Knowdisability

Centre issues guidelines for disability reservation to ensure fairness

The Centre has issued comprehensive guidelines to streamline reservation and identification of posts for persons with at least 40 per cent disabilities, mandating periodic identification of such posts and formation of committees to assess them. The guidelines also state that if a post is deemed suitable for them, all subsequent promotional posts will also be reserved for persons with disabilities. The guidelines are in line with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016. The move comes after the Delhi High Court flagged inconsistencies in implementation of the the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016 and criticised entities like the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) for unauthorised actions in identifying posts. The high court earlier this month observed that KVS had overstepped its authority by independently identifying posts for PwBDs and highlighted inconsistencies in the understanding of the Act among various departments. The court mandated the

Centre must establish mandatory accessibility norms for specially abled: SC

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre to implement mandatory accessibility standards within three months, in a significant order aimed at improving access to public spaces for persons with disabilities. The order by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud comes in response to slow progress on the accessibility directives issued by the court in a judgement on December 15, 2017. The bench, also comprising Justice J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, underscored the necessity of "meaningful access" for disabled persons to public spaces and mandated a two-pronged approach: adapting existing infrastructures to accessibility standards, and ensuring that all new infrastructure is designed to be inclusive from the outset. The bench found that one of the rules of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act does not establish enforceable, compulsory standards, but rather, it relies on self-regulation through guidelines. While acknowledging that accessibility ..

Samarthanam raises awareness about post-Covid impact on PwDs at UNHRC

In an oral intervention in the general debate on persons with disabilities at the 52nd Session of the Human Rights Council, Samarthanam Trust for the disabled raised awareness about the impact

Education & jobs for autistics: Laws exist but is there enough compassion?

Few schools are equipped to cater to children with ASD, spawning a set of educators called 'shadow teachers'. Some parents are even home-schooling to keep their wards career ready

KnowDisability: Teaching professional photography to the differently-abled

For Mohit Ahuja, founder, KnowDisability, the trigger point was when he saw his elder sister who suffers from Crouzon Syndrome