PWD (Persons with Disabilities) Act 1995: A Paradigm Shift in Creating Employment and Employability among the Persons with Special Needs

Abstract

According to the 2001 census, 2,19,06,769 people are disabled in India in one way or the other. Out of them, 1,26,05,635 are men and 93,01,134 are women. From among the total disabled population, the majority i.e., 1,63,88,382 i.e., 74 per cent are from rural backgrounds and the remaining 55,18,387 i.e., 25.19 per cent are from urbanites. Whereas in the case of Andhra Pradesh, 13,64,981 are disabled. Among these 7,73,971 are men and 5,91,010 are women. Again the majority of them are from ruralites. Even though they are disabled, due to the technological innovations and adaptation of technology, they began to lead normal life. Recognizing the potential and positive contribution of the disabled to the development and growth of society, the United Nations framed the standard Rules for the equalization of opportunities for the disabled. As a result, India has taken the first initiation in the direction by enacting the law of Persons With Disabilities (Equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation) Act 1995 (PWD Act 1995) which came into force from 1st January, 1996. But for the successful implementation of any scheme or Act,  it is necessary to access the people for whom it was meant. Even in the case of the PWD Act, 1995 also it is necessary to find out the impact of the Act in terms of the implementation of the measures such as education, employment and other welfare measures and to provide feedback to the administration to take necessary steps to change the policy to improve the quality of the life of the disabled. The present study is an attempt to find out the impact created by the PWD Act 1995 in the upbringing of the socio-economic conditions and mainstreaming of persons with special needs.