The process of enacting new legislation in the place of the Persons with Disability Act, 1995 started in 2010, After a line of meetings and drafting process, the Right of PWD Act,2016 was passed by both houses. And under this, the list of disabilities was expanded from seven to twenty-one.
The disabilities included muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, acid attack victims, dwarfism, speech and language disability, hard of hearing, autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disorder, chronic neurological disorders like multiple sclerosis, blood disorders like hemophilia, and various others that were added under the RPWD Act 2016.
Rehabilitation Therapy
An elaborate definition of mental illness is defined in RPWD Act 2016, which says a substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation, or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behaviour, and capacity to recognize reality or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life but does not include retardation which is a condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind of a person, especially characterized by sub-normality of intelligence.
Have we ever thought that there is such a wide number of people suffering from various disabilities, do we have enough people to manage or train them? Though at the government level we have some institutions where we have trained people providing rehabilitation therapy to those people. Parents who require rehabilitation therapy for their children visit private clinics and that is so expensive that people from low-income groups, disadvantaged communities due to lack of financial resources cannot afford it.
So those who cannot afford it, unfortunately, continue to suffer from mental ailments and various other physical disorders.
Rehabilitation Therapist
A rehabilitation Therapist is a qualified and trained professional with having Bachelors’s degree in Rehabilitation Therapy which is also known as BRT or DRT. BRT is a 4.5 years degree course while DRT is a 2.5 years degree course. These are mentioned by the Rehabilitation Council of India(RCI). The BRT and DRT holders are trained specifically to deliver rehabilitation services to the ignored section of the differently-abled persons of the society and especially children suffering from various kinds of disabilities.
These therapists are trained to manage people suffering from neurological problems, mental retardation, locomotor disability, autism speech, cerebral palsy, etc.
Right to Health of PwDs
Protecting and promoting the health of persons with disability is the responsibility of the government under the RPWD Act.
It has a provision that is divided into two parts:
One part highlights at ensuring the healthcare facilities reaching people with disability.
And the other part highlights that the Government is required to take steps for the prevention of disabilities. And for that Government has to provide:
- People with Disability should have all access to all parts of a Government and Private hospital or healthcare institution without facing any hurdle. Each and every block of the building should be accessible. And the cost should be such of the healthcare that it can be afforded by people with disabilities. All facilities should be accessible.
- Also in the hospital, the person with disability should be attended on priority. There should be different ques for them to treat them first. The Government has also been given the responsibility for preventing the occurrence of disability broadly by two methods:
First, through awareness and training amongst people.
Second, through active interventions in the area of health.
- Free health care services should be provided with persons with disability in rural areas and also closer to the place.
