Rights and Entitlements of Persons with Disabilities in India
An Evaluation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37591/jhrlp.v3i1.447Keywords:
Disability, equality, human rights based approach, participation and non-discrimination.Abstract
In today’s world, there is paradigm shift in the conceptual understanding towards disability and persons with disabilities from a charity based approach to a rights based approach across the globe. This new approach includes human rights principles such as equality, participation, non-discrimination and accountability. India being a signatory to the UNCRPD has enacted disability laws and policies in line with international Conventions with an aim to ensuring equalization of opportunities and full participation of persons with disabilities in the development. However, despite laws and policies, overall vision of greater inclusion for persons with disabilities in the society is still a distant dream. The paper based on secondary data attempts to provide an overview of the new legislation - the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 (RPWD Act, 2016) and analyze the rights and entitlements enshrined in the Act. The study highlights partial implementation of laws and policies at ground level. Low participation in decision making and poor outreach of information among the targeted group are the challenges in effective implementation.
