Rules under Disabilities Act to be framed by March end: Gehlot

The government is likely to formulate the rules for implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act by March end and could be come into force across the country before April 14, marking the birth anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar.

"We have passed a new (Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act and our effort is that the rules pertaining to it are formulated by March end and it comes into force before April 14 throughout the country," Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot said.

Speaking at a workshop on Autism, he invited "concrete" suggestions from experts so that all areas are covered by the rules and identification and certification of disabilities could be removed.
 

"The suggestions could all be sent to the Ministry so that no area is left untouched and all aspects are covered by the rules which we are going to finalise by March 30," Gehlot said.

Pointing to the difficulties associated with identification and certification of Autism, the minister said that the early identification of the disability is important for providing necessary treatment to the affected children.

"The Act has raised the number of disabilities from seven to 21 and our effort is that more difficult disabilities are identified early and medical facilities could be provided to the afffected," he said.

The government wishes to have experts for management of different disabilities in all the districts of the country, he said signifying the importance of master trainers for Autopsy management attending the workshop.

The Secretary of Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities N S Kang said the rules will make the disabilitiy certificates "valid" throughout the country.

"Under the new Act, the disability certificate will be valid all over the country," he said.

The CEO of The National Trust, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Mukesh Jain said efforts are being made to prepare 400 master trainers by the year end.

Addressing the three-day workshop organised by Department of Empowerment of Persons of Disabilities and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), several experts highlighted severity of Autism pointing to its incidence of one affected child among 89, and emphasised on complete management of the nuero-muscular disorder.