Government Schemes And Benefits For People With Disabilities
There are various schemes offered by the government to support people with disabilities.
Who Offers The Schemes For Disabled?
The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities in the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment facilitates the empowerment of the persons with disabilities.
It is estimated that as per Census 2011 there are 2.68 crores and 2.21 percent of disabled people in the total population of the Country.
Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) has launched the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) as a nation-wide Campaign for achieving universal accessibility for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
What Are The Various Forms Of Disabilities?
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 is the disability legislation passed by the Indian Parliament to fulfill its obligation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which India ratified in 2007. As per the “The right of persons with disabilities bill, 2016”, the following are the forms of disabilities.
Blindness
Low vision
Leprosy cured persons
Locomotor disability
Dwarfism
Intellectual disability
Mental illness
Cerebral palsy
Specific learning disabilities
Speech and language disability
Hearing impairment (deaf and hard of hearing)
Muscular dystrophy
Acid attack victim
Parkinson’s disease
Multiple sclerosis
Thalassemia
Hemophilia
Sickle cell disease
Autism spectrum disorder
Chronic neurological conditions
Multiple disabilities including deafblindness
Benefits for People with Disabilities
The Government of India offers the following benefits to people with disabilities.
Tax deduction
Educational schemes for persons with disabilities
Employment benefits for persons with disabilities
4. Social Security, Health, Rehabilitation and Recreation
Tax Deduction
Persons with disabilities are eligible for a tax deduction.
The ministry of finance offers an income tax deduction for Persons with disabilities.
Notification / Scheme
SchemeDeduction under 80UFor persons with disabilities in the range of 40 to 80%, a deduction of Rs 50,000 is provided.
For persons with disabilities of more than 80%, a tax deduction of Rs. 1,00,000 is providedDeduction under 80DDLegal guardians of dependant persons with disabilities are eligible for income tax deduction under section 80DD for expenditures incurred on medical care, training, and rehabilitation expenses or annuity paid.
Deduction of Rs. 50,000 tax deductioncan be claimed for dependents with 40 percent to 80 percent disability and Rs. 1,00,000 can be claimed for dependants with 80 percent or more disabilities.
Educational Schemes for Persons With Disabilities
A person drawing, Credits: pexels
We are discussing the following educational schemes that are available for people with disabilities.
Scheme of National Scholarship for Persons with Disabilities.
3% reservation in government-aided institutions
Comprehensive Education Scheme for Disabled Children
Inclusive Education for the Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS)
Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship scheme
DivyangjanSwavalambanYojana Scheme
AICTE: Saksham Scholarship scheme
Scheme of National Scholarship for Persons with Disabilities
What for?
For pursuing post-matric / professional/technical courses of duration more than one year.
Eligibility criteria
If the disability is above 40%, and the total family income is not more than 15,000 per month.
For students with autism / cerebral palsy / mental retardation / multiple disabilities, the scholarship is provided from Class 9 onwards.
Fees up to Rs. 10,000 are reimbursed every year. Financial assistance is provided for procuring computer with editing software for students with visual impairment/hearing impairment pursuing graduate/post graduate professional courses and support access software for students with cerebral palsy.
Issuing authority of this scheme: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
A 3% reservation in seats is allotted in government and government-aided educational institutions for students with disabilities.
Issuing authority of this scheme: Ministry of Education
Comprehensive Education Scheme for Disabled Children
Benefits of this scheme:
Uniforms and stationery, specialized learning aids, and scholarships for students with disabilities
Extra time in examinations for disabled students, exemption from the third language.
Exemption from mathematics and pictorial questions for visually impaired students, use of scribes / readers for students with visual impairment / orthopedic disabilities/learning disabilities.
Issuing authority of this scheme: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
Inclusive Education for the Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS)
Eligibility: Children with disabilities of age above 14, this scheme helps children to complete secondary education in government, local body, and government-aided schools.
Persons with disabilities are provided with aids and appliances and access to learning material.
Persons with disabilities are provided transport and hostel facilities, scholarships, books, assistive technologies, and provision of scribes and readers.
Issuing authority of this scheme: Department of Education
Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship Scheme
This fellowship is intended to provide scholarships to persons with disabilities to pursue higher education programs like M Phil and PhD.
A total of 200 fellowships are provided every year and the maximum duration for this scheme is five years.
Students pursuing education in institutions affiliated to university grants commission or any academic institution are eligible to apply for this fellowship.
Issuing authority of this scheme: Department of Disability Affairs.
The main objective of the Scheme is to assist the needy disabled persons by providing concessional loans for economic and overall empowerment.
The scheme offers benefits to pursue higher education, and carry out vocational or skill development (ITI, Diploma any other course leading to enhancement of employment or self-employment).
The eligibility criteria is a person should be an Indian citizen, with 40% disability, and age above 18 years. In case of persons with mental retardation, the age limit would be 14 years.
7. AICTE: Saksham Scholarship Scheme
Saksham is an MHRD Scheme being implemented by AICTE aimed at providing encouragement and support to specially-abled children to pursue Technical Education.
A total of 1000 scholarships are awarded every year.
The candidate should be admitted to a Degree or diploma course in AICTE approved institution.
The selection is based on merit in the qualifying examination.
Reservation-15% for SC, 7.5% for ST and 27% for OBC candidate/applicant.
EmploymentBenefits for Persons With Disabilities
A disabled person working, Credits: pexels
The Indian government has reserved three percent posts in Groups A, B, C, and Group D positions in government services, public sector banks, and government undertakings for persons with disabilities.
The reservations are provided as:CategoryReservationVisually impaired1%Hearing-impaired1%Physically disabled1%
A roster of 100 points is prescribed for reserving positions for persons with disabilities in government employment. Points on the roster are reserved as given below for every year:CategoryRoster PointVisually Impaired34Hearing Impaired67Physically disabled100
If for any year the vacancies reserved for persons with disabilities are not filled, the vacancies are required to be carried forward for three consecutive years until a suitable candidate is found. If a suitable candidate is not found even after three years, the vacancies may be filled through interchanging between disabilities after which the reservation ceases to exist.
People with disabilities are provided an age relaxation of ten years in the upper age limit for recruitment in government institutions. They are exempted from paying application and examination fees.
Persons with disabilities are given an age relaxation of up to ten years in the upper age limit for recruitment to government positions. They are also exempted from payment of application fees and examination fees.
If the person with disabilities is medically fit and can perform their duties satisfactorily, they are eligible for promotion and are not denied on account of their disability.
Persons with disabilities recruited under group C and Group D category are offered postings nearest to their native places within the region. Persons with disabilities are given priority by the government if they receive requisition letters for transfer to their nearest offices.
The government has arranged special employment exchanges for persons with disabilities in all state capitals and special employment cells have been set up in all district headquarters for recruitment to government posts reserved for persons with disabilities. People with disabilities can avail of these benefits and register themselves with the special employment exchanges/cells to be eligible for government employment under reservation.
The National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation provides loans to persons with disabilities for self-employment. The eligibility criteriaare as follows
Should have a disability of minimum 40 percent
Should be an Indian citizen
Hold the required professional/technical qualification for the business undertaken
Loans should be repaid by a maximum of 10 years.
Social Security, Health, Rehabilitation and Recreation
Health insurance, Credits: pexels
The following schemes are discussed in this category
The Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme
Composite Regional Centres for Persons with Disabilities (CRCs)
District Disability Rehabilitation Centres (DDRCs)
Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase /Fitting of Aids and Appliances (ADIP Scheme)
The National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC)
Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS)
Indira AwaasYojana
Scheme of National Awards for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities
The Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme
Central assistance of Rs 300 per month per beneficiary is provided to persons with severe or multiple disabilities in the age group of 18-79 years. This scheme is implemented in eight districts of Manipur and a total of Rs. 13.4 lakhs has been received by the State Government for this scheme in 2010-11.
Composite Regional Centres for Persons with Disabilities (CRCs)
To provide preventive and promotional aspects of rehabilitation like education, health, employment, and vocational training, research and manpower development, rehabilitation for persons with disabilities, the Ministry has set up composite regional centers at Srinagar, Sundernagar (Himachal Pradesh), Lucknow, Bhopal, Kozhikode, Ahmedabad (No. 6-9/2009-NIs) and Guwahati.
District Disability Rehabilitation Centres (DDRCs)
With the help of state government, the ministry has set of DDRCs. These centers intend to provide services for prevention and early detection, referral for medical intervention and surgical correction, fitment of artificial aids and appliances, therapeutical services such as physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapy, provision of training for acquisition of skills through vocational training, job placement in local industries, etc. at district headquarters as well as through camp approach.
Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase /Fitting of Aids and Appliances (ADIP Scheme)
This scheme intends to provide aids and appliances to people with disabilities and promote their physical, social, and psychological rehabilitation.
The National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC)
This corporation has been set up by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India. The NHFDC functions as an Apex institution for channelizing the funds to persons with disabilities through the State Channelising Agencies (SCAs) nominated by the State Government(s).
The schemes include loans for setting up a small businesses in service/trading/industrial units, for higher studies/professional training, for manufacturing /production of assistive devices for disabled persons, for agricultural activities, for self-employment amongst persons with mental retardation, Cerebral Palsy, and Autism.
Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS)
This scheme offers financial assistance through NGOs for providing education, vocational training, and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. The maximum level of support could be up to 90% of the eligible amount of grant for the project.
Indira AwaasYojana
It is a centrally sponsored housing scheme for providing dwelling units free of cost to the rural poor living below the poverty line at a unit cost of Rs. 20,000 in plain areas and Rs. 22,000 in the hill/difficult areas. Three percent of its funds are reserved for the benefit of disabled persons living below the poverty line in rural areas.
Scheme of National Awards for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities
As a mode to encourage the efforts of people with disabilities, awards are presented to the most efficient/outstanding employees with disabilities, best employers, tax deduction best placement agency/officer, outstanding individuals, outstanding institutions, role models, outstanding creative disabled individuals, and for outstanding technological innovation and adaptation of innovation to provide cost-effective technology. Preference is given to the placement of women with disabilities, particularly, from rural areas and self-employed women.
Schemes for People with Disabilities
People interacting, Credits: pexels
The following schemes are available for people with disabilities.
Disha
Vikaas
Samarth
GHARAUNDA (Group Home for Adults)
Nirmaya
Sahyogi
Prena
Sambhav
Disha
This scheme aims at setting up Disha Centres for early intervention for Persons with Disability (PwD) in 0-10 years of age covered under the National Trust Act, through therapies, training, and providing support to family members. This scheme is available in the entire country except for Jammu and Kashmir.
Vikaas
This scheme is intended to enhance interpersonal and vocational skills. The scheme helps in supporting family members of the PwDs to get some time during the day to fulfill other responsibilities.
Samarth
This scheme aims at setting up Samarth Centres for providing respite and residential care of the specified categories of Persons with Disability (PwD).
GHARAUNDA (Group Home for Adults)
This scheme aims at setting up GharaundaCentres for life long shelter and care of Persons with Disability (PwD) covered under the National Trust Act.
Nirmaya
This is a health insurance scheme that provides coverage of up to 1 lakh.
Facilities for OPD treatment are also covered under this scheme. This includes medicines, pathology, regular Medical checkup for non-ailing disabled, Dental Preventive Dentistry, Surgery to prevent further aggravation of disability, Non- Surgical/ Hospitalization, corrective Surgeries for existing Disability including congenital disability.
Sahyogi
This scheme aims
Setup Care Associate Cells (CACs).
Provide training and create a skilled workforce of care associates to provide adequate and nurturing care for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and their families who require it.
It also seeks to provide parents an opportunity to get trained in caregiving if they so desire.
Provide a choice of training through two levels of courses primary and advanced
Prena
Prerna is the marketing assistance scheme to create viable and widespread channels for the sale of products and services produced by people with disabilities.
This scheme aims at providing funds to participate in events such as exhibitions, melas, fairs, etc. to sell the products made by PwDs.
The National Trust shall fund RO participation in national, regional, state and district level events such as fairs, exhibitions, melas etc. for marketing and selling products and services prepared by PwDs.
At least 51% of employees of these work centres should be PwDs covered under the National Trust Act.
Sambhav
This scheme aims to
Setup an additional resource centre, in each city of the country.
Collate and collect the Aids, software, and other forms of assistive devices developed with a provision of display and demonstration of the devices.
Maintaining information, pertaining to aids and assistive devices present at Sambhavcentre, on the National Trust website.
Provide information and easy access to devices, appliances, aids, software etc.
Display and demonstration of the devices to the concerned stakeholders
Take-Home Message
The Government of India initiated these schemes to support people with disabilities.