Centre has initiated a special recruitment drive to fill up backlog vacancies for the posts reserved for persons with disability, Rajya Sabha was informed today.
"A special recruitment drive has been initiated recently to fill up backlog vacancies for the posts reserved for persons with disability," Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment D Nepoleon said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
He was asked whether government has recently taken steps for creating jobs for disabled persons to improve their condition in the country.
Nepoleon informed the House that Section 33 of the Persons with Disability (Equal Opportunity, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, provides for 3 per cent reservation in government employment, including one per cent each for disabled persons suffering from blindness or low vision, hearing impairment and locomotor disability or cerebral palsy.
"No sir," Nepoleon replied when asked whether government has issued any direction to private sector also to create jobs for disabled persons.
Nepolean, however, stated that a scheme for providing incentives to the private sector for giving employment to physically challenged persons has been launched with effect from April 1, 2008.
Under this scheme, the government has proposed to provide the employer's contribution for Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees State Insurance (ESI) for three years for physically challenged employees in private sector with monthly salary upto Rs 25,000, he added.
To a separate question whether government has any policy for providing reservation in private sector, Napoleaon said a group of minister, formed in September 2004 to examine the issue of affirmative action including reservation in private sector, has met five times and also held discussions with the apex industry associations.
In October 2006, a Coordination Committee was constituted under chairmanship of the principal secretary to the Prime Minister to carry forward the dialogue with industry on "affirmative action in private sector" and it held several discussions with the apex industry chambers and associations, he said.
As decided by this Committee, a group of officers was later asked in September last year to study the issue of providing "fiscal incentives" to industries for setting up manufacturing units in backward districts with large SC/ST population, he added.
