Centre to add more kinds of disabilities under Disabilities Bill

NEW DELHI: The Centre would bring in more kinds of disabilities under the ambit of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, which is likely to be introduced in the winter session of Parliament.

Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishan Pal Gurjar also said that steps should be taken to get CSR (corporate social responsibility) funds from private companies to execute schemes of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

He was addressing the gathering on the occasion of an awareness generation convention on the welfare schemes of the Government for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) here today.

"We would cover more disabilities under the bill, which would be introduced in the winter session of Parliament," he said.

Though the Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha in 2014, it was sent to Standing Committee for further consultations. The Standing Committee had submitted its report to Parliament in May this year.

The bill seeks to replace the existing Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 that identifies only seven disabilities.

Noting that hardly between 120 and 130 District Disability Rehabilitation Centres (DDRC) are active in the country, he said, steps would be taken for establishing at least one centre in every district.

Pointing out that the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities is implementing several schemes for the uplift of PwDs, the Minister sought for attracting CSR funds from the private sector to overcome any financial crunch for executing the programmes for differently-abled people.

Earlier, in his address, Minister of State for Social Justice Vijay Sampla said that some officials in States were not aware about the schemes implemented by the Centre with regard to the ministry.

Stressing that awareness about the schemes among officials was vital, he said, "The quantum of funds allocated for a scheme is immaterial. But, what is more important is the number of beneficiaries that the scheme has reached."

Elaborating on the functioning of Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), Awanish K Awashthi Joint Secretary of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities said that manufacturing of equipments for PwDs would witness a growth in India.

With China being the competitors for India in this sector, he said that the sector would improve in India in the wake of raising salaries for workers employed in this sector in the neighbouring country.