State Governments should extensively educate the people with disabilities about the advantages of Persons with disabilities Act 2016 so that they can reap benefits of the various schemes under it. It was said by Mr. Navreet Singh Kang, Secretary to Government of India while chairing the regional conference of the northern states at hotel Mount View here today.Mr. Navreet Singh Kang, Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities said that Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act. 2016 which has been brought into force w.e.f April 19, 2017 has guaranteed economical and social welfare of the people with disabilities and the states should generate awareness among them so that they might be able to get the due benefits of the various welfare schemes. He said that under the Act the reservation has been increased from 3 to 4 percent besides recognizing 21 disabilities which were earlier 7.
Joint Secretary GOI Dolly Chakarbarty, Mr. S. K. Sandhu, Additional Chief Secretary, Social Security and Women & Child Development, Government of Punjab, Mr. R.R. Jowewl, Additional Chief Secretary, Social Justice and Empowerment Government of Haryana, other officers of the GoI along with the representatives of six states of Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pardesh, Jammu Kashmir, Delhi and U.T of Chandigarh were present in this conference. It was discussed that Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi Launched Accessible India Campaign/ Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan on December 3,2015, for creating universal accessibility for Persons with Disabilities in Built Environment, Transport, and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) ecosystem. The campaign is based on the principles of the Social Model of Disability. This model proposes that disability is caused by the way society is organized, and not the person’s limitations and impairments.
Similarly the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (PwD Act) casts certain obligations on the appropriate Government to provide facilities and services to persons with disabilities (PwDs). In accordance with this, the Ministry has been Implementing the Scheme for Implementation of Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 (SIPDA) for providing financial assistance to undertake various activities outlined in the PWD Act.During the conference other key schemes which were launched by the government were also reviewed, these schemes included scheme of assistance to disabled persons for purchase/fitting of aids and appliances (ADIP scheme), deendayal disabled rehabilitation scheme (DDRS), setting up of district disability rehabilitation centres (DDRCS), national action plan for skill development of persons with disabilities, scholarship schemes for persons with disabilities.Regional Conference concluded with a fruitful brainstorming session with all the participants.