Lok Sabha Question No. 1428 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-12
Subject: Making Education and Employment Accessible for PwDs
Ministry: SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
Asked by: Jayant Sinha, P. C. Mohan, Sandhya Ray, Sudhakar Tukaram Shrangre, Rajesh Verma

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1428

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.12.2023

## MAKING EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT ACCESSIBLE FOR PWDS

## 1428. SHRI JAYANT SINGH:

SHRI P.C. MOHAN:

SHRIMATI SANDHYA RAY:

SHRI SUDHAKAR TUKARAM SHRANGARE:

SHRI RAJESH VERMA:

Will the Minister of SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT be pleased to state:-

- (a) the steps taken by the Government to make education and employment more accessible for People with Disabilities (PwDs);
- (b) the salient features of the various schemes for making education and employment more accessible for PwDs;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to raise awareness about disability rights;
- (d)  the  beneficiaries  of  the  said  scheme  and  the  funding  outlaid  for  the  same  in  Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, district-wise including Bengaluru Urban; and
- (e) the budget allocations for this scheme in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, district-wise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT (SUSHRI PRATIMA BHOUMIK)

(a)  and  (b):  Sir,  to  make  education  more  accessible,  UGC  has  prepared  'Accessibility Guidelines and Standards for Higher Education Institutions and Universities' and AICTE has prepared 'AICTE  Guidelines  for inclusive education for all including persons with disabilities' for implementation in all Higher Educational Institutions in the best interest of Divyjangjan.

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 continuum 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  Governments/  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, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan)  implements  'National  Action  Plan  (NAP)  for  Skill  Development  of  Persons with  Disabilities'  which  was  launched  in  March,  2015.  NAP  is  implemented  under  the umbrella  scheme-'Scheme  for  Implementation  of  Persons  with  Disabilities  Act,  2016 (SIPDA)'.  Under  NAP,  for  imparting  skill  training  to  persons  with  disabilities  in  the  age group of 15 to 59  years, funds are released as per Common Norms Guidelines issued and amended  from  time  to  time  by  the  Ministry  of  Skill  Development  and  Entrepreneurship. Department has recently launched PM-Daksh-DEPwD Portal. Under this portal, there are two modules:-

(i) Skill Training:- 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 in 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.

- (d):  The  number  of  beneficiaries  and  fund  released  to  the  Empanelled  Training  Partners (ETPs)  under  NAP  for  skill  training  of  Persons  with  Disabilities  in  Madhya  Pradesh, Maharashtra and karantaka in the last three financial years are given below:

| State          | 2020-21                       | 2020-21                | 2020-21                      | 2021-22                       | 2021-22                | 2021-22                      | 2022-23                       | 2022-23                       | 2022-23                      |
|----------------|-------------------------------|------------------------|------------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------|------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------|
| State          | No. of benefici aries trained | Fund relea sed to ETPs | No. of benefici aries placed | No. of benefici aries trained | Fund release d to ETPs | No. of benefi ciaries placed | No. of benefici aries trained | Fund released to ETPs         | No. of benefici aries placed |
| Madhya Pradesh | 420                           | 24.5 2 lakh            | -                            | 0                             | 0                      | -                            | -                             | 49.27 lakh(2 nd Installm ent) | -                            |
| Mahara shtra   | -                             | -                      | -                            | -                             | -                      | -                            | -                             | -                             | -                            |
| Karnata ka     | 30                            | 3.42 lakh              | 19                           | 88                            | 18.82 lakh             | 47                           | 26                            | 1.42 lakh                     | -                            |

(e):  National Action Plan (NAP) is a demand driven component under SIPDA scheme. No State-wise budget is allocated under NAP.

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