Comply with Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act :Director of Higher Education

GUWAHATI: The Director of Higher Education has directed all the principals of the government and provincialised colleges of the State to comply with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016.

Taking cognizance of the non-implementation of the RPwD Act, 2016, the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Guwahati recently asked the Principal Secretary to the Government of Assam, Higher Education Department to comply with the Act following which the matter was forwarded with utmost priority to the Director, Technical Education, Director, Higher Education and all the Registrars of the Universities of the State.

It must be mentioned here that the RPwD Act, 2016, a Central Act, was enacted in 2016 to give effort to the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, of which India is a signatory. This new Act came into force with effect from June 2017, in place of the Act of 1995.

One of the principal concerns that the Act attempts to address through various clauses is in respect of education of the PwD. The Act obligates the government to take specific measures towards ensuring inclusive education to children with disabilities.

The Act also directs the government to make special provisions for persons with benchmark disabilities, including the right to free education, reservation of five per cent seats in institutions of higher education. Moreover, steps are also required to be taken to ensure appointment of PwD in various posts, both of teaching and non-teaching, in all education establishments.

Notably, the Supreme Court of India is currently monitoring the compliance of the Act.

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