Frequently Asked Questions

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 & RPwD Rules, 2017

What is the date of publication of the RPwD Act and Rules? 

The Legislature passed the RPwD Act on 27 December 2016 and the RPwD Rules on 15 June 2017.

What was the purpose of enacting the RPwD Act, 2016? 

India had ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2007. But India had not implemented it, and hence nothing had changed on the ground. The RPwD Act, 2016, which replaced the erstwhile Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, (PWD Act, 1995) contains several rights and entitlements to empower persons with disabilities.

What is the Equal Opportunity Policy (EOP)? 

Every establishment must notify an EOP detailing measures proposed to be taken and register a copy of the policy with the Chief Commissioner or the State Commissioner (Section 21). They must display the EOP, preferably on the website or at conspicuous places on their premises.

What should the EOP of a Pvt establishment with 20 or more employees contain?

• Facilities and amenities to be provided to the persons with disabilities to enable them to discharge their duties effectively; 
• List of suitable posts and vacancies identified for persons with disabilities; 
• The manner of selection for various posts, post-recruitment and pre-promotion training, preference in the transfers, special leave, and other facilities;
• Provisions for assistive devices, barrier-free accessibility;
• Appointment of Liaison Officer to look after the recruitment of persons with disabilities and provisions of facilities and amenities for such employees. (Rule 8)

How many different types of disabilities are there, and where can we find the details?

There are 21 different types of disabilities (increased from 7 in the PWD Act, 1995), namely;

1. Locomotor Disability
2. Muscular Dystrophy
3. Leprosy cured
4. Dwarfism
5. Cerebral Palsy 
6. Acid Attack Victim
7. Low vision 
8. Blindness 
9. Deaf 
10. Hard of hearing 
11. Speech and Language Disability 
12. Intellectual Disability 
13. Specific Learning Disability 
14. Autism Spectrum Disorder 
15. Mental Illness 
16. Chronic Neurological Conditions 
17. Multiple Sclerosis 
18. Parkinson's Disease 
19. Haemophilia 
20. Thalassemia 
21. Sickle Cell disease

The details are in the Schedule Section in the RPwD Act, 2016.

How can the organization ensure Nondiscrimination in employment? 

The organization must ensure that the persons with disabilities enjoy the right to equality, life with dignity, and respect equally with others. No person with a disability should be discriminated against on the ground of disability. Every establishment should provide reasonable accommodation and a barrier-free and conducive environment for employees with disabilities. It should not deny promotion to a person merely on the ground of disability (Section 20). 

The head of the establishment must ensure that no one misuses the RPwD Act's provisions to deny any right or benefit to persons with disabilities. If an establishment employing 20 or more persons receives a complaint from an aggrieved person regarding discrimination on the ground of disability, the employer must

1. initiate action per the RPwD Act; or
2. inform the aggrieved person in writing how the disputed action or omission is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. (Rule 3)

What is the role of the Liaison Officer? 

The role of the Liaison Officer is to look after the recruitment of persons with disabilities and the facilities and amenities for such employees. (Rule 8) 

What are accessibility norms, and what is the time limit for providing them? 

The Act mandates accessibility norms. All service providers must provide services under these accessibility norms within two years from the date of notification of the Rules (from 15 June 2017). The Standards of accessibility are for the environment, transportation, information and communications, including appropriate technologies, systems and other facilities and services provided. (Section 44) No organization should be granted permission to build any structure, issued a certificate of completion, or take occupation of a building if the building plan does not adhere to the rules formulated by the Central Government.

What sort of records should the organizations maintain? 

Every organization must maintain records of persons with disabilities. It must produce them for inspection on demand to the authorities. This provision is to ascertain if the organization has complied with the requirements:

1. The number of persons with disabilities who are employed and their date of employment; 
2. The name, gender, and address of such persons; 
3. The nature of disability of such persons;
4. The nature of work being done by such persons; The kind of facilities provided to such persons. (Rule 9)

What is the Grievance Redressal Mechanism and its Timeline? 

Any aggrieved person may file a complaint with a Grievance Redressal Officer, who must investigate it within two weeks of the complaint's registration and take up the matter with the respective establishment for corrective action. If the aggrieved person is not satisfied with the corrective action taken, he may approach the District-Level Committee on disability. 

Who appoints the Grievance Redressal Officer? 

Every government establishment must appoint a Grievance Redressal Officer and inform the Chief Commissioner or the State Commissioner about the same. 

What are the Penalties under the Act? 

Any person who contravenes any provision/s of this Act or Rules will be punished with a fine of up to ten thousand rupees and a second violation, with a fine of fifty thousand rupees but may extend to five lakh rupees (Section 89). If a company commits an offense, then every person in charge at the time will be deemed to be guilty of the offense. But if the person proves that the offense was committed without his knowledge or he exercised due diligence to prevent it, he is not liable to be punished.

Is there a quota for employing disabled persons in the Private Sector? 

There is no quota for the Private Sector, however, the Act envisages employers receiving incentives from the appropriate government body to ensure that at least 5% of their workforce comprises persons with disabilities.

Duty and Responsibility of the Employer:

1. To ensure through Awareness Campaigns and Sensitization programs the rights of the persons with disabilities provided under this Act are protected. 
2. Promote through these programs values of Inclusion, Tolerance, Empathy, and Respect for persons with disability.

The above training campaigns must include all employers, administrators, and co-workers.

Did you know:

Organizations with favorable policies for PwD

Lemon Tree: The hotel chain began employing differently-abled people in 2007. It trains differently-abled staff for 10 days in a programme called ‘See, Smile, Greet’. People with speech and hearing impairments carry notepads and pens to communicate. Employees with Down Syndrome receive one hour of training every day and carry whistles to alert others when they feel overwhelmed. 

Capgemini: Capgemini started recruiting PwDs in 2012 and employs over 200 employees with disabilities. These include speech, visual, and hearing impairment, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. The company feels that the differently-abled work harder than other employees. They are inducted in roles such as account processing, technology support and software development. 

Accenture: The company has successfully been running the ‘Skills to Succeed’ initiative in India. The programme empowers the PwDs with skill training for jobs such as business process outsourcing, hospitality and facilities management, retail, etc. Accenture also has a ‘PwD Champions Network’ for their differently-abled employees. Also, all of Accenture’s facilities are easily accessible by PwDs. 

IBM: IBM has a special policy that has 3 As – Accommodation, Accessibility, and Attitude. The company employs the PwDs in various departments such as Project Management, Consulting, Quality Assurance and Human Resources. In 2016, IBM had conducted four-hour awareness sessions to sensitise senior employees in displaying unintended bias toward the PwDs. 

Wipro: At Wipro, the focus is on creating a comprehensive framework and ensuring inclusivity in all spheres of working. Its hiring policy for the differently-abled is completely merit-based across all roles and not just in “identified jobs”. Wipro puts long-term focus on developing its special task force. 

Author: Sumali Nagarajan

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I wish to thank Rakhi Mohanty, AVP, Legal & Research, Rainmaker for her helpful contributions to this blog.

Thank you!

References

These Amazing Indian Businesses Are Hiring Differently-Abled People Because Everyone Matters (Indiatimes.com)