Lok Sabha Passes Disability Bill On The Last Day Of Parliament. Here Are The Bill’s Highlights.

The Lok Sabha today (16 December) passed by voice vote the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014, which makes accessibility a mandatory requirement. Replacing the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, the bill has been brought in to comply with the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which India signed in 2007.

Highlights of the Bill

- The Bill covers 19 disability conditions instead of the seven in the 1995 Act. It recognises disabilities resulting from acid attacks and Parkinson’s Disease, among others.

- The Bill confers several rights and entitlements to disabled persons, including disabled-friendly access to all public buildings, hospitals, modes of transport and so on.

- Benefits such as reservations in education and employment and preference in government schemes will be available to persons with at least 40 per cent disability. The reservation ceiling has been raised to 5 per cent, from the 3 per cent provided in the older version of the Act.

- Two types of guardianship will become available to mentally-ill persons. One will involve a guardian taking decisions jointly with the disabled person and the other, a guardian taking decisions on behalf of the mentally ill person without consulting him or her.

- Anyone violating the rules of the Act could face imprisonment up to six months and/or fine of Rs 10,000.  Subsequent violations will carry a higher penalty.

With inputs from IANS