Equality of treatment for Persons with Disabilities

📌 Summary:

• Context: Despite Digital India making the country a model "digital welfare state", Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) remain largely excluded from universal welfare outreach
• Core argument: disability pensions are decided by domicile, discretionary State-government decisions and cumbersome bureaucracy — not by the nature or extent of disability — which violates disability-rights principles
• Key data: the 2011 Census recorded 2.68 crore PwDs; today the figure is conservatively estimated at 4.5–6 crore; the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme covers only a small fraction
• Inadequacy: pensions in most States are just ₹300–₹500 a month (a few offer ₹1,000–₹3,000), far below a dignified subsistence level
• Legal backdrop: the Supreme Court recognises the right to live with dignity as a fundamental right, and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 provides legal protection, yet benefits remain fragmented, discretionary and inadequate
• Implied solution: a uniform, rights-based, adequately funded national disability-pension framework delinked from domicile and discretion

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 — welfare of vulnerable sections; governance of social-justice schemes; rights-based welfare delivery.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• 2011 Census: 2.68 crore PwDs; current estimate 4.5–6 crore
• Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS) — central disability pension
• Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016 recognises 21 disability categories

🔑 Key Term: Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 — law expanding recognised disabilities to 21 categories and mandating equality, accessibility and welfare for PwDs.