Lok Sabha Question No. 2048 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-01
Subject: Education for Visually Impaired, Deaf and Dumb
Ministry: SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
Asked by: Jyotsna Charandas Mahant

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2048

TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.08.2023

## EDUCATION FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED, DEAF AND DUMB

## 2048# SHRIMATI JYOTSNA CHARANDAS MAHANT:

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

- (a)  whether  any  steps  have  been  taken  by  the  Union  Government  for  the  education  of  children  with disabilities such as visually impaired and deaf and dumb and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  the  details  of  the  children  benefited  under  integrated  education  of  the  disabled  children  with  preidentified disabilities, State-wise including Chhatisgarh; and
- (c)  the  details  of  other  education  material  provided  by  the  Government  to  such  children  apart  from  the Braille method ?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT

## (SUSHRI PRATIMA BHOUMIK)

(a) to (c) Relief to the disabled is a State subject by virtue of entry 9 of the State List of the Constitution of India. The Government enacted Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016 which came into force  on  19.04.2017.  The  said  Act  provides  for  inclusive  education  under  Sections  16  &  17  and  free education for children with benchmark (40% or more) disabilities under Section 31. However, the Central government supplements the efforts of the State governments for the welfare of persons with disabilities. The  Department  of Empowerment  of  Persons  with  Disabilities (Divyangjan) under the Ministry implements a central sector scheme, namely Deendayal Divyangjan Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS). Under this scheme, grant-in-aid is provided to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) running various projects for the welfare of persons with disabilities (PwDs). Details of model projects supported under the DDRS Scheme for the education of children with disabilities such as visually impaired and deaf and dumb is at Annexure-I and  State-wise  disabled  children  including  visually  impaired  and  deaf  and  dumb  children benefited under DDRS during last three years including the State of Chattisgarh is at Annexure-II .

Indian  Sign  Language  Research  and  Training  Centre  (ISLRTC),  New  Delhi  developed  and implemented  a  two-year  course  Diploma  in  Teaching  Indian  Sign  Language  (DTISL)  specifically  for students  with  hearing  disabilities.   The  DTISL  course  aims  to  train  the  students  to  become  teachers  of Indian  Sign  Language.  The course is  approved  by RCI and has been conducted at  ISLRTC since 2019. ISLRTC in collaboration with NCERT is working to convert textbooks of classes I-XII into Indian Sign Language to provide educational material to deaf children in an accessible language. Textbooks of classes I-VI  have  been  converted  into  ISL.  The  ISL  content  is  available  for  free  on  various  platforms  such  as DIKSHA portal and ISLRTC's YouTube channel. This institute has developed an Indian Sign Language Dictionary  of  10,500  terms  including  terms  of  everyday  use  and  academic  terms.  The  dictionary  is available  for  free  on  DIKSHA  portal,  ISLRTC's  YouTube channel, Google Drive and on an  app called Sign Learn app.

National  Institute  for  the  Empowerment  of  Persons  with  Visual  Disabilities  (NIEPVD), Dehradun  is  running  a  Senior  Secondary  Model  School  for  the  Children  with  Visual  Disabilities (Divyangjan) at Dehradun, Uttarakhand affiliated to CBSE, and is imparting education to 247 children with visual impairment from Class Nursery to Class 12th. The Department of Special Education and Research is conducting D.Ed. SE. (VI), B.Ed. SE. (VI, MD, DB) and M.Ed. SE. (VI) for the development of manpower (Teachers) for the education of children with visual impairment in special schools and Inclusive schools. NIEPVD provided Accessible learning material to children with visual impairment are as follow:

1. E-Pub/Daisy
2. Human narrated recording
3. Large Print/Audio Books
4. OCR- Structure E-Pub without proofreading
5. Tactile Diagrams
6. Online service through Sugamya Pustakalya

NIEPVD also distributed assistive devices to children with visual impairment through ADIP Scheme.

National Institute for the Empowerment  of  Persons  with Intellectual Disabilities  (NIEPID), Secunderabad caters to the needs of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities. The Institute is running Special Education  Centre  for  Children  with  Intellectual  Disabilities  at  its  Headquarters,  Secunderabad  and  its Regional  Centres  at  NOIDA,  Navi  Mumbai  and  Kolkata,  besides,  running  a  Model  Special  Education Centre at NOIDA. The class rooms in these centres for Children with IDs range from pre-primary to prevocational.  It runs inclusive school at MSEC, NOIDA wherein, Children with Intellectual Disabilities are provided education along with normal children. Number of students in the inclusive school is 28 Special children  and  118  normal  children.  NIEPID  has  developed  Teaching/Learning  Material  for  facilitating educating Children with Intellectual Disabilities. For the education of Persons with Visual Impairment and Hearing  Impairment,  the  Composite  Regional  Centre  under  the  control  of  NIEPID  have  distributed Universal Braille kits and Braille cane, smart phones, behind the ear aids daisy player and tablet.

National Institute for Locomotor Disabilities (NILD), Kolkata provided following facilities to Visually impaired:

- a. Development/Training for sensory integration
- b. Orientation & Mobility Training
- c. Training for independence in duly living skills
- d. Reading /writing with Braille
- e. Participation in outdoor co-curricular activities such as games, recreation and play.

NILD, Kolkata provided services to visually impaired children 1120 and 1140 during 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively. NILD has provided education material i.e. Taylor frame, ABACUS, Signature guide, Geometry Kit, Draught Board, Tactile board, Stylus Smartphone, Low Vision aids & Tactile Aids.

National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD), Chennai runs a Model School with categories of children having multiple disabilities with the capacity of 120 students such  as  Autism  Spectrum  Disorder  Unit  (ASD),  Cerebral  Palsy  Unit  (CP),  Deaf  Blind  Unit  (DB), Transition and Early Childhood Special Education (ECSC). NIEPMD  provided education material under ADIP Scheme.

The  Department  is  implementing  the  Scheme  of  'Assistance  to  Persons  with  Disabilities  for Purchase/Fitting of Aids and Appliances (ADIP)'. Under the ADIP Scheme, aids and assistive devices are also distributed to school-going children with special needs under the provision of ADIP- SSA (Samagra

Shiksha Abhiyan). The State-wise details of aids and assistive devices distributed in the last three years including  the  state  of  Chhattisgarh  is  at Annexure-III .  Aids  &  assistive  devices  that  are  provided  to Children with Special needs (CWSN) include Smart Phone with Screen Reader, Tablet, Daisy Player, and Teaching/ learning materials Kits(TLM-Kits).

Department is also implementing the following schemes of scholarship for persons with disabilities:-

- (1)   Pre-matric Scholarship (for Class IX & X);
- (2)   Post-matric Scholarship (for Class XI to Post-graduate Degree/Diploma);
- (3) Top  Class  Education  Scholarship  (for  Graduate  and  Post-Graduate  Degree/Diploma  in  notified institutes of excellence in education);
- (4)   National Fellowship for PwDs(For M.Phil and Ph.D in Indian Universities);
- (5)   National Overseas Scholarship (for Master's Degree/Ph. D. in Universities abroad); and
- (6)   Free Coaching (to appear for competitive examinations conducted by Union/State Public Service Commissions for Government jobs and admission to technical and professional courses).

## Details of the beneficiaries under the scholarship scheme is at Annexure-IV.

The  Department  of  School  Education  &  Literacy,  Ministry  of  Education  has  launched  an overarching programme for the school education sector viz; Samagra Shiksha Scheme. There is a dedicated Inclusive  Education component for  the  education  of  Children  with  Special  Needs  as  an  integral  part  of Samagra  Shiksha.  The  scheme  covers  all  children  with  disabilities  as  mentioned  in  the  schedule  of disabilities of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016. The Samagra Shiksha is being implemented through State Governments/ UT Administrations and the Central Government is providing financial  support  to  the  States/UTs.  Through  this  component,  Children  with  Special  Needs  are  provided support via specific student oriented interventions such as identification and assessment camps, provision of aids, appliances and assistive devices, transportation, scribe and escort allowance support, Braille books and large print books for children with visual impairment, stipend for girls with special needs and teachinglearning materials etc. in order to appropriately address their unique educational requirements in general schools. Capacity building of general teachers and special educators on meeting learning needs to provide quality  education  to  children  with  disabilities  and  improve  their  learning  outcomes,  are  also  covered. Further, individualized support is also provided through therapeutic interventions at the block level. The focus  of  Samagra  Shiksha  is  on  providing  inclusive  education  to  children  with  special  needs  wherein, children  regardless  of  their  abilities/disabilities  participate  and  learn  together  in  the  same  class,  thus creating an enabling educational environment for all students. Under IE component of Samagra Shiksha financial assistance @Rs.3500/- is provided for all the enrolled CwSN and the ones receiving home based education services. Girls with disabilities receive special focus and efforts under the scheme to help them gain  access  to  schools,  as  also  to  provide  motivation  and  guidance  for  developing  their  potential.  An amount of Rs.200/- per month for 10 months (Rs.2000/- PA), through Direct Benefit Transfer, is given to disabled girls as stipend to encourage them to come to school. The State & UT-wise enrolment of CwSN from pre-primary to higher secondary, as per UDISE+ 2021-22 is at Annexure-V.

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) to (c) of Lok  Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2048  for answer on 01.08.2023

## Details of Model Projects under DDRS for visually impaired and deaf and dumb

## I. Special School for the children with Hearing Disability with option for Home Based Rehabilitation and Community-Based Rehabilitation Project-

The emphasis of this project is on development of language and communication skills and academics. The  basic  objective  of  the  special  education  for   this  project  is  to  assist  the  children  with  hearing disability to lead as normal a life as possible through education.

- II. Special School for the children with Visual Disability (including Deafblindness) with option for Home Based Rehabilitation and Community-Based Rehabilitation Project and Low Vision Centre Project-

In  the  special  education  for  the  children  with  visual  disability,  the  main  thrust  is  on  communication skills and development of other sensory abilities, the end objective being to integrate these students in regular institutions of learning and society in general.

## Annexure-II

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) to (c) of Lok  Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2048  for answer on 01.08.2023

Details of disabled children benefited under DDRS during last three years

| S.No.   | Name of the State   |   2020-21 |   2021-22 |   2022-23 |
|---------|---------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh      |      5620 |      4620 |      5605 |
| 2       | Assam               |       248 |       488 |       753 |
| 3       | Bihar               |         0 |        55 |        69 |
| 4       | Chhattisgarh        |       110 |       110 |         0 |
| 5       | Delhi               |       685 |       615 |       937 |
| 6       | Gujarat             |       378 |       447 |       437 |
| 7       | Haryana             |       505 |       292 |       444 |
| 8       | Himachal Pradesh    |       212 |       144 |        89 |
| 9       | Karnataka           |       373 |       389 |       685 |
| 10      | Kerala              |      1656 |      1883 |      2081 |
| 11      | Madhya Pradesh      |       822 |       682 |       803 |
| 12      | Maharashtra         |      2049 |      1677 |       523 |
| 13      | Manipur             |      1523 |      1478 |      2681 |
| 14      | Meghalaya           |       322 |        84 |       361 |
| 15      | Mizoram             |        20 |         0 |        61 |
| 16      | Nagaland            |        47 |         0 |        60 |
| 17      | Odisha              |      5953 |      5306 |      4776 |
| 18      | Punjab              |       272 |       505 |       682 |
| 19      | Rajasthan           |       370 |       528 |       546 |
| 20      | Tamil Nadu          |       706 |      1267 |      1320 |
| 21      | Tripura             |         0 |         0 |        44 |
| 22      | Uttar Pradesh       |      3580 |      3604 |      3249 |
| 23      | Uttrakhand          |       144 |       142 |       125 |
| 24      | West Bengal         |      1935 |      1389 |      4424 |
| 25      | Telangana           |      3932 |      4397 |      4389 |
| 26      | Puducherry          |        80 |        71 |       205 |
| Total   | Total               |     31542 |     30173 |     35349 |

## Annexure -III

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) to (c) of Lok  Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2048  for answer on 01.08.2023

## Details of the distribution of Aids and Assistive Devices under ADIP-SSA in the last 03 years

| S.No.   | State/UTs           |   2020-21 Number of beneficiaries covered |   2021-22 Number of beneficiaries covered | 2022-23 Number of beneficiaries covered   |
|---------|---------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh      |                                      7178 |                                         0 | 4156                                      |
| 2       | A&N Island          |                                       166 |                                       145 | 0                                         |
| 3       | Arunachal Pradesh   |                                         0 |                                         0 | 0                                         |
| 4       | Asom                |                                      3029 |                                      2718 | 4051                                      |
| 5       | Bihar               |                                         0 |                                         0 | 4615                                      |
| 6       | Chandigarh          |                                        70 |                                       128 | 106                                       |
| 7       | Chhattisgarh        |                                         0 |                                         0 | 0                                         |
| 8       | Dadar &Nagar Haveli |                                        92 |                                         0 | 92                                        |
| 9       | Daman &Diu          |                                         0 |                                        22 | 23                                        |
| 10      | Delhi               |                                         0 |                                      2135 | 0                                         |
| 11      | Goa                 |                                         0 |                                         0 | 0                                         |
| 12      | Gujarat             |                                      7693 |                                      9476 | 17393                                     |
| 13      | Haryana             |                                         0 |                                      1988 | 2961                                      |
| 14      | Himachal Pradesh    |                                      2620 |                                       907 | 1350                                      |
| 15      | Jammu &Kashmir      |                                      2010 |                                         0 |                                           |
| 16      | Jharkhand           |                                         0 |                                      2307 | 7228                                      |
| 17      | Karnataka           |                                         0 |                                         0 | 0                                         |
| 18      | Kerala              |                                         0 |                                         0 | 0                                         |
| 19      | Lakshdweep          |                                         0 |                                         0 |                                           |
| 20      | Madhya Pradesh      |                                      6918 |                                     15352 | 10690                                     |
| 21      | Maharastra          |                                     13206 |                                      8932 | 193                                       |
| 22      | Manipur             |                                         0 |                                         0 |                                           |
| 23      | Meghalaya           |                                         0 |                                         0 | 1343                                      |
| 24      | Mizoram             |                                         0 |                                         0 |                                           |
| 25      | Nagaland            |                                         0 |                                         0 |                                           |
| 26      | Orissa              |                                      6999 |                                      4982 | 2536                                      |
| 27      | Pondicherry         |                                        57 |                                         0 | 0                                         |
| 28      | Punjab              |                                         0 |                                      6035 | 5902                                      |
| 29      | Rajasthan           |                                      6398 |                                         0 | 4941                                      |
| 30      | Sikkim              |                                         0 |                                         0 | 0                                         |
| 31      | Tamil Nadu          |                                      1513 |                                     15091 | 6487                                      |
| 32      | Telangana           |                                         0 |                                      3012 | 0                                         |
| 33      | Tripura             |                                         0 |                                         0 | 1308                                      |
| 34      | Uttar Pradesh       |                                     32860 |                                     20371 | 19455                                     |
| 35      | Uttarakhand         |                                      1012 |                                       526 | 1062                                      |
| 36      | West Bengal         |                                      7050 |                                      3615 | 13089                                     |
| Total   | Total               |                                     98871 |                                     97742 | 108981                                    |

## Annexure IV

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) to (c) of Lok  Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2048  for answer on 01.08.2023

## Details of beneficiaries under scholarship scheme during the last 03 years

| S.No.   | State/UTs          |   2020-21 Beneficiaries |   2021-22 Beneficiaries |   2022-23 Beneficiaries |   Grand Total Beneficiaries |
|---------|--------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------|
| 1       | ANDAMANAND NICOBAR |                       0 |                       0 |                       0 |                           0 |
| 2       | ANDHRAPRADESH      |                     201 |                    1343 |                    3070 |                        4614 |
| 3       | ARUNACHAL PRADESH  |                       0 |                       0 |                       0 |                           0 |
| 4       | ASSAM              |                      19 |                     783 |                      71 |                         873 |
| 5       | BIHAR              |                     902 |                    2277 |                    1257 |                        4436 |
| 6       | CHANDIGARH         |                       1 |                      34 |                      90 |                         125 |
| 7       | CHHATTISGARH       |                       7 |                    1125 |                     612 |                        1744 |
| 8       | DADRA&NAGAR HAVELI |                       1 |                      15 |                      28 |                          44 |
| 9       | DAMAN&DIU          |                       0 |                       0 |                       1 |                           1 |
| 10      | DELHI              |                       8 |                     311 |                     502 |                         821 |
| 11      | GOA                |                       6 |                      26 |                      25 |                          57 |
| 12      | GUJARAT            |                    1379 |                    1577 |                    1240 |                        4196 |
| 13      | HARYANA            |                     111 |                     275 |                     285 |                         671 |
| 14      | HIMACHAL PRADESH   |                      78 |                     186 |                     179 |                         443 |
| 15      | JAMMUANDKASHMIR    |                     545 |                     594 |                     547 |                        1686 |
| 16      | JHARKHAND          |                      99 |                     145 |                     762 |                        1006 |
| 17      | KARNATAKA          |                    1239 |                    3331 |                    3026 |                        8602 |
| 18      | KERALA             |                    4192 |                    5095 |                    4932 |                       14219 |
| 19      | LADAKH             |                       0 |                       0 |                       0 |                           0 |
| 20      | LAKSHADWEEP        |                       0 |                       0 |                       0 |                           0 |
| 21      | MADHYAPRADESH      |                    4003 |                    5661 |                    8765 |                       32648 |
| 22      | MAHARASHTRA        |                     459 |                    1490 |                     691 |                        2640 |
| 23      | MANIPUR            |                       7 |                       0 |                      32 |                          39 |
| 24      | MEGHALAYA          |                       0 |                       6 |                       5 |                          11 |
| 25      | MIZORAM            |                       5 |                      11 |                      12 |                          28 |
| 26      | NAGALAND           |                      45 |                       6 |                       2 |                          81 |
| 27      | ODISHA             |                    1495 |                    2699 |                    3168 |                        7362 |
| 28      | PUDUCHERRY         |                      27 |                      95 |                      46 |                         168 |
| 29      | PUNJAB             |                    1019 |                    1393 |                    1094 |                        3506 |
| 30      | RAJASTHAN          |                      76 |                    1856 |                    1084 |                        3016 |
| 31      | SIKKIM             |                       3 |                       3 |                       1 |                           7 |
| 32      | TAMIL NADU         |                    2000 |                    4383 |                    6448 |                       12831 |
| 33      | TELANGANA          |                      95 |                    1340 |                    2936 |                        4371 |
| 34      | TRIPURA            |                      66 |                     186 |                     245 |                         497 |
| 35      | UTTARAKHAND        |                     142 |                     259 |                     229 |                         630 |
| 36      | UTTAR PRADESH      |                    7177 |                    5114 |                    2318 |                       14609 |
| 37      | WEST BENGAL        |                     660 |                     512 |                     459 |                        1631 |
| TOTAL   | TOTAL              |                   26067 |                   42131 |                   44162 |                      127613 |

Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) to (c) of Lok  Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2048  for answer on 01.08.2023

## State & UT-wise enrolment of CwSN from pre-primary to higher secondary

| S.No.   | States/Uts                      |   CWSN Enrolment |
|---------|---------------------------------|------------------|
| 1       | Andman and Nicobar              |              527 |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh                  |            92262 |
| 3       | Arunachal Pradesh               |             3038 |
| 4       | Assam                           |            55245 |
| 5       | Bihar                           |           177989 |
| 6       | Chandigarh                      |             3755 |
| 7       | Chhattisgarh                    |            77249 |
| 8       | Dadra &Nagar Haveli &Daman &Diu |             1178 |
| 9       | Delhi                           |            27026 |
| 10      | Goa                             |             3779 |
| 11      | Gujarat                         |            73912 |
| 12      | Haryana                         |            25718 |
| 13      | Himachal Pradesh                |             6864 |
| 14      | Jammu & Kashmir                 |            19867 |
| 15      | Jharkhand                       |            51665 |
| 16      | Karnataka                       |            98961 |
| 17      | Kerala                          |           138413 |
| 18      | Ladakh                          |             1052 |
| 19      | Lakshadweep                     |              208 |
| 20      | Madhya Pradesh                  |           139258 |
| 21      | Maharashtra                     |           260251 |
| 22      | Manipur                         |             4759 |
| 23      | Meghalaya                       |             4601 |
| 24      | Mizoram                         |             3976 |
| 25      | Nagaland                        |             4084 |
| 26      | Odisha                          |           146512 |
| 27      | Puducherry                      |             2288 |
| 28      | Punjab                          |            66776 |
| 29      | Rajasthan                       |            80910 |
| 30      | Sikkim                          |             1320 |
| 31      | Tamil Nadu                      |           156359 |
| 32      | Telangana                       |            40014 |
| 33      | Tripura                         |             3914 |
| 34      | Uttar Pradesh                   |           327385 |
| 35      | Uttrakhand                      |             5080 |
| 36      | West Bengal                     |           160599 |
|         | Total                           |          2266794 |

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