 bill no viii of  2002 the blind and other physically handicapped persons (rehabilitation, employment and welfare) bill, 2002 a billto provide for the rehabilitation, reservation of jobs and other welfare measures for the blind and other physically handicapped persons in the country and for matter connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-third year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the blind and other physically handicapped persons(rehabilitation, employment and welfare) act, 2002short title, extent and commencement5(2) it extends to the whole of india(3) it shall come into force with immediate effectdefinitions2 in this act unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "appropriate government" means,—(i) the central government,10(1) in relation to any establishment owned, controlled or managed by thecentral government or a department of the central government; or(2) any company in which not less than fifty percent, of the shares areheld by the central government or partly by the central government and partly by one or more state governments; or(3) any corporation including a co-operative society established by or under a central act or owned, controlled or managed by the central government (ii) in relation to any other establishment the government of the state in which that establishment is situated;5(b) "blind person" means any person who has total absence of sight or vision; (c) "disabled or physically handicapped person" means any person having physical, mental or any other disability leading to a substantial handicap to his normal daily activities and to employment and hindering his normal life;10(d) "employer" means any person who employs fifty or more persons to do any work in an establishment for remuneration;(e) "establishment" means any office or any place where any industry, trade, business or occupation is carried;(f) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act;15(g) "registering authority" means the authority appointed under section 5 of this act 3 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, establish a national council for the blind and handicapped persons (hereinafter referred to as the national council):establishment of national council for the blind and handicapped(2) the national council shall consist of the following members, namely:—20(i) the union ministers of health and family welfare, labour, welfare, finance and deputy chairman of the planning commission;(ii) a representative of the central social welfare board;25(iii) a representative from each of the state governments and union territories;(iv) two representatives of the blind and handicapped persons; (v) two representatives representing the associations or voluntary organisations engaged in the welfare of blind and other handicapped persons;30(vi) four members of parliament, two from each house to be nominated by the speaker of the house of the people and chairman of the council of states (3) the union minister of welfare shall be the chairman of the national council (4) it shall be the duty of the national council to—(a) evolve a national policy for the rehabilitation of blind and other handicapped persons;35(b) start new programme, services and pilot projects for the rehabilitation of handicapped and blind persons;(c) review and suggest amendments to the existing laws or suggest new legislation for the welfare of blind and other handicapped persons;40(d) review the facilities available to the blind and other handicapped personsfrom time to time(5) the national council shall meet at least once in every six monthsemployers to reserve vacancies in employment4 every employer shall, from the commencement of this act, reserve not less than six percent of the vacancies occurring in any calendar year in any employment in the establishment to be filled in from among persons who are blind or physically handicapped in an equal ratio5appointment ofregistering authorities 5 the appropriate government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint as many authorities as it deems necessary as registration authorities for the purpose of registration of blind and other physically handicapped persons and may also define the area within which each of such authority shall exercise its jurisdiction10registration of blind and other handicapped persons6 (1) any blind or physically handicapped person, if he possesses the prescribedqualifications and desires to get himself registered under this act, shall make an application in such form containing such particulars as may be prescribed, to the registration authority within whose jurisdiction he resides and such authority shall register his name in a register and issue him a certificate of registration15(2) the register shall be maintained by the registering authority in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed7 every employer shall notify every vacancy to the registering authority withinwhose jurisdiction his establishment is situatedemployers to notify vacancies to registering authorities208 as soon as may be, after the notification under section (7), the registration authority shall furnish a list of blind and other handicapped persons registered with it to the employer notifying the vacancies who shall fill up the percentage of vacancies reserved for the blind and other handicapped persons from the list furnished to himauthorities to furnish list of blind and other handicapped persons to employers9 (1) every employer shall maintain such records giving such particulars of the blind and other handicapped persons in such manner as may be prescribed25(2) the records so maintained by the employer shall be open to inspection at all reasonable hours by such persons as may be authorised by the appropriate governmentemployer to maintain records of blind and other handicapped persons financial assistance in case of unemployment10 the appropriate government shall give financial assistance of rupees three hundred per month to every unemployed blind or physically handicapped person whose name appears in the register maintained under section 6 of this act till such time he is given an employmentpenalty3011 any employer who contravenes the provisions of this act shall be punishablewith imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees, or with bothoffences by companies3512 where an offence under this act has been committed by a company, every personwho, at the time of committing the offence was incharge of and was responsible to the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence under this actoffences by government departments13 where an offence under this act has been committed by any department of thegovernment, the head of such department shall be deemed to be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly4014 every blind and handicapped person shall have the right and be eligible to receive free of cost medical, surgical and other kinds of treatment, aids, appliances and equipments which may be helpful in reducing the adverse effects of disablement and restore the functional abilities of the blind and handicapped personsother right of the blind and other handicapped persons15 for the welfare of the blind and other handicapped persons, the appropriate government shall—(a) reserve five percent, of all housing units constructed by it;welfare measures for the blind and handicapped persons(b) provide training and other facilities to enable them to participate in sports, social and cultural activities;5(c) provide training for gainful employment in the institutions to be set up for the purpose;(d) provide free passage for travel by road, inland  navigation or by air;10(e) provide all aids, appliances, equipments and other articles used in the treatment, training, employment or in their economic resettlement;(f) provide interest free loans and other financial assistance for self employment;(g) undertake measures for the prevention of blindness and disability as may be found necessary15power to make rules16 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act statement of objects and reasonsthe worst disability that a human being can suffer from is blindness darkness becomes the fate of such a person there are millions of blind persons in the country suffering from this worst disability though many of them are talented they are unable to secure suitable employment as such, they are financially crippled they have no independent or adequate means of livelihood and they spend their lives in agony and distress the same is the fate of other physically and mentally handicapped persons in the country who number in croresthe nation has a responsibility to look after the blind and other disabled persons so as to make them useful citizens of the country there is a need for a national body to evolve a national policy for the care and rehabilitation of the blind and disabled persons and to coordinate the activities of the different agencies functioning in this field it is also necessary that adequate job opportunities are provided to the blind and other disabled persons through various schemes, including reservation of jobs in government organisations and public as well as private sector organisationsfor this they should be given adequate training in various fields and vocations they should also be given proper treatment in hospitals, and should also be provided with necessary equipments and para-medical support to improve their general well beingthis bill seeks to achieve the above objectss s ahluwalia financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the establishment of a national council for the blind and handicapped persons clause 5 provides for the appointment of registration authorities clause 10 provides for financial assistance to blind and other handicapped persons in case of unemployment clause 14 provides for some facilities to the blind and disabled persons and clause 15 provides for other welfare measures for them the bill, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that an annual recurring expenditure of about rupees five hundred crores is likely to be involved from the consolidated fund of indiaa non recurring expenditure of about rupees ten crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 16 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of detail only as such the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character rajya  sabha a billto provide for the rehabilitation, reservation of jobs and other welfare measures for the blind and other physically handicapped persons in the country and for matter connected therewith(shri s s ahluwalia, mp)