Soon, state govt to put revised RPWD Act in action

Kolkata: The state government will soon come out with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, with an emphasis on employment and rehabilitation for the disabled persons.

"We will soon roll out the RPWD Act in the state, after a careful scrutiny that had been introduced by the Union government in 2016. We have already completed the draft and have laid it out for suggestions and objections, if any. We are welcoming feedback from all quarters, including the NGOs who work for the disabled," minister of state for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Shashi Panja said on the sidelines of a programme to mark World Autism Awareness Day.

As many as 21 categories have been included in Disability Category in the RPWD Act 2016, which was only 7 in the old Act. The Act has also raised the reservation for higher education for disabled to 5 percent from 4 percent.

Most importantly, the employment reservation too has been raised from 3 to 4 percent. "It has also empowered the Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities. All these provisions have been strictly followed in the process of framing the RPWD Act for the state," a senior official of the department said, adding that compared to the 1995 Act, various new provisions have been included in the 2016 Act, which has expanded the horizon of the rights of such persons.

It may be mentioned that the Supreme Court in January has asked all states and union territories (UTs) to implement within three months, the 2016 Act on the rights of persons with disabilities.

The state government has already taken a lot of steps for making government buildings and auditoriums disabled friendly. "We have also awarded Durga Puja committees for making their puja pandals disable friendly," Panja said.

She also released the first issue of the calendar year of Quarterly Sphuran, the newsletter of the State Commissionerate for Persons with Disabilities at the programme.