Women with Disabilities

According to Census-2001, there are 93.01 lakh women with disabilities, which constitute 42.46 percent of total disabled population. The women with disabilities require protection against exploitation and abuse. Under strategies for economic empowerment of women with disabilities, special programmes are developed for providing education, employment and other rehabilitation services to the women with disabilities, keeping in view their special needs; special educational and vocation training facilities set - up and programmes undertaken to rehabilitate abandoned disabled women/ girls by encouraging their a adoption in families, support to house them and impart them training for gainful employment skills. The Government of India is expected to evince genuine interest in and encourage the projects where representation of women with disabilities is ensured. Among such strategies for economic empowerment of persons with disabilities include, 1. Employment in Government Establishments The PWD Act, 1995 provides for 3% reservation in employment in the establishments of Government of India, State Governments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) against identified posts. The status of reservation for Government in various Ministries/ Departments against identified posts in Group A, B, C & D is 3.07%, 4.41%, 3.76% and 3.18% respectively. In PSUs, the reservation status in Group A, B, C & D is 2.78%, 8.54%, 5.04% and 6.75%, respectively. Government will ensure reservation in identified posts in the Government sector, including public sector undertakings in accordance with the provisions of the PWD Act, 1995. The list of identified posts, which was notified in 2001, will be reviewed and updated. The PWD Act, 1995 provides for 3% reservation in employment in the establishments of Government of India, State Governments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) against identified posts. The status of reservation for Government in various Ministries/ Departments against identified posts in Group A, B, C & D is 3.07%, 4.41%, 3.76% and 3.18% respectively. In PSUs, the reservation status in Group A, B, C & D is 2.78%, 8.54%, 5.04% and 6.75%, respectively. Government will ensure reservation in identified posts in the Government sector, including public sector undertakings in accordance with the provisions of the PWD Act, 1995. The list of identified posts, which was notified in 2001, will be reviewed and updated. 2. Wage Employment in Private Sector Development of appropriate skills in persons with disabilities will be encouraged for their employability in private sector. Vocational rehabilitation and training Centres engaged in developing appropriate skills amongst persons with disabilities, keeping in view their potential and abilities will be encouraged to expand their services. Considering rapid growth of employment opportunities in service sector, persons with disabilities will be encouraged to undertake skill training suitable to the market requirement. Pro-active measures like incentives, awards, tax exemptions etc. will be taken to encourage the employment of persons with disabilities in the private sector. 3. Self-employment Considering the slow pace of growth in employment opportunities in the organized sector, self-employment of persons with disabilities will be promoted. This will be done through vocational education and management training. Further, the existing system of providing loans at softer terms from the NHFDC will be improved to make it easily accessible with transparent and efficient procedures of processing. The Government will also encourage self-employment by providing more incentives, tax concessions, exemptions from duties, preferential treatment for procurement of goods and services by the Government of India and State Governments for the enterprises of persons with disabilities, etc. Moreover, priority in financial support will be given to Self Help Groups formed by the persons with disabilities. It is important to assess whether the specific Act was able to achieve its purpose by fulfilling needs, but it is equally important to gauge whether this need fulfillment process has contributed to the social and economic development of the disabled women and her family. Unless, the adoption and implementation of the act goes beyond need fulfillment, these legislations may have limitations and the fundamental problems and barriers faced by the women with disabilities in their development could not be addressed properly. To be able to develop appropriate/practical policies, which are also beneficial to the concerned population, it is essential that the issue be looked at and understood from the point of view of the disabled women. It is, therefore, felt that research in this area would reveal the problems and barriers being faced by them and highlight the necessity to develop special benefit policies for them. It is hoped that findings from this study would help considerably in the development of suitable policies, which are favorable for the target population, in this case, the disabled women. It has been observed that due to planned efforts by the Government and voluntary involvement of the organizations, the employment status of the disabled women has not only been highlighted but also has registered significant improvement. However, this observation raises many questions, such as what has been the extent of improvement and whether in right direction? If the benefits of the policy are reaching the right segment and whether these are up to the mark? This study will attempt to provide answer to all these questions and also identify the aspect(s) that needs to be strengthened. Employment for the disabled is a matter of right, which is endowed to the disabled women by the constitution. If the State limits itself to only adopting a quick - fix or short-term solutions, then it is failing in its duty of protecting the constitutional provisions for the disabled. In the light of above issues, the study was taken up to assess the implementation and implied impact in a manner that the Ministries and Departments of the Government of India would have a knowledge base, which will mark policy development in a coherent manner. The study also attempted to find out the integrity of the Act, if taken together. Underlined philosophy of this study was that the social development through economic security i.e. employment of the disabled women could be ensured in a true sense. This study is quite relevant, as it will help pioneering the concept of social inclusion and protection in an integrated manner and thereby support to optimize the effort of the Government. The study will also support the policy formulation for employment for the disabled women, but at another level it will help to streamline policy management. Although the study proposes to cover Five States—namely, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Maharastra and Tamilnadu; it would have nation-wise relevance. In this study an attempt is made to study the employment standing of disabled women in government sector and the nongovernment sector as also their social, economic milieu, the findings can be extended to all over country with minimal modifications.