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New Delhi: There has been a year-on-year decline in the appointment of Persons with Benchmark Disabilities in Union government ministries and departments since 2018, a reply given by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in the Lok Sabha has revealed.
In response to a question by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nalin Kumar Kateel on whether the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 has recommended reservation benefits to the persons with benchmark disabilities, and how many have benefitted from them during the last three years, the minister of state in PMO, Jitendra Singh replied in the affirmative about the Act having been implemented.
Furthermore, Singh submitted, in a written reply, that Section 34 (1) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 has provided reservation benefits to certain categories of people.
Also read: India Has a Long Road Ahead to Combat Challenges Faced by Persons With Disabilities
He said those covered under the section include persons with “blindness and low vision; deaf and hard of hearing; locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy; autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness; and multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (d) including deaf-blindness in the posts identified for each disabilities”.
The year-wise details of Persons with Benchmark Disabilities appointed during the last three years, however, showed that there has been a constant decline in such appointments, as per the data provided by 74 ministries and departments.
The reply said that in the year 2018 as many as 2,036 appointments were made, while this came down to 1,709 in 2019 and further to 1,375 in 2020.
In response to another query by the MP on whether the government has made any provision for reservation in promotions to differently-abled personnel in jobs, the minister replied in the affirmative, saying, “Instructions have been issued for reservation in promotion to Persons with Benchmark Disabilities,” through an office memorandum dated May 17, 2022.