{"id":1160,"date":"2026-05-30T05:11:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T05:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/?p=1160"},"modified":"2026-06-02T05:11:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T05:11:51","slug":"rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-act-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/30\/rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-act-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

About<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • The\u00a0Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, enacted in 2016<\/mark>, aims to\u00a0uphold the dignity of people with disabilities and prevent discrimination<\/mark><\/strong>, replacing the 1995 Persons with Disabilities Act.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The Act fulfills India\u2019s obligations to the\u00a0United National Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD),\u00a0<\/strong>to which\u00a0India is a signatory<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Disabilities covered:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • The Act\u00a0expanded the scope of protection<\/strong>\u00a0for disabled persons,\u00a0increasing\u00a0recognised<\/strong>\u00a0categories of disability from<\/strong> 7 to 21<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0redefining them through social, environmental, and relational lenses<\/strong>\u00a0rather than solely medical terms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Rights and Entitlements:<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • Every child with benchmark disability<\/strong>\u00a0between the age group of\u00a06 and 18 years\u00a0<\/strong>shall have the\u00a0right to free education.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • All Government institutions of higher education<\/strong>\u00a0and those\u00a0getting aid<\/strong>\u00a0from the Government\u00a0are required to\u00a0reserve at least 5% of seats<\/strong><\/mark>\u00a0for persons with benchmark disabilities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • 4% reservation\u00a0<\/strong>for persons with benchmark disabilities is to be provided in\u00a0posts of all Government establishments<\/strong><\/mark>.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Incentives to employers in the private sector<\/strong>\u00a0are to be given who provide\u00a05% reservation<\/strong>\u00a0for persons with benchmark disability.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Special employment exchanges<\/strong>\u00a0for the PWD are to be set up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Children with disabilities not to be separated from their parents:<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • The Act\u00a0states\u00a0that no child with disability shall be separated from his or her parents on the grounds of disability except on an order of a competent court, if\u00a0required, in the best interest of the child.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          Establishment of Authorities:<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          • Central & State Advisory Boards on Disability\u00a0<\/strong>are to be set up to serve as apex policy making bodies at the Central and State level.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • The\u00a0Office of Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities\u00a0<\/strong>has been\u00a0strengthened who will now be assisted\u00a0by\u00a02 Commissioners<\/strong>\u00a0and an\u00a0Advisory Committee<\/strong>\u00a0comprising\u00a0not more than 11 members drawn from experts in various disabilities.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • The\u00a0Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities and the State Commissioners\u00a0<\/strong>will act as\u00a0regulatory bodies<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Grievance Redressal agencies<\/strong>\u00a0and also\u00a0monitor<\/strong>\u00a0implementation of the Act.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Special Courts<\/strong>\u00a0will be\u00a0designated\u00a0in each district to handle cases concerning violation of rights of\u00a0PwDs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
            \n

            Accessible India Campaign<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            • Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan<\/strong>)\u00a0was launched in\u00a02015\u00a0<\/strong>by the\u00a0Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD)\u00a0<\/strong>under the\u00a0Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment\u00a0<\/strong>as a nation-wide Campaign for\u00a0achieving universal accessibility\u00a0<\/strong>for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).\u202f<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
              \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
                \n
              • The aim of the Campaign is to create a\u00a0barrier free environment\u00a0<\/strong>and provide\u00a0disabled-friendly access in public facilities and places.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • The Accessible India Campaign\u00a0comprises\u00a0of the following three components:<\/mark>\u00a0\n
                  \n
                • Built Environment Accessibility:<\/strong>\u00a0To provide an accessible physical environment for everyone. Measures should be undertaken to\u00a0eliminate\u00a0obstacles and barriers to indoor and outdoor facilities including schools, medical facilities, and workplaces.\u202f\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Transportation System Accessibility:<\/strong>\u00a0Focuses on providing\u00a0PwDs\u00a0an equal right to travel and use public and private transportation infrastructure with dignity and independence.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Information and Communication Eco-System Accessibility:\u00a0<\/strong>Access to information refers to all information. This can range from actions such as being able to read price tags, to physically enter a hall, to\u00a0participate\u00a0in an event, to read a pamphlet with healthcare information, to understand a train timetable, or to view webpages.\u202f\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • To provide full legislative cover to the Campaign and Right to\u00a0accessibility, the Government enacted the\u00a0Rights for Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

                  Why in\u00a0News?<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/mark><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
                    \n
                  • The Supreme Court has included persons who were forcibly administered acid within the definition of \u2018acid attack victims\u2019 under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.\u00a0\n
                      \n
                    • The 2016 law\u00a0recognised\u00a0only victims of acid-throwing, and not forcible acid ingestion.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • The deemed recognition would aid victims of forcible acid ingestion to claim disability benefits due under the 2016 Act.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                      Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 About Disabilities covered: Rights and Entitlements: Children with disabilities not to be separated from their parents: Establishment of Authorities: Accessible India Campaign Why in\u00a0News?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-polity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1160"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1162,"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1160\/revisions\/1162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/materials.simplycurrentaffairs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}