G.S.R. 398(E).—The following draft of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, which the Central Government proposes to make, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 100 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016) is hereby published for the information of all persons likely to be affected thereby; and notice is hereby given that the said draft rules shall be taken into consideration after the expiry of a period of thirty days from the date on which the copies of the Official Gazette in which this notification is published are made available to the public;
Objections and suggestions, if any, may be addressed to Shri K.V.S. Rao, Director, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Room No 518, 5th Floor, Pandit Deen Dayal Antyodaya Bhawan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, 110003 or by email at kvs.rao13@nic.in.
The objections and suggestions which may be received from any person with respect to the said draft rules before the expiry of the period specified above, will be considered by the Central Government.
DRAFT RULES
CHAPTER-I
1. Short title and extent.— (1) These rules may be called the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017.
(2) They shall extend to the whole of India.
2. Definitions.- (1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise require,-
(a) “Act” means the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (49 of 2016);
(b)”certificate” means a certificate of disability issued under section 57 of the Act;
(c) “Form” means a form appended to these rules.
(2) Words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Act shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act.
CHAPTER II
3. Establishment not to discriminate on the ground of disability.— (1) The head of the establishment shall ensure that the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 3 of the Act are not misused to deny any right and benefit to persons with disabilities covered under the Act.
(2) No establishment shall compel a person with disability to partly or fully pay any of the costs incurred to provide reasonable accommodation.
(3) The aggrieved person with disability may submit a representation before the Chief Commissioner or State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, as the case may be, who shall dispose of the representation within a period of sixty days:
Provided that in emergency cases, the Chief Commissioner or State Commissioner may dispose of such complaint as soon as possible.
4. Central Committee for Research on Disability.— (1) The Central Committee for Research on Disability shall consist of the following persons, namely:-
(i) an eminent person having a vast experience in the field of science and research, to be nominated by the Central Government, ex officio-Chairperson;
(ii) nominee of Director General of Health Services –Member;
(iii) four persons drawn from national institutes representing physical, visual, hearing and intellectual disabilities, to be nominated by the Central Government – Members;
(iv) five persons of the registered organisation, representing each of the five groups of specified disabilities in the Schedule to the Act, to be nominated by the Central Government – Members;
(v) the Director, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, New Delhi shall be the Member Secretary;
(vi) any expert appointed by the Chairperson as a special invitee.
(2) The term of office of the nominated members shall be for a period of three years from the date on which they enter upon office but shall be eligible for re-nomination.
(3) One half of the members shall constitute the quorum of the meeting.
(4) The non-official members and special invitees shall be entitled for travelling allowance and dearness allowance as admissible to a Group “A” officer of the Central Government.
(5) The Central Government may provide the Committee with such clerical and other staff as the Central Government consider necessary.
5. Procedure to be followed by Executive Magistrates.—For the purpose of dealing with the complaints under section 7 of the Act, the Executive Magistrate shall follow the procedure laid down under sections 133 to 143 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).
CHAPTER III
6. Nodal Officer in the District Education Office.—There shall be a nodal officer in the District Education Office to deal with all matters relating to admission of children with disabilities and the facilities to be provided to them in the schools in accordance with the provisions of sections 16 and 31 of the Act.
CHAPTER IV
7. Manner of publication of equal opportunity policy.—(1) Every establishment shall publish equal opportunity policy for persons with disabilities.
(2) The establishments shall display the equal opportunity policy preferably on their website, failing which at conspicuous places in their premises.
(3) The equal opportunity policy of the private establishments having twenty employees or more and the Government establishments shall, inter-alia, contain the following, namely:-
(a) facilities and amenities to be provided to the persons with disabilities to enable them to effectively discharge their duties in the establishment;
(b) list of posts identified suitable for persons with disabilities in the establishment;
(c) the manner of selection of persons with disabilities for various posts, post-recruitment and prepromotion training, preference in transfer and posting, special leave, preference in allotment of residential accommodation if any, and other facilities;
(d) provisions for assistive devices, barrier-free accessibility and other provisions for persons with disabilities;
(e) appointment of liaison officer by the establishment to look after the recruitment of persons with disabilities and provisions of facilities and amenities for such employees:
Provided that such liaison officer shall be imparted training on disability equality and etiquettes.
(4) The equal opportunity policy of the private establishments having less than twenty employees shall contain facilities and amenities to be provided to the persons with disabilities to enable them to effectively discharge their duties in the establishment.
8. Form and manner of maintaining records by the establishments.—(1) Every establishment shall maintain records in hard and soft copies which include the records maintained in the form of books or stored in a computer or tapes or discs or in any other electronic form or transcribed information of any type whether
expressed in ordinary or machine language and such other documents as may be useful for the purposes of these rules.
(2) The records shall show the following particulars, namely:—
(a) the number of persons with disability who are employed and the date from when they are employed;
(b) the name, gender and address of such person who are employed;
(c) the kind of disability of such persons employed;
(d) the nature of work being rendered by such employed person with disability; and
(e) the kinds of facilities being provided to such person with disability.
(3) Every establishment shall produce for inspection on demand records maintained under these rules to the authorities under this Act and shall supply such information as sought which it may require for the purpose of ascertaining whether the provisions have been complied with.
(4) Every establishment shall at the time of asking by the authorized person, verify the records which are being complied with.
9. Manner of maintenance of register of complaints by the Government establishments.—(1) Every Government establishment shall appoint an officer not below the rank of a Gazetted Officer as Grievance Redressal Officer:
Provided that where it is not possible to appoint any Gazetted officer, an officer of reasonable seniority shall be appointed as a Grievance Redressal Officer.
(2) The grievance redressal officer shall maintain a register of complaints and soft copy specifically maintained for the purpose and separate page shall be allotted for each complaint.
(3) The grievance redressal officer shall record the following particulars in the register, namely:-
(a) date of complaint;
(b) name of complainant;
(c) name of the person who is enquiring the complaint;
(d) place of incident;
(e) the name the establishment or person against whom the complaint is made;
(f) gist of the complaint;
(g) any additional information;
(h) documentary evidence, if any;
(i) date of disposal by the grievance redressal officer;
(j) details of disposal of the appeal by the district level committee; and
(k) any other information.
CHAPTER V
10. Computation of vacancies.—(1) For the purposes of computation of vacancies, four percent of the total number of vacancies including vacancies arising in the identified and non-identified posts in the cadre strength in each group of posts shall be taken into account by the appropriate Government for the persons with benchmark disabilities:
Provided that the reservation in promotion shall be in accordance with the instructions issued by the appropriate Government from time to time.
(2) Every Government establishment shall maintain a vacancy based roster for the purpose of calculation of vacancies for persons with benchmark disabilities in the cadre strength as per the instructions issued by the Government from time to time.
(3) While issuing advertisement to fill up vacancies every Government establishment shall indicate the number of reserved vacancies for each class of persons with benchmark disabilities in accordance with the provisions of section 34 of the Act.
(4) The reservation for persons with disabilities in accordance with the provisions of section 34 of the Act shall be horizontal and the vacancies for persons with benchmark disabilities shall be maintained as a separate class.
11. Interchange of vacancies.—The Government establishment shall interchange vacancies in accordance with the provisions of section 34 of the Act only if due process of recruitment to fill up the vacancies reserved for persons with benchmark disabilities has been complied with.
12. Submission of Returns on Vacancies.—(1) Every Government establishment shall furnish to the local special employment exchange returns in Form Persons with Disabilities Employer’s Return (PDER)-I once in every six months and in Form PDER-II once in every two years.
(2) The return shall be furnished within thirty days of the respective dates which is, 31st March and, 30th September of every financial year.
(3) The two yearly return shall be furnished within thirty days of the closing of every alternate financial year:
Provided that the first two yearly return shall be furnished for the financial year closing on 31st March, 2019.
13. Form in which record to be kept by an employer.—Every Government establishment shall maintain the record of employees with disabilities in Form PDER III.
CHAPTER VI
14. Rules for Accessibility.—(1) Every establishment shall comply with the following standards relating to physical environment, transport and information and communication technology, namely:—
(a) standards for public buildings as specified in the “Harmonised Guidelines and Space Standards for Barrier Free Built Environment for Persons With Disabilities and Elderly Persons” as issued by Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India in March 2016, as amended from time to time;
(b) (i) Standards for Bus Body Code for transportation system as specified in the notification G.S.R. 895(E), dated the 20th September, 2016 issued by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India as amended from time to time.
(c) Information and Communication Technology:
(i) website standards as specified in the Guidelines for Indian Government websites, as adopted by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievance (DARPG), Government of India;
(ii) Documents to be placed on websites shall be in ePUB or OCR based pdf format:
Provided that the standards of accessibility in respect of other services and facilities shall be specified by the Central Government within a period of six months.
(2) The respective Ministries and Departments shall ensure compliance of the standards of accessibility specified under this rule through their regulators or otherwise.
15. Review of Accessibility Standards.—The Central Government shall review from time to time the accessibility standards notified based on the latest scientific knowledge and technology.
CHAPTER VII
16. Application for disability certificate.—(1) Any person with specified disability may apply in Form I for a disability certificate and submit the physical application to –
(a) a medical authority or any other notified competent authority to issue such a certificate in the district of the applicant’s residence as mentioned in the proof of residence in the application; or
(b) the concerned medical authority in a government hospital where he may be undergoing or may have undergone treatment in connection with his disability:
Provided that where a person with disability is a minor or suffering from intellectual disability or any other disability which renders him unfit or unable to make such an application himself, the application on his behalf may be made by his legal guardian or by any organization registered under the Act having the minor under its
care.
(2) The application shall be accompanied by –
(a) proof of residence;
(b) two recent passport size photographs; and
(c) aadhaar number or aadhaar enrollment number, if any.
Note:- No other proof of residence shall be required from the applicant who has aadhaar or aadhaar enrollment number.
17. Issue of disability certificate.—(1) On receipt of an application under rule 16, the medical authority shall, verify the information as provided by the applicant and shall assess the disability in terms of the relevant guidelines issued by the Central Government and after satisfying himself that the applicant is a person with disability, issue a disability certificate in his favour in Form II, III and IV, as the case may be.
(2) The disability certificate shall be issued within a month from the date of receipt of the application by the medical authority.
(3) The medical authority shall, after due examination –
(i) issue a permanent disability certificate in cases where there are no chances of variation over time in the degree of disability; or
(ii) issue a disability certificate indicating the period of validity, in cases where there is any chance of variation over time in the degree of disability.
(4) If an applicant is found ineligible for issue of disability certificate, the medical authority shall convey the reasons to him in writing under Form V within a period of one month from the date of receipt of the application.
(5) The State Government and Union Territory Administration shall ensure that the certificate of disability is granted on a online platform from such date as may be notified by the Central Government.
18. Certificate issued under rule 17 to be generally valid for all purposes.—A certificate issued under rule 17 shall enable a person eligible to apply for facilities, concessions and benefits admissible under schemes of the Government and of non-Governmental organizations funded by the Government, subject to such
conditions as may be specified in relevant schemes or instruction of Government as the case may be.
19. Validity of Certificate of disability issued under the repealed Act.- The certificate of disability issued under the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (1 of 1996) shall continue to be valid after commencement of the Act till the period mentioned therein.
CHAPTER VIII
20. Allowances for the members of the Central Advisory Board.— (1) The non-official members of the Central Advisory Board, in Delhi, shall be paid an allowance of rupees two thousand per day for each day of the actual meeting.
(2) Non-official members of the Central Advisory Board, not residing in Delhi shall be paid daily and travelling allowances for each day of the actual meetings at the rate admissible to a Group A officer of the Central Government:
Provided that in case a Member of Parliament who is a Member of the Central Advisory Board, the daily and travelling allowances shall be paid at the rate admissible to him as Member of Parliament when the Parliament is not in session and on production of a certificate by the Member that he has not drawn any such allowance
for the same journey and halts from any other Government source.
(3) Non-official member of the Central Advisory Board shall be paid daily and travelling allowances, at the rate admissible under the relevant rules of the respective Government under whom he is serving on production of a certificate by him that he has not drawn any such allowance for the same journey and halts from any other
Government source.
21. Notice of meeting.— (1) The meeting of the Central Advisory Board on disability shall ordinarily be held in New Delhi on such dates as may be fixed by the Chairperson:
Provided that it shall meet at least once in every six months.
(2) The Chairperson shall, on the written request of not less than ten members of the Central Advisory Board, call a special meeting of the Board.
(3) The Member Secretary shall give fifteen clear days’ notice of an ordinary meeting and five clear days’ notice of a special meeting specifying the time and the place at which such meeting is to be held and the business to be transacted thereat.
(4) The Member Secretary may give notice to the members by delivering the same by messenger or sending it by registered post or by email to his last known place of residence or business or in such other manner as the Chairperson may, in the circumstances of the case thinks fit.
(5) No member shall be entitled to bring forward for the consideration of the meeting any matter of which he has not given ten clear days’ notice to the Member Secretary, unless the Chairperson may permit him to do so.
(6) The Central Advisory Board may adjourn its meeting from day to day or to any particular day.
(7) Where a meeting of the Central Advisory Board adjourned from day to day, the Member Secretary shall give notice of such adjourned meeting at the place where the meeting is adjourned, if held, by messenger and it shall not be necessary to give notice of the adjourned meeting to other members.
(8) Where a meeting of the Central Advisory Board is adjourned not from day to day but from the day on which the meeting is to be held to another day, notice of such meeting shall be given to all the members as provided in sub-rule (4).
22. Presiding officer.—The Chairperson shall preside over every meeting of the Central Advisory Board and in his absence, the Vice-Chairperson shall preside, but when both the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson are absent from any meeting, the members present shall elect one of the members to preside over that meeting.
23. Quorum.— (1) One-third of the total members of the Central Advisory Board shall form the quorum for any meeting.
(2) If time fixed for any meeting or during the course of any meeting less than one-third of the total members are present, the Chairperson may adjourn the meeting to such hours on the following or on some other future date as he may fix.
(3) No quorum shall be necessary for the adjourned meeting.
(4) No matter which had not been on the agenda of the ordinary of the special meeting, as the case may be, shall be discussed at adjourned meeting.
24. Minutes.— (1) The Member Secretary shall maintain the record containing the names of members who attended the meeting and of the proceedings at the meetings in a book to be kept for that purpose.
(2) The minutes of the previous meeting shall be read at the beginning of the every succeeding meeting, and shall be confirmed and signed by the presiding officer at such meeting.
(3) The proceedings shall be open to inspection by any member at the office of the Member-Secretary during office hours.
25. Business to be transacted at meeting.—Except with the permission of the presiding officer, no business which is not entered in the agenda or of which notice has not been given by a member under sub-rule (5) of rule 21 shall be transacted at any meeting.
26. Agenda for the meeting of the Central Advisory Board.—(1) At any meeting, the business shall be transacted in the order in which it is entered in the agenda, unless otherwise resolved in the meeting with the permission of the presiding officer.
(2) Either at the beginning of the meeting or after the conclusion of the debate on a motion during the meeting, the presiding officer or a member may suggest a change in the order of business as entered in the agenda and if the Chairperson agrees, such a change shall take place.
27. Decision by majority.—All questions considered at a meeting of the Committee shall be decided by a majority of votes of the members present and voting and in the event of equality of votes, the Chairperson, or in the absence of the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson or in the absence of both the Member presiding at the
meeting, as the case may be, shall have a second or casting vote.
28. No proceeding to be invalid due to vacancy or any defect.—No proceeding of the Central Advisory Board shall be invalid by reason of existence of any vacancy in or any defect in the constitution of the Board.
CHAPTER IX
29. Qualification for appointment of Chief Commissioner.— (1) No person shall be eligible for appointment as Chief Commissioner unless –
(a) he is a graduate from a recognized University.
Note.- Preference shall be given for a person having recognized degree or diploma in social work or law or management or human rights or rehabilitation or education of persons with disabilities;
(b) he is having experience of at least twenty-five years in a Group ‘A’ level post in Central Government or a State Government or a public sector undertaking or a semi Government or an autonomous body dealing with disability related matters or social sector or as a senior level functionary in registered national and international voluntary organizations in the field of disability or social development:
Provided that out of the total of twenty-five years of experience, he should have at least three years of experience in the field of rehabilitation or empowerment of persons with disabilities; and
(c) he has not attained the age of sixty years as on 1st January of the year of recruitment.
Note.- If he is in the service under the Central Government or a State Government, he shall seek retirement from such service before his appointment to the post.
30. Qualification for appointment of Commissioner.—No person shall be eligible for appointment as Commissioner unless –
(a) he is a graduate from a recognized University.
Note.- Preference shall be given for a person having recognised degree or diploma in social work or law or management or human rights or rehabilitation or education of persons with disabilities;
(b) he is having at least twenty years experience in a Group ‘A’ level posting in a Central Government or a State Government or a public sector undertaking or a semi Government or an autonomous body dealing with disability related matters or social sector or as senior level functionary in registered national and international voluntary organizations in the field of disability or social development; and
(c) he has not attained the age of fifty-six years as on 1st January of the year of recruitment.
31. Method of appointment of the Chief Commissioner and Commissioner.—(1) The Central Government shall, six months before the post of Chief Commissioner is due to fall vacant, advertise in at least two national level dailies each in English and Hindi inviting applications for the post from eligible candidates fulfilling the qualifications specified in rules 29 and 30.
(2) A search-cum-selection committee shall be constituted to recommend a panel of three suitable candidates for the post of the Chief Commissioner or Commissioner.
(3) The search-cum-selection committee shall be constituted in accordance with the instructions issued by the Government from time to time.
(4) The panel recommended by the committee may consist of persons from amongst those who have applied in response to the advertisement mentioned in sub-rule (1) and other eligible persons whom the Committee may consider suitable.
(5) The Central Government shall appoint one of the candidates recommended by the search-cum-selection committee as the Chief Commissioner or Commissioner.
32. Term of the Chief Commissioner and Commissioner.—(1) The term of office of Chief Commissioner shall be for a period of three years from the date on which he assumes office, or till he attains the age of sixty five years, whichever is earlier.
(2) The term of office of the Commissioner shall be for a period of three years and may be extended for a period of another two years or till he attains age of sixty years, whichever is earlier.
(3) A person may serve as Chief Commissioner or Commissioner for a maximum period of two terms:
Provided that the Chief Commissioner or the Commissioner have not attained age of sixty five years or sixty years respectively.
33. Salary and allowances of the Chief Commissioner and Commissioner.— (1) The Chief Commissioner shall be entitled for the salary and allowances as admissible to a Secretary to the Government of India.
(2) The Commissioner shall be entitled for the salary and allowances as admissible to a Additional Secretary to the Government of India.
(3) Where a Chief Commissioner or Commissioner being a retired Government servant or a retired employee of any institution or autonomous body funded by the Government, is in receipt of pension in respect of such previous service, the salary admissible to him under these rules shall be reduced by the amount of the pension,
and if he had received in lieu of a portion of the pension, the commuted value thereof, by the amount of such commuted portion of the pension.
34. Other terms and conditions of service of the Chief Commissioner and Commissioner.—(1) The Chief Commissioner and Commissioners shall be entitled to such leave as is admissible to a Government servant under the Central Civil Service (Leave) Rules, 1972.
(2) The Chief Commissioner and Commissioners shall be entitled to such leave travel concession as is admissible to a Group ‘A’ officer under the Central Civil Services (Leave Travel Concession)Rules, 1988.
(3) The Chief Commissioner and Commissioners shall be entitled to such medical benefits as is admissible to a Group ‘A’ officer under the Central Government Health Scheme.
35. Resignation and removal.—(1) The Chief Commissioner and Commissioner may, by notice in writing, under his hand, addressed to the Central Government, resign from the post.
(2) The Central Government may remove a person from the office of the Chief Commissioner and Commissioner, if he –
(a) becomes an undischarged insolvent;
(b) engages during his term of office in any paid employment or activity outside the duties of his office;
(c) is convicted or sentenced to imprisonment for an offence which in the opinion of the Central Government involves moral turpitude;
(d) is in the opinion of the Central Government, unfit to continue in office by reason of infirmity of mind or body or serious default in the performance of his functions as laid down in the Act;
(e) without obtaining leave of absence from the Central Government, remains absent from duty for a consecutive period of fifteen days or more; or
(f) has, in the opinion of the Central Government, so abused the position of the Chief Commissioner and Commissioner as to render his continuance in office detrimental to the interest of persons with disability:
Provided that no person shall be removed under this rule except after following the procedure, mutatis mutandis, applicable for removal of a Group A employee of the Central Government.
(3) The Central Government may suspend a Chief Commissioner and Commissioner, in respect of whom proceedings for removal have been commenced in accordance with sub-rule (2), pending conclusion of such proceedings.
36. Residuary provision.—The conditions of service of a Chief Commissioner and a Commissioner in respect of which no express provision has been made in these rules shall be determined by the rules and orders for the time being applicable to a Secretary and Additional Secretary to the Government of India, as the
case may be.
37. Procedure to be followed by Chief Commissioner and Commissioner.—(1) A complainant may present a complaint containing the following particulars in person or by his agent to the Chief Commissioner
or Commissioner or be sent by registered post or by email addressed to the Chief Commissioner or Commissioner, namely:—
(a) the name, description and the address of the complainant;
(b) the name, description and the address of the opposite party or parties, as the case may be, so far as they may be ascertained;
(c) the facts relating to complaint and when and where it arose;
(d) documents in support of the allegations contained in the complaint;
(e) the relief which the complainant claims.
(2) The Chief Commissioner or Commissioner on receipt of a complaint shall refer a copy of the complaint to the opposite party or parties mentioned in the complaint directing him to give his version of the case within a period of thirty days or such extended period not exceeding fifteen days as may be granted by the Chief Commissioner or Commissioner.
(3) On the date of hearing or any other date to which hearing could be adjourned, the parties or their agents shall appear before the Chief Commissioner or the Commissioner.
(4) Where the complainant or his agent fails to appear before the Chief Commissioner or the Commissioner on such days, the Chief Commissioner or the Commissioner may either dismiss the complaint on default or decide on merits.
(5) Where the opposite party or his agent fails to appear on the date of hearing, the Chief Commissioner or the Commissioner may take such necessary action under section 77 of the Act as he deems fit for summoning and enforcing the attendance of the opposite party.
(6) The Chief Commissioner or the Commissioner may dispose of the complaint ex-parte, if necessary.
(7) The Chief Commissioner or the Commissioner may on such terms as he deems fit and at any stage of the proceedings, adjourn the hearing of the complaint.
(8) The Chief Commissioner or the Commissioner shall decide the complaint as far as possible within a period of three months from the date of receipt of notice by the opposite party.
38. Advisory Committee to assist the Chief Commissioner.—(1) The Central Government shall appoint an Advisory Committee comprising of the following members, namely:-
(a) five experts to represent each of the five groups of specified disabilities mentioned in the Schedule to the Act of whom two shall be women;
(b) three experts in the field of barrier-free environment, one each from physical environment, transportation and information and communication technology or other services and facilities provided to the public;
(c) one expert in the area of employment of persons with disabilities;
(d) one legal expert; and
(e) one expert as recommended by the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities.
(2) The Chief Commissioner may invite subject or domain expert as per the need who shall assist him in meeting or hearing and in preparation of the report.
39. Submission of Report to Central Government.—The Chief Commissioner shall submit his report to the Central Government on the implementation of the Act at the interval of six months in such a manner that atleast two reports are sent in a financial year.
40. Submission of Annual Report.—(1) The Chief Commissioner, shall as soon as possible, after the end of the financial year but not later than the 30th day of September in the next year ensuing prepare and submit to the Central Government an annual report giving a complete account of his activities during the said
financial year.
(2) In particular, the annual report referred to in sub-rule (1) shall contain information in respect of each of the following matters, namely:-
(a) names of its officers and staff and a chart showing the organizational set up;
(b) the functions which the Chief Commissioner has been empowered under sections 75 and 76 of the Act and the highlights of the performance in this regard;
(c) the main recommendations made by the Chief Commissioner;
(d) the progress made in the implementation of the Act;
(e) any other matter deemed appropriate for inclusion by the Chief Commissioner or specified by the Central Government from time to time.
CHAPTER X
41. Management of National Fund.—(1) There shall be a governing body consisting of following members to manage the National Fund, namely:—
(a) Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, in the Central Government – Chairperson;
(b) Chairperson, Rehabilitation Council of India -Member;
(c) Chairperson, National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities – Member;
(d) Financial Advisor, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in the Central Government – Member;
(e) two representatives from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of School Education and Literacy, Department of Higher Education), Department of Labour and Employment, Department of Financial Services and Department of Rural Development in the Central Government, not below the rank of a Joint Secretary, by rotation in alphabetical orders – Members;
(f) two persons representing different types of disabilities to be nominated by the Central Government, by rotation – Members;
(g) Joint Secretary in the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities in the Central Government – Convener and Chief Executive Officer.
(2) The governing body shall meet as often as necessary, but at least once in every financial year.
(3) The nominated members shall hold office for not more than three years.
(4) No member of the governing body shall be a beneficiary of the Fund during the period such Member holds office.
(5) The nominated non-official members shall be eligible for payment of travelling allowance and dearness allowance as admissible to a Group ‘A’ employees of the Central Government for attending the meetings of the governing body.
(6) No person shall be nominated under clause (f) of sub-rule 1 as a member of the governing body if he –
(a) is, or has been, convicted of an offence, which in the opinion of the Central Government, involves moral turpitude; or
(b) is, or at any time has been, adjudicated as an insolvent.
42. Utilisation of the National Fund.—(1) The amount available as fixed deposits for empowerment of persons with disabilities and the National Fund for people with disabilities as on the date of the commencement of the Act shall form the corpus of the National Fund.
(2) All moneys available under the two Funds referred to in sub-rule (1) shall stand transferred to the National Fund.
(3) All moneys belonging to the Fund shall be deposited in such banks or invested in such manner as the governing body, may, subject to the general guidelines of the Central Government, decide.
(4) Only the interest accruing on the corpus shall be utilized for the following purposes, namely:-
(a) financial assistance in the areas which are not specifically covered under any scheme and programme of the Central Government;
(b) administrative and other expenses of the Fund, as may be required to be incurred by or under this Act; and
(c) such other purposes as may be decided by the governing body.
(5) Every proposal of expenditure shall be placed before the governing body for its approval.
(6) Any expenditure in any exigency is to be incurred from the National Fund, the said expenditure may be incurred with the approval of the Chairperson of the governing body:
Provided that such expenditure shall be placed before the governing body for ex-post facto approval in its earliest meeting.
(7) The governing body may appoint secretarial staff including accountants with such terms and conditions as it may think appropriate to look after the management and utilisation of the Fund based on need based requirement.
43. Budget.- The Chief Executive Officer of the Fund shall prepare the budget for incurring expenditure under the Fund in each financial year showing the estimated receipt and expenditure of the Fund, in January every year and shall place the same for consideration of the governing body.
44. Annual Report.- The annual report of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities shall include a chapter on National Fund.
For rest of the draft rules, visit www.egazette.nic.in
