RPWD Act, 2016

What is Unique Disability ID (UDID) Card?
Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India issues a Unique Disability ID (UDID) to every disabled person in India. Unique Disability ID uniquely identifies the disabled person. The department is creating a national UDID database of persons with disabilities.
Benchmark disability refers to having at least 40% disability of any type recognized under the RPWD Act 2016
Extent of disability: Certificate mentions the extent of disability in percentage. This figure is very important because various benefits from government are associated with the degree of disability. People with lesser percentage will get lesser benefits.
Permanence of disability: It is also mentioned if the disability is permanent or temporary in nature.
Validity period: Medical board mentions the period which the certificate is valid for. If disability is deemed to be temporary, the person will be examined again after this validity period and a new disability certificate will be issued, if required.
Types of Disabilities
Physical Disability
Blindness
Low Vision
Deaf
Hard of Hearing
Locomotor Disability
Leprosy Cured Person
Cerebral Palsy
Dwarfism
Muscular Dystrophy
Acid Attack Victims
Speech and Language Disability
Intellectual Disability
Specific Learning Disabilities (Dyslexia)
Dyspraxia
Dysgraphia
Dyscalculia
ADHD
Mental Behavior / Illness
Mental retardation
Autism
Multiple Disability
Disability caused due to-
Chronic Neurological Conditions such as
Multiple Sclerosis
Parkinson’s Disease
Blood Disorder
Hemophilia
Thalassemia
Sickle Cell Disease
Multiple Disabilities
Types of Disabilities in early childhood
Visual impairment
Hearing impairment
Loco motor impairment
Cerebral Palsy
Mental retardation & illness
Children with learning disabilities
Dyslexia
Dysgraphia
Dyscalculia
ADHD
Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016
Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016
Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWD Act, also known as Divyangjan Adhikaar Kanoon 2016 in Hindi) was enacted under the Article 253 of the Constitution of India read with item No. 13 of the Union List. India has been in a great need of such an Act as there was no comprehensive law that could define and implement rights of the persons with disabilities in the country.
This act was passed to fulfill India’s obligation to UNCRPD.
Draft Bill of this Act was created in 2011
The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 14 December 2016 and by Lok Sabha on 17 December 2016
Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016 came into effect on 30 December 2016
It replaced the Persons with Disability (PwD) Act that was enacted way back in 1995
This Act is considered to be comprehensive and it aims to provide equal opportunities to persons with disabilities (or Divyangjan, as the disabled people are now called) in India.
Salient features
According to the Act any person who intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a person with a disability in any place within public view is punishable with imprisonment.
To increase the job opportunities of persons with disabilities, the Act has increased the reservation quota from 3% to 4%. This means that 4% of all vacancies in the government organizations will be reserved for disabled people.
Another very important feature of this Act is the provision of special courts in each district.
This act proposes that every child with disability gets free education from the age of 6 to 18.
State Governments will constitute district-level committees to address the local issues of PwD.
Office of Chief Commissioner and the Office of State Commissioners of Persons with Disabilities have been given more powers.
Broad-based Central & State Advisory Boards on Disability are to be set up to serve as apex policy-making bodies at the Central and State level.
Victims of acid attacks have been included in the list of PwD.
Dwarfism and Muscular Dystrophy have also been included as separate categories of disability.
Three blood disorders, Thalassemia, Hemophilia and Sickle Cell disease, have been included in the list of disabilities.
Number of types of disabilities have been increased from 7 to 21: (*-ed ones are covered here)
National and State Fund will be created to provide financial support to the persons with disabilities.
Emphasis has been given to ensure accessibility in public buildings (both government and private) within a prescribed time-frame.
What are the Advantages of SwavlambanCard or UDID Card?
So far the various state governments have been issuing disability certificates to disabled people so that they can avail of the benefits provided but the government. There has not been a defined form of disability certificate. Different states provided different types of certificates and each state kept its own record of certificates issued by it. Mostly such records were kept in paper form or in incompatible computer systems. As a result it was difficult to access, share or collate such information. UDID now offers the following advantages:
Application for UDID card can be submitted online. So, it will make life easier for PWDs.
The UDID Card holder will no longer need to carry lengthy documents as proof of her disability. UDID Card will be acceptable everywhere to prove one’s disability condition.
“At present the disability certificates of one state are not recognized in the other. The universal cards would help the differently-abled tide over these problems that they face at railway counters or even to avail any benefit at educational institutions. The card would have a unique number which if fed on the website would help an authority access all details.”, said Shri Awanish Kumar Awasthi, Joint Secretary (DePwD).
The card will be of standard credit card size. It will easily fit in one’s wallet.
UDID Card will have all the relevant details related with the person and her disability. This information can be easily read with a card reader device.
Real time data about the disabled persons will be available to the government to act upon.
Disability related data will not get duplicated as the computer system can ensure uniqueness of all the data related with disabled individuals.
System can be easily upgraded if more disability conditions get recognized by the government.
It would be easy to identify the extent of person’s disability. A person with less than 40% disability would have a card with a white stripe, 40 to 80% would have a card with yellow stripe and above 80% card with a blue stripe.
UDID Card will help government to track a number of aspects. For example:
Whether benefits of welfare schemes are reaching to the disabled persons.
How the beneficiaries are getting benefited.
If schemes are contributing to the progress of UDID card holders etc.
Benefits Available with the Disability Certificate or UDID Card
With disability certificate, the government has attached a number of benefits and facilities. These benefits vary from state to state and also according to the type and extent of disability. Following are some of the general facilities that a disability certificate holder can avail. If you want to get any of these benefits, we advise you to get more specific information:
Scholarship schemes for students with disabilities
Concession in railway fare
Rebate in income tax
Reservation in government jobs
Free travel in state transport buses
Loan for starting own business
Subsidized prosthetic aids and assistive devices (like wheelchairs)
Group insurance for government employees with disabilities
Unemployment allowance to educated disabled persons
Incentive for eye donors
Subsidy in buying adapted vehicles
Toll concession with free Fastag
Criteria for Getting Disability Certificate
Any person suffering with disabilities is eligible to apply for a disability certificate. However, when the medical board does disability evaluation — the certificate is issued only to those who fulfill any of the following criteria:
Person must have minimum 35% mental handicap or disability
Person must have an orthopedic disability of minimum 40%
In case of deaf people the disability percentage must be between 90 db & 100 db
Visual impairment has to be more than 90%
Common Terms Defined in RPWD Act 2016
Impairment
Missing or defective body part, an amputated limb, paralysis after polio, restricted pulmonary capacity, diabetes, nearsightedness, mental retardation, limited hearing capacity, facial disfigurement or other abnormal condition.
Disabilities
As a result of impairment may involve difficulties in walking, seeing, speaking, hearing, reading, writing, counting, lifting, or taking interest in and making one’s surrounding.
Temporary Total Disability:
Period in which the affected person is totally unable to work. During this period, he may receive orthopedic, ophthalmological, auditory or speech any other medical treatment.
Temporary partial Disability:
Period when recovery has reached the stage of improvement so that person may began some kind of gainful occupation.
Permanent Disability:
Permanent damage or loss of use of some part/parts of the body after the stage of maximum improvement [from any medical treatment] has been reached and the condition is stationary.
Handicap:
A disability becomes a handicap when it interferes with doing what is expected at a particular time in one’s life.
Rehabilitation:
Refers to a process aimed at enabling persons with disabilities to reach and maintain their optimal physical, sensory, intellectual, psychiatric or social functional levels
Person with Disability:
A person suffering from not less than 40% of any disability as certified by a medical authority.
Institution for persons with disabilities:
An institution for the reception, care, protection, with disabilities education, training, rehabilitation or any other service of persons
Sources
Types of Disabilities, Vikaspedia, 2021
List of Disabilities Covered Under Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWD Act), WeCapable, 2018
RPWD Act 2016: Summary and Overview [with Infographics], WeCapable, 2017
Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016: Important Points and PDF, WeCapable, 2017