Lok Sabha Question No. 1253 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-30
Subject: Education and Employment for People with Disabilities
Ministry: SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
Asked by: Dr. Vinod Kumar Bind, Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT DEPARTMENT OF EMPOWERMENT OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1253 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2024

## EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

- 1253    Dr. Vinod Kumar Bind:

Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi:

Will the Minister of SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT सामािजक  Ɋाय  और  अिधकाįरता मंũी be pleased to state:-

(a)  whether  the Government is making  education and employment more accessible for people with disabilities;

(b)  if  so,  the  details  of  schemes  for  making  education  and  employment  more  accessible  for people with disabilities; and

(c) the details of steps taken by the Government to raise awareness about disability rights;

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT

(SHRI B. L. VERMA)

(a) and (b): Sir, to make education more accessible, the Accessibility Guidelines and Standards for  Higher  Education  Institutions  and  Universities  and  Accessibility  Code  for  Educational Institutions  formulated  by  the  Department  of  Higher  Education  and  Accessibility  Code  for Educational  Institutions  by  Dept.  of  School  Education  and  Literacy,  Ministry  of  Education respectively have been notified under the RPwD Rules, 2017.

Further,  Department  of  School  Education  &  Literacy  has  launched  an  overarching programme for the school education sector- Samagra Shiksha Scheme. Under Samagra Siksha, there is a dedicated component for Inclusive Education for Children with Special Needs (IE for CwSN), to ensure full equity and inclusion such that all children with special needs are able to fully participate in schools. The scheme aims to look at education fo CwSN in a contimum from pre-school to class XII. The scheme covers all CwSN with one or more disabilities as mentioned in  the  Schedule of disabilities of the Right of the  Person with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016. The Samagra Shiksha Scheme is being implemented through State Goverments/ UT administrations and the Central Government provides necessary financial support for the same.

Through  the  inclusive  education  for  CwSN  component,  various  provisions  are  made available for CwSN such as identification and assessment camps (at block level), student specific interventions  @  Rs.  3500/-  per  CwSN  per  annum  for  support,  such  as  provision  of  aids, appliances, assistive devices, teaching-learning material, Braille books, large print with severe & multiple  disabilities  who  are  unable  to  attend  school.  The  focus  of  Samagra  Siksha  is  on providing inclusive education to CwSN, wherein children regardless of their abilities/disabilities participate and learn together in the same class, thus creating an equitable enabling educational environment for all students.

Section 17(i) of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 provides making suitable modification in the curriculum and examination system, by way of provisioning extra time for completion of examination paper and exemption from second and third language courses to meet the  needs  of  students  with  disabilities.  In  view  of  this,  CBSE  being  sensitive  to  the  needs  of disabled students provides several exemptions/concessions to CwSN including deaf and dumb as defined in RPwD Act, 2016 such as issuing authority of medical certificate, facility of scribe and compensatory time, appointment of scribe and related instructions, fee and special exemptions for  class  X  like  exemption  from  third  language,  flexibility  in  choosing  subjects,  alternate questions/separate  questions  and  special  exemptions  for  class  XII  like  flexibility  in  choosing subjects, separate question paper and questions in lieu of practical component.

Furthermore,  Department  of  Empowerment  of  Persons  with  Disabilities  (DEPwD) implements  'National  Action  Plan  (NAP)  for  Skill  Development  of  Persons  with  Disabilities (PwDs)' which was launched in March, 2015.NAP is implemented under the umbrella scheme'Scheme for Implementation of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 (SIPDA)'. Under NAP, funds are released as per Common Norms Guidelines issued and subsequent amendments from time to time by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship for imparting skill training to persons with disabilities in the age group of 15 to 59 years. This Department recently launched PM-DAKSH-DEPwD Portal. The link of the portal is available on https://pmdaksh.depwd.gov.in/login. Under this portal, there are two modules:-

- i. Divyangjan Kaushal Vikas :-  Skill  training  is  conducted  for  PwDs  through  the portal across the country.
- ii. Divyangjan Rozgar Setu :- The platform aims to act as a bridge between PwDs and  employers  having  jobs  for  PwDs.  The  platform  provides  geo-tagged  based information  on  employment/earning  opportunities  within  private  companies  as well as PwDs across India.

(c): The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) is implementing "Awareness Generation  &  Publicity  Scheme"  as  one  of  the  component  under  SIPDA  Scheme across the country. The main objective of the scheme is creation of general awareness about the schemes and programmes of the Government for the welfare of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and to train  and sensitize key  functionaries of the Central/State Government/Local Bodies and other service providers on a regular basis on disability related matters through State/District/Block level workshops with the aim to raise awareness among employees and peer groups about capabilities of PwDs.

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