Legislation and Policies in India
In India, appropriate legislation and services for people with disabilities are few and far between. The endeavour to establish effective policies for persons with ASD and their families dates back to 1996. In the following years, several advocacy drives and lobbying with the government and policy makers succeeded in the inclusion of autism in the National Trust Bill– ‘National Trust for Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act 1999’, the first ever legislation to be passed in India that recognized autism as a distinct condition of its own.
In 2010, marking an extremely important landmark in disability legislation in India, the drafting process of a new Act replacing the existing The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 was initiated. Merry Barua, founder director AFA, was nominated by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, to the Committee constituted to prepare the draft legislation.
Legal Resources
- Central Govt Schemes
- National Legal Aid Helpline
- Other Helpline Dept of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities India
- Pathways to Access Courts on Disability Rights
- Rights of Persons with Disabilities Related to Education List
- Rights of Persons with Disabilities Related to Financial Services
- Supreme Courts Handbook on RPwD