Early detection centres in all districts, a national level employment portal, and dedicated sports centres are among the provisions of a new national policy for the differently abled, a draft of which has been prepared by the department of empowerment of persons with disabilities (DEPwD) under the ministry of social justice. The draft will be finalised soon and placed in the public domain for comments, said a senior DEPwD official.

“The existing policy was notified in 2006. A task force was set up in 2019 to prepare the draft policy after the new Right of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 came into force. A meeting of the expert committee is scheduled on October 25 to finalise the policy and then it will be put in the public domain,” added this person, asking not to be identified.

The draft policy, derives from the Right of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act 2016) and aims to provide a framework for the implementation of the new law. The 2016 law which replaced the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, added 14 disabilities to the seven mentioned in the latter.

“The draft national policy, once notified, will cover the gaps in providing government facilities to people with disabilities,” said the official.

While there are employment exchanges in various parts of the country for PwD, the new policy proposes the creation of a dedicated national level employment portal with information about government jobs for the differently abled. “Various departments issue advertisements regarding employment for PwD, but this portal will provide information regarding all the central government vacancies for people with disabilities at one place. It will also have information about various skill training centres in India,” added the official.

Disability rights activists say that there are several barriers for the differently abled when it comes to employment.

Subhash Chandra Vashishth, disability rights advocate and Director of Centre for Accessibility in Built Environment Foundation, said, “It is a good move to develop a dedicated national level employment portal for PwDs. But there should be provision for equal opportunity policy for the private sector, as the RPwD Act 2016 mandates. Most private establishments have not yet registered their EOPs with the Chief Commissioner/ State Commissioner as required by the Act.” His reference is to the Equal Opportunity Policy that both state-owned and private businesses were to declare and also register with the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, as mandated by the 2016 law.