-for-comments

National Resource Kit: The Maharashtra Chapter (Call for Comments)

anandi — 2013-11-07T06:14:58Z

The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of Maharashtra.

Executive Summary

The state of Maharashtra is in the process of finalising the Maharashtra State Policy for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. The draft is currently under discussion by the government and civil society organisations. The government of Maharashtra has issued notifications on providing assistive technologies to disabled employees in government and semi-government services.

State Profile

Capital: Mumbai
Population: 112,372,972
Population of Persons with Disabilities: 15,69,582 (2001 Census)
Literacy: 82.9%
HDI: 0.689 Rank: 12th (2005)[1]
Department: Department of Social Justice and Empowerment

Legal Provisions
The state of Maharashtra is in the process of putting together a state policy for persons with disabilities to implement the provisions in the three central laws. The draft of this document is presently being deliberated by the government and civil bodies for persons with disabilities.

The government has passed a few notifications for persons with disabilities. These are listed below:

Accessibility
The government of Maharashtra has published a list of supportive devices and assistive technologies that are required by blind and visually impaired employees in government and semi-government services to fulfil their duties. The order provides that the existing disabled employees as well as those who are to be appointed will have to be provided with these devices according to their needs.[2]

The government of Maharashtra has issued a notification to the effect that all employees with disabilities who are appointed to government and semi-government services will be provided with devices with assistive technology that enable them to carry out their designated tasks. The order provides that each disabled employee is eligible to purchase two devices worth a maximum of Rs. 50,000 per head and the charges borne by the employee for the purchase of the devices are to be reimbursed by the government within 15 days of the claim. The order further states that for devices worth more than Rs. 50,000 the department is responsible for purchasing the devices for the use of the employees.[3]

Education
The University of Mumbai has issued a circular approving the use of scribe and providing extra time to students with disabilities such as blindness, low vision and physical disability, and those suffering from conditions like dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia or equivalent conditions. The circular further provides that the principals of colleges and heads of institutes will be responsible for assisting the students in locating scribes and providing permission letters.[4]

[1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharashtra

[2]. Social Justice and Special Support Department Government Decision Date: Court Order- 2011/C.No-4/Amendment – 3 Dated: 3rd June 2011

[3]. Social Justice and Special Services Department Government Circular No. Court Order – 2011/C No – 4/Amend Dated: 20th August 2011

[4]. No. Exam/COE/Benefit/102 of 2012 31st March, 2012

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-kit-maharashtra-chapter-call-for-comments

National Resource Kit: The Goa Chapter (Call for Comments)

anandi — 2013-11-07T06:16:40Z

The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of Goa.

The chapter is an early draft and is in the process of being reviewed and updated. Comments and feedback are welcome.

Executive Summary

Goa has framed the Goa Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Rules 1997 and has formulated the state policy and plan of action for Differently Abled persons to implement the provisions under the three central laws.

The state policy makes provisions for barrier free access. The state has issued three notifications for education, four notifications for employment and one notification each for health and rehabilitation, social protection and transport.

Legal Provisions
Goa has framed the Goa Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Rules 1997 and has formulated the state policy and plan of action for Differently Abled persons to implement the provisions under the three central laws:

Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 (Persons with Disabilities Act)
National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities 1999 (National Trust Act)
Rehabilitation Council of India Act 1992

The government has constituted the State Coordination Committee under the chairmanship of the Minister of Social Welfare and the State Executive Committee under the chairmanship of the Secretary – Social Welfare for monitoring and implementation of the various provisions of the Persons with Disabilities Act.

Click to download the full chapter here

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-resource-kit-goa-call-for-comments

National Resource Kit: The Andhra Chapter (Revised)

anandi — 2014-02-12T05:21:41Z

The National Resource Kit team is pleased to bring you its research on the state of laws, policies and programmes for persons with disabilities in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

This chapter was revised based on the comments and feedback received from our readers.

The Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens is responsible for the welfare of persons with disabilities in Andhra Pradesh. The state has an estimated population of 13,64,981[1] persons with disabilities of the total population of 84,655,533[2] people. The state has issued three notifications under General Entitlements, one notification under Women & Children with Disabilities, four notifications under Education, ten notifications under Skill Development and Employment, ten notifications under Social Security, Health &Rehabilitation and Recreation, three notifications under Accessibility and has identified and notified medical boards for disability certification.

1. General Entitlements

1.1 Persons with disabilities with 40% or more disability may apply for the benefits under the schemes implemented by government / NGOs.
1.2 Dwarf persons are included in the category of locomotor disabled.
1.3 AP Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act 1987 exempts persons with disabilities from payment of professional tax.

Sr. No.	Issuing Authority	Notification No.	Details
1	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.MS.No. 27, dated: 09.08.2000	People with at least 40% disability may apply for Govt / NGOs schemes
2	Revenue Department	G.O.MS.No. 1063 Dated: 02.08.2007	Exemption from professional tax

2. Women & Children with Disabilities

2.1 Girls with 80% or more disability are eligible for benefits under GCPS.[3]

Sr. No.	Issuing Authority	Notification No.	Details
1	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	Memo No. 7861/JJ/A1/2004, Dated 11.06.2008	Girls with 80% or more disability eligible for GCPS Annual family income not more than Rs. 1,00,000 Single child / both children girls conditions are not applicable Girls with one / two brothers also eligible

3. Education

3.1 Post matric scholarship / fee reimbursements provided to disabled students in govt / university colleges / institutions and Category A convenor quota students in private colleges.

3.2 Exemption from 2nd and 3rd languages to students with hearing impairment at SSC level.

3.3 Concessions in evaluation, scribe, language exemption and extra time provided to students appearing for Class 7 and Class 10 public examination.

3.4 Disabled students whose annual family income does not exceed Rs. 1,00,000 are eligible to apply for scholarships / fee reimbursements.

S.No.	Issuing Authority	Notification No.	Details
1	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.MS.No. 21 Dated: 3.07.2008	Post matric Scholarship & fee reimbursement for govt / university colleges / institutions All eligible applicants entitled for reimbursement Fees directly reimbursed to institutions No fees to be collected during admission
2	Education (Exams) Department	G.O.Rt.No.1161 Edn. Dated:24.06.1992	Exemption from 2nd & 3rd language for hearing impaired students at SSC level Divisions awarded based on performance in other papers
3	Education (Exams) Department	G.O.Ms.No. 33 Dated: 19.03.2001	Concessions to students appearing for Class 7 and Class 10 exams Minimum marks required for passing is 20 Jumbling system for evaluation abolished and only trained teachers engaged Scribe provided to visually impaired students is of Class 10 Exemption from 2nd and 3rd languages and fees is applicable to all disabled students Half hour extra time during exams provided to all disabled students from classes 7th to 10th
4	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.MS.No. 9 Dated: 10.4.2008	Scholarship for students with annual family income not exceeding Rs. 1,00,000 Books / instruments – ITI / Polytechnic students Musical instruments – Professional music students Scholarships – Students with mental disabilities & research scholars Typewriting / Short hand / Examination coaching – Professional examinations

4. Skill Development & Employment

4.1 Reservation of 3% in all state government positions for persons with disabilities. Preference given for those with higher degree of disability.

4.2 Reservation for identified posts will be carried forward for three consecutive years for recruitment of suitable candidate. If candidate with right disability for the reserved post is not identified, the post will be filled by interchanging among the three categories. Disabled women given 33% reservation within the 3%reservation on a rotational basis between the three categories.

4.3 3% reservation for promotion of persons with disabilities applicable to all the services of the state government with cadre strength more than five. Candidates must be fully qualified and eligible under existing rules and guidelines.

4.4 Persons with disabilities are allowed age relaxation of ten years on upper age limit for recruitment to government employment and exempted from the application fee for applying to the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission.

4.5 The rural development scheme with standard schedule rates for persons with disabilities employed for wages in rural development provides that wage rates for persons with disabilities would be operated at 30 per cent extra over the rural standard schedule rates on items of labour component only.

4.6 Persons with disabilities are given three per cent reservation in the allotment of fair price shops.

4.7 Three per cent of the shops and stalls constructed by the municipality will be leased to persons with disabilities for a payment of Rs. 2.50 per square feet or 50 per cent of the rent being paid by the neighbouring shop considering whichever is lower without the regular channel of public auction.

4.8 Persons with visual impairment who completed SSC / higher education directly without qualifying Class 7 are eligible for posts of attender / Group 4 posts in the Andhra Pradesh Last Grade Services.

4.9 Persons with disabilities who completed graduation / post graduation directly without completing Intermediate are eligible to apply for Group 4 posts in AP Ministerial Services / other services except at the office of the Head of Department where Intermediate is prescribed as minimum qualification.

4.10 Persons with disabilities given three per cent reservation in all coaching / training facilities and programmes of welfare departments for attempting competitive examinations.

S.No.	Issuing Authority	Notification Number	Details
1	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.MS. NO. 56 Dated: 02.12.2003	3% reservation in employment, preference for those with greater disability
2	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.Ms.No. 23 Dated: 26.05.2011	Carrying forward of reservation, interchanging among categories and reservation for women with disabilities
3	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.MS.No. 42 Dated: 19.10.2011	3% reservation for promotion in government employment
4	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.MS. No. 22 Dated: 25.05.2011	10 years relaxation in age limit and exemption from application fees for applying for government jobs
5	Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Department	G.O.MS.No. 146 Dated: 24.4.2007	Wages for persons with disabilities employed in rural development Applicable only if all persons in the group are disabled.
6	Food, Civil Supplies and consumer Affairs Department	G.O.Ms.No.99 Dated: - 22-10-1998	3% reservation in allotment of fair price shops
7	Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department	G.O.Ms.No. 63 M.A Dated: 14.02.1996	3% reservation in allotment of municipal shops and stalls
8	General Administration Department	G.O.Ms.No. 34 Dated:17-05-2003	Eligibility of VI persons without Class 7 qualification to apply for Group 4 posts In case of non availability of visually impaired candidates with the basic educational qualification prescribed for the posts in Service Rules.
9	General Administration Department	G.O Ms.NO.33 Dated:03-02-2003	Eligibility to apply for Group 4 posts for disabled persons without the qualification of intermediate Posts such as junior assistants/ junior typists / junior stenographers / junior accountant
10	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.Ms.No. 32 Dated: 13.07.2011	3% reservation in coaching and training facilities in welfare departments for competitive exams

5. Social Security, Health & Rehabilitation, and Recreation

5.1 Persons with disabilities are awarded a pension of Rs. 500 per month. In case of minor children, the pension will be given to the parents of the child.

5.2 Three percent of housing sites are reserved for persons with disabilities with annual income not exceeding Rs. 11,000 and will be allotted free of cost.

Adult, unmarried persons with disabilities also are eligible for allotment of houses / flats under the Housing Department as separate units / families. The ground floor of all the houses under the Indira MMS scheme are reserved for persons with disabilities and the flats / houses are designed to be disability friendly. In case of persons with mental disabilities, the house / flat is allotted to the guardian in the name of the person with the disability.

5.3 Persons with disabilities are eligible to receive at least three per cent reservation in physical or financial coverage in the poverty alleviation schemes of the state departments and local authorities.

5.4 Marriage grant of Rs. 10,000 is provided to couples for marriage between person with disabilities and person without disabilities.

5.5 Persons with disabilities may enjoy benefits under multiple schemes irrespective of the nature of the benefit to them provided that each benefit / scheme gives a different type of support or rehabilitative support to them.

5.6 Students with 80% or more disabilities pursuing higher education / professional education are given direct loans from the government for procuring improved prosthetic aids or motorised vehicles from the funds given to the Managing Director, Andhra Pradesh Vikalangula Co-operative Corporation.

5.7 State government employees with disabilities are eligible for conveyance allowance at 10% of their basic pay to a maximum of Rs. 650 per month. Vehicle maintenance allowance is provided to persons with disabilities at the rates mentioned in the table below.

Sr. No.	Issuing Authority	Notification No.	Details
1	Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Department	G.O.MS.No. 454 Dated: 14.11.2008	Rs. 500 disability pension per month
2	Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Department	G.O.MS.No. 117 Dated: 29.03.2007	Disability pension provided to all. In case of disabled children, parents given the pension
3	Social Welfare Department	G.O.Ms.No.133 Dated: 17.09.1997	3% housing sites allotted free of cost to persons with disabilities with annual income less than 11,000
4	Housing Department	G.O.RT.No. 106 Dated: 27.3.2008	Persons with disabilities allotted houses / flats under Housing Board Ground floor of apartments reserved for persons with disabilities Guardians of mentally disabled are allotted houses / flats in the name of the beneficiary
5	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.MS.No. 1 Dated: 9.01.2002	3% reservation in Coverage in poverty alleviation schemes
6	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.MS.No. 18 Dated: 19.6.2008	Marriage grant of Rs. 10,000 for marriage between disabled and non-disabled persons
7	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.MS.No. 19, Dated: 25.6.2008	Granting enjoyment of multiple schemes like scholarship / pension / economic support at the same time as long as each scheme provides a different support
8	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.RT.No. 194 Dated: 30.06.2008	Government loans for procuring prosthetic aids and motorised vehicles Rs. 5000 given as incentive / subsidy Remaining amount not exceeding Rs. 60,000 – loan to be recovered in three years
9	Finance Department	G.O.Ms.No. 197 Dated:06-07-2006	Conveyance allowance to state government employees at 10% of basic pay not exceeding Rs. 650 p.m.
10	Finance Department	G.O.MS.No. 276 Dated: 15.10.2005	Vehicle maintenance allowance to persons with disabilities Cycles – Rs. 125 per month Motorised vehicles – Rs. 700 per month.

6. Accessibility

6.1 All departments / local authorities / agencies are required to provide barrier free environment in all new buildings and public utilities for easy access of persons with disabilities.

6.2 Teachers and lecturers with visual impairment are given readers allowance for engaging readers to access printed material.

6.3 Committee constituted to prescribe JAWS software knowledge and practical ability instead of or along with typewriting for visually impaired candidates for the posts of typists, stenographers and data entry operators.

Sr. No.	Issuing Authority	Notification No.	Details
1	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.MS.No. 30 Dated: 17.6.2002	Barrier free access to all new buildings and public utilities
2	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.MS.No. 34 Dated: 16.07.2010	Reader’s allowance for visually impaired teachers and lecturers Secondary grade teachers (including craft instructors) – Rs. 400 per month School assistants – Rs. 500 per month Junior lecturers and above – Rs. 600 per month
3	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O. MS. No. 36 Dated: 03.08.2011	Committee for prescribing use of JAWS software for visually impaired typists / stenographers / data entry operators

7. Certification

7.1 All hospitals / government teaching hospitals in district head quarters are notified as district medical boards authorised to give certificates for persons with disabilities.

In case of loss of certificate, the person may apply to the board with FIR and the non-traceable certification from the police and a new certificate will be issued within 20 days of application.

Sr. No.	Issuing Authority	Notification No.	Details
1	Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens	G.O.MS.No. 31 Dated: 1.12.2009	All govt hospitals / govt teaching hospitals in district headquarters can issue disability certificates If original certificate is lost, application for duplicate should be made with FIR and police non traceable report Duplicate is issued within 20 days of application Disability-wise Appellate Boards: Orthopedically DISABLED / locomotor disability / dwarfs / hunchback / muscular dystrophy / leprosy-cured Osmania General Hospital, Hyderabad & Gandhi Hospital, Hyderabad Blindness / Low vision – Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital, Hyderabad Mental Retardation – Institute for Mental Health, HYDERABAD & National Institute for Mentally Handicapped Mental Illness – State Institute for Mental Health, Hyderabad Hearing Impairment – Government ENT Hospital, Koti, Hyderabad

8. Schemes & Grants for Organisations & Individuals for Disabilities

8.1 There are no specific grants or schemes for organisations or individuals operating in the field of disabilities.

9. Disability Authorities

Andhra Pradesh has two authorities responsible for the welfare of persons with disabilities:

Department for Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens
Commissioner for Disabilities.

[1].http://socialjustice.nic.in/statewisedisabled.php

[2].http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andhra_Pradesh

[3]. Girl Child Protection Scheme

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