The Constitution of India ensures equality, freedom, justice and dignity of all individuals and implicitly mandates an inclusive society for all including the persons with disabilities. As per the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 External website that opens in a new window), seven categories of disabilities have been identified viz., blindness, low vision, leprosy cured, hearing impairment, locomotor disability, mental retardation and mental illness. Persons falling under the above categories with a minimum of 40% disability are eligible for entitlement of all benefits provided by the Government.

As per the 11^th Plan persons with disabilities could be as high as 5-6% of India's total population. This substantial portion of our population needs equal services and opportunities for their over all development, which is also an essential attribute for the inclusive growth. Hence while recognizing the differently-abled people as valuable human resource to our country, the government has had been taking various initiatives to bring them at par with the mainstream.

The policies of the government towards the welfare of persons with disabilities have been reflected in the enactments, schemes and through institutions established for development of manpower for rehabilitation of persons with disabilities.

In this section of the National Portal of India, we bring to you the detailed and up-to-date information about the efforts made by the government towards empowerment of the differently-abled people. Various schemes, programmes, policies and services are also mentioned in this section.