CREATING AN INCLUSIVE SCHOOL

Unit-1 Understanding Inclusion

INTRODUCTION

Inclusion
The term “inclusion” lays its roots in Manitoba 's philosophy of inclusion
• Inclusion is a way of thinking and acting that allows every individual to feel accepted, valued,
and safe. An inclusive community consciously evolves to meet the changing needs of its
members.
• Through recognition and support, an inclusive community provides meaningful involvement
and equal access to the benefits of citizenship.
• In Manitoba, we embrace inclusion as a means of enhancing the well-being of every member
of the community. By working together, we strengthen our capacity to provide the foundation
for a richer future for all of us.
• The philosophy of inclusion goes beyond the idea of physical location and incorporates basic
values and a belief system that promotes the participation, belonging and interaction.

Inclusive Education

Inclusion is not a new concept in education. Related terms with a longer history include
mainstreaming, integration, normalization, least restrictive environment, deinstitutionalization,
and regular education initiative. Some use several of these terms interchangeably; others make
distinctions. Admittedly, much of the confusion over the issue of inclusion stems from the lax
usage of several of these related terms when important differences in meaning exist, especially
among the most common-mainstreaming, integration, inclusion, and full inclusion.

Meaning of inclusive education given by UNESCO and UNICEF

UNESCO defines inclusive education “as a process of addressing and responding to the
diversity of needs of all learners through increasing participation in learning, cultures and
communities, and reducing exclusion within and from education”.
Thus, inclusive education involves changes and modifications in content, approaches,
structures and strategies, with the conviction that it is the responsibility of the state to educate
all children.

The UNESCO approach on inclusive education has in its centre the idea of making the
marginalized groups visible in society and getting access to governmental policies and
education: “Inclusive education should be viewed in terms of including traditionally excluded
or marginalized groups or making the invisible visible. The most marginalized groups are often
invisible in society: disabled children, girls, children in remote villages, and the very poor.
These invisible groups are excluded from governmental policy and access to education.”
The UNICEF definition of inclusive education focuses on the shift of values and beliefs,
specific Inclusion in education is an approach once thought only necessary for educating
students with special educational needs.

Now it is crucial that all teachers ensure inclusive practice for all students in their classroom
and the wider school: “Under the inclusion model, students with special needs spend most or
all of their time with non-disabled students. Implementation of these practices varies. Schools
most frequently use them for selected students with mild to severe special needs.”

The vision on the inclusive education is that all children reach their full learning potential and
decisions are based on the individual needs of the student and founded on evidence: “Inclusive
education is a pairing of philosophy and pedagogical practices that allow each student to feel
respected, confident and safe so he or she can learn and develop to his or her full potential. It
is based on a system of values and beliefs cantered on the best interests of the student, which
promotes social cohesion, belonging and active participation in learning, a complete school
experience, and positive interactions with peers and others in the school community.”

What Inclusive Education IS? And What Inclusive Education IS NOT?

Inclusive Education IS… Inclusive Education IS NOT…

…. a constantly evolving process of change ….a one-off project that can be delivered
and improvement within schools and the and completed within a short timeframe.
wider education system to make education
more welcoming, learner-friendly, and
beneficial for a wide range of people.

...about restructuring education cultures, ...focused just on developing education

policies and practices so that they can respond for disabled learners within mainstream
to a diverse range of learners - male and settings.
female; disabled and non-disabled; from
different ethnic, language, religious or
financial backgrounds; of different ages; and
facing different health, migration, refugee or
other vulnerability challenges.

...about changing the education system so that ...about trying to change the learner so
it is flexible enough to accommodate any that he/she can fit more conveniently into
learner. an unchanged education system.
 ...an ongoing effort to identify and remove ...focused just on helping learners to gain
barriers that exclude learners within each access to schools or classrooms.
unique situation.

...focused on solving attitude, practice, policy, ..just about overcoming financial and
environmental and resource barriers. environmental challenges.

...a process in which all stakeholders should ...a project that can be implemented
participate (teachers, learners, parents, solely by external experts or education
community members, government policy- officials.
makers, local leaders, NGOs etc.).

...something that can happen outside the ...just a process that happens in formal
formal education system, as well as in formal schools.
school environments (inclusive education can
happen in learning spaces that are non-formal,
alternative, community based etc. with
learners from young children through to
elderly adults).

a) Difference between diversity, disability and inclusion

Understanding Diversity

Inclusion as a philosophy or practice cannot be discussed meaningfully unless it is situated in

the context of diversity across the members of the group, especially in the framework of
inclusive education.
Diversity in literary terms means differences.
The term diversity, when used in discourse related to people or communities or in social
contexts is more specific, indicates that a group of people is made up of individuals who are
different from each other in some way or the other or it means collective differences among
people, that is, those differences which mark off one group of people from another. For
example, differences in culture, language, gender, appearance (e.g. skin colour, hair type)
lifestyle, social and economic status, family structure, abilities, (e.g. physical, social, creative,
and intellectual), values and beliefs (Jingran, 2009).
On an analysis of diversity from the perspective of uniformity, the term diversity is an antonym
of uniformity. Uniformity means similarity of some sort that characterizes a group of people.
‘Uni’ refers to one; ‘form’ refers to the common ways. So, when there is something common
to all the people in focus, we say there is uniformity in that group of people. When students of
a school, members of army, police or the navy wear the same type of dress, we say they are in
‘uniform’. Like diversity, thus, uniformity is also a collective concept. When a group of people
share a similar characteristic, be it language or religion or any such, it is understood to depict
uniformity with reference to the characteristic in focus. But when there are groups of people
hailing from different races, religions and cultures, they represent diversity, clearly denoting
that diversity means variety.

The scope of diversity widens as social groups that are identified as marginalised use a variety
of strategies to make their issues acknowledged and accepted by the society. At the same time,
subsumed in the notion of diversity is the understanding that certain differences may bring
specific disadvantage to the person in terms of his/her social position and life chances where
as others may not, to the same extent.

Finally, diversity is not simply a descriptive term; it implies an ideological position that values
and respects cultural pluralism and supports its preservation within a society; the concept of
diversity encompasses acceptance and respect for members of a group; it is loaded with a
political perspective positively inclined to equity and justice in society.

From the above thread of analysis, we understand that diversity gets linked to inclusion. Here
diversity subsumes the value and respect for pluralism in a social group establishing positive
inclination to inclusivity while fostering a feeling of oneness and a sense of belongingness in
each of the members of the pluralistic society. It is diversity that brings in the advocacy for
equity and justice for each of the diverse persons in a group irrespective of their abilities,
disabilities, social status, religion, class, caste and so on and so forth.

Understanding Disability

Disability is part of the human condition. Almost everyone will be temporarily or

permanently impaired at some point in life, and those who survive to old age will experience
increasing difficulties in functioning.
Disability is a complex term that includes multiple definitions, approaches and perspectives,
each with its own distinct angle and purpose, ranging from the very narrow to very broad
boundaries, and looks very differently from the point of view of various models- from the
medical to the social and from the cultural to the local. There is no universally agreed way of
defining and understanding disability. The definition of disability is continuously changing,
and it varies greatly not only from country to country but also within each country. Disability
is also seen and dealt with differently from the perspective of the various intellectuals, groups
and organizations dealing with various kinds of disabilities. Defining disability is also
difficult because there are several kinds of disabilities from the one intended to integrate in
society to the one for exclusion and segregation. Hence there are bound to be differences in
the understanding of an individual or group who looks at disability from the point of view of
its integration and inclusion in the society and another who, for certain reasons, believes in its
exclusion and elimination.
A general definition of disability, according to World Health Organization manual relates to
“any restriction or lack (resulting from an impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the
manner or within the range considered normal for a human being” .
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, and developmental or
sometimes a combination of these. In the broadest sense of the term, people are labeled as
disabled or handicapped because they look different from the rest of the society on account of
their appearance or behaviour or capacity to learn and develop.

International Labour Organization (ILO) looks at a disabled person as an individual “whose

prospects of securing, retaining and advancing in suitable employment are substantially
reduced as a result of a duly recognized physical or mental impairment”

Taking physical appearance and behavioral factors into consideration, Rehabilitation

Council of India, (1992), defines a disabled person as one "who in his/her society is regarded
as disabled, because of a difference in appearances and/or behaviour, in combination with a
functional limitation or an activity restriction"

In the definition given by the Planning Commission of India, a disabled person means a
person who is “blind, deaf, having orthopedic disability; or having neurological disorder,
mentally retarded.” The definition includes “any person who is unable to ensure
himself/herself, wholly or partly, the necessities of a normal individual or social life
including work, as a result of deficiency in his/her physical or mental capability”

Definition of disability, according to Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities,

Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, includes seven broad categories
related to blindness, low vision, hearing impairment, mental retardation and mental illness
and locomotor disability; whereas mental illness means any mental disorder other than
mental retardation, mental retardation means a condition of arrested or incomplete
development of the mind of a person, which is specially characterized by subnormality of
intelligence. According to Disability Act, a person with a disability must suffer from not less
than forty percent of any disability, to be certified for the same by a medical authority. A
person with low vision means a person with impairment of visual functioning even after
treatment or standard refractive correction but who uses or is potentially capable of using
vision for the planning or execution of appropriate assistive device. A locomotor disability,
according to the Act denotes disability of the bones, joints or muscles leading to substantial
restriction of the movement of the limbs or any form of cerebral palsy. Thus, the term
„disability‟ summarizes a great number of different functional limitations occurring in any
population, in any country of the world related to the physical, intellectual or sensory
impairment, medical conditions or mental illness.

The disabled broadly are people with one or more physical, mental and sensory impairments
which limit one or more of the basic life activities such as seeing, hearing, talking, walking,
using hands, understanding, learning, communicating and inadequacies of a similar nature.

World Health Organization (WHO) rightly looks at disability as an: Umbrella term, covering
impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions. Impairment is a problem in
body function or structure. An activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual
in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an
individual in involvement in life situations.
Impairment, Disability and Handicaps are terms which are frequently used interchangeably.
However, there are conceptual differences among the terms. The differencehas been clearly
outlined in the definition of each of the terms by WHO in the international classification of
impairment, disability and Handicaps.

Understanding inclusion
There have, traditionally, been three broad approaches to the education of children with
disabilities: segregation in which children are classified according to their impairment and
allocated a school designed to respond to that particular impairment; integration, where
children with disabilities are placed in the mainstream system, often in special classes, as long
as they can accommodate its demands and fit in with its environment; and inclusion where
there is recognition of a need to transform the cultures, policies and practices in school to
accommodate the differing needs of individual students, and an obligation to remove the
barriers that impede that possibility.
It has been argued that inclusive education is not only about addressing issues of input, such
as access, and those related to processes such as teacher training, but that it involves a shift in
underlying values and beliefs held across the system. It requires that all children, including
children with disabilities, not only have access to schooling within their own community, but
that they are provided with appropriate learning opportunities to achieve their full potential.
Its approach is underpinned by an understanding that all children should have equivalent and
systematic learning opportunities in a wide range of school and additional educational
settings, despite the differences that might exist.

Inclusive education provides a fundamentally different pedagogical approach to one rooted in

deviance or difference. In other words, it stresses:

a) the open learning potential of each student rather than a hierarchy of cognitive skills;
b) reform of the curriculum and a cross cutting pedagogy rather than a need to focus on
student deficiencies;
c) active participation of students in the learning process rather than an emphasis on
specialized
d) discipline knowledge as key to teachers expertise;
e) a common curriculum for all, based upon differentiated and/or individualized
instruction,
f) rather than an alternative curriculum being developed for low achievers;
g) teachers who include rather than exclude.

Radical changes are required in education systems, and in the values and principles of the
people involved in delivering education, if the world’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged
children are to realize their right to gain access to their local school. Central to an inclusive
approach are a commitment to:
• Putting inclusive values into action
• valuing every life equally
• helping everyone feel a sense of belonging
• Promoting children’s participation in learning and teaching
• Reducing exclusion, discrimination and barriers to learning and participation
• Developing cultures, policies and practices to promote diversity and respect for
 everyone equally
• Learning from inclusive practice to share the lessons widely
• Viewing differences between children and between adults as a resource for learning
• acknowledging the right of children to locally based high quality education
• Improving schools for staff and parents as well as children
• emphasizing the value of building positive school communities as well
achievements
• fostering positive relationships between schools and their values and surrounding
communities
• recognizing the inclusion in education is one aspect of inclusion in society

Difference Between Diversity, Disability and Inclusion.

Diversity is simply a representation of many different types of people. Diversity is

any dimension that can be used to differentiate groups and people from one another
in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, education,
and national origin.

Diversity often focuses on the differences, and is referred to as "the mix."

Diversity allows for the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and
nurturing environment, which is not possible without practicing inclusion.

Inclusion is the deliberate act of welcoming diversity and creating an environment

where all different kinds of people can thrive and succeed.

Inclusion us the act of "making the mix work."

Diversity is what you have. Inclusion is what you do.

Simply having a diverse group, team, workforce, classroom, etc., is not enough.
Everyone should feel safe and encouraged to fully participate and share and be on
equal footing as everyone else.

As mentioned earlier, diversity also include disability. A group or class room can
have indiviuals with disabilities.
Disability is an inescapable element of human experience. Although it is rarely
acknowledged as such, it is also a fundamental aspect of human diversity. It is so,
first, in the sense that, world-wide, an enormous number of people are disabled. (The
proportion of people who are disabled in different national populations varies
significantly with economic development, health care, and other factors, of course,
but in the United States, at least, people with disabilities make up the population’s
largest minority.) Furthermore, because of the way this minority is constituted, it is
more heterogeneous than those of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation.
Disabilities may affect one’s senses or one’s mobility; they may be static or
progressive, congenital or acquired, formal (affecting the shape of the body) or
functional, visible or invisible.

Moreover, There exist a significant diversity in disability. Persons with disabilities

are diverse and heterogeneous, while stereotypical views of disability emphasize
wheelchair users and a few other “classic” groups such as blind people and deaf
people. Disability encompasses the child born with a congenital condition such as
cerebral palsy or the young soldier who loses his leg to a land-mine, or the middle-
aged woman with severe arthritis, or the older person with dementia, among many
others.

Now with implementation of RTE, SSA, EFA and many other government policies,
disability has become a type of diversity in classroom. Which results in a sizeable
challenge for any school and a teacher to Treat everyone fairly to nurture talent, with
true inclusiveness.

Inclusion is a sense of belonging. Inclusive cultures make people feel respected and
valued for who they are as an individual or group. People feel a level of supportive
energy and commitment from others so that they can do their best at work. Inclusion
often means a shift in an organization’s mind-set and culture that has visible effects,
such as participation in meetings, how offices are physically organized or access to
particular facilities or information.

The process of inclusion engages each individual and makes people feel valued as
being essential to the success of the school and class room teaching. Evidence shows
that when students feel valued, they function at full capacity and feel part of the class
room activities as well as part of larger society.

In simple terms, diversity is the mix of various dimensions including disability and
inclusion is getting the mix to work well together for greater benefits for all.

b) Meaning and Need of Inclusion. (Educational, Social, Economic,

Humanitarian, Democratic and legal perspectives)

Educational Need of Inclusion

Inclusion in education is about looking at the ways our schools, classrooms, programs and
lessons are designed so that all children can participate and learn. Inclusion in education field
is also about finding different ways of teaching so that classrooms actively involve all
children. It also means finding ways to develop friendships, relationships and mutual respect
between all children, and between children and teachers in the school.

Inclusion in education is not just for some children. Being included is not something that a
child must be ready for. All children are at all times ready to attend regular schools and
classrooms. Their participation is not something that must be earned.

Education with inclusion, is a way of thinking about how to be creative to make our schools a
place where all children can participate. Creativity may mean teachers learning to teach in
different ways or designing their lessons so that all children can be involved.
As a value, inclusive education reflects the expectation that we want all of our children to be
appreciated and accepted throughout life.
Benefits of inclusion in Education
• Research shows children do better, academically and socially in inclusive
settings.
• Given commitment and support, inclusive education is a more efficient use
of educational resources.

• All children are able to be part of their community and develop a sense of
belonging and become better prepared for life in the community as children and
adults.
• It provides better opportunities for learning. Children with varying abilities are
often better motivated when they learn in classes surrounded by other children.
• The expectations of all the children are higher. Successful inclusion attempts to
develop an individual’s strengths and gifts.
• It allows children to work on individual goals while being with other students their
own age.
• It encourages the involvement of parents in the education of their children and the
activities of their local schools.
• It fosters a culture of respect and belonging. It also provides the opportunity to
learn about and accept individual differences.
• It provides all children with opportunities to develop friendships with one another.
Friendships provide role models and opportunities for growth.

Social Need of Inclusion

Humans are social animals. Learning can not happen in vaccum. One needs to interact with
other to broaden their mental horizon. We can comprehend our environment and all the
things that comprises in our environment, only if we interact with our environment and its
components.
Social competence is the degree to which students are able to establish and maintain
satisfactory interpersonal relationships, gain peer acceptance, establish and maintain
friendships, and terminate negative or pernicious interpersonal relationships. Effective social
problem solving requires reading one’s own and others feelings, and being able to accurately
label and express those feelings. Such skills are aspects of social and emotional learning.

Without inclusion, mainstream students and students in special institution will never gain
social competence required to interact with each other in employment section.

Benefits :
• All children develop relationships with variety of people around them and this
prepares them for life in the mainstream.
• Inclusion has the potential to reduce fear and build friendship
• Mutual respect, understanding and compassion increases among the fellow
individuals.
• Development of safe and secure feeling in the group
• Confidence in the individual ability among the diversity
 Economic Need of Inclusion
There are 32 million children with disabilities who still don’t go to school in developing
countries. This staggering number doesn’t just mean that people with disabilities are denied
education but also that they are excluded from society and their hope for employment.

The International Labour Organisation suggested the cost of exclusion could be up to 7% of

GDP in some low- and middle-income countries. In addition, the World Bank estimated that
in Bangladesh lack of schooling and employment for people with disabilities and their
caregivers could be losing the country $1.2 billion (£908 million) of income annually.

Economic need of inclusion refers to equality of opportunity for all members of society to
participate in the economic life of their country as employees, entrepreneurs, consumers, and
citizens. Individuals of all social backgrounds and income strata should have opportunities to
participate in the economy and reap the benefits of their participation. Fundamentally,
inclusion entails access without bias to markets, resources, and opportunities.

Inclusiveness spreads through complementary changes on two levels. On one level,

communities enlarge economic opportunities for individuals of diverse backgrounds by
extending access to markets and opportunities for education, employment, and
entrepreneurship. On a second level, individuals acquire the abilities needed to contribute
productively and take advantage of market opportunities. Naturally, these levels of change
are interrelated and successful inclusion comes about when individuals and communities
become better connected in dynamic ecosystems.

Fostering inclusion through active participation in the economy involves increasing access to
opportunity by greater numbers of workers, entrepreneurs, and consumers in ways that
generate additional economic growth. Successful inclusion unlocks the potential of more and
more individuals and communities and empowers them to improve their circumstances and
status. This active process differs from other responses to inequality that focus solely on
reshaping outcomes, such as supplementing income levels or altering the distribution of
wealth
There are diverse approaches to building inclusion, each catering to different groups and their
respective roles in the economy. In general, though, the overall objective of inclusion
comprises several distinct goals:

• Broad-based job creation is the means by which most people and households create value
and pursue economic opportunity. The quality and productivity of jobs are key factors.
• Expanding entrepreneurship creates opportunities for business founders and new jobs for
others. The viability of new firms and their growth prospects are key factors.
• Access to markets, finance, and information secures the resources needed to manage firms
and households. Both market institutions and intermediaries are key factors.
• Marketing goods and services to the “bottom of the pyramid” allows the consumption needs
of the full spectrum of the population to be met.

Humanitarian need of Inclusion

humanitarian need of inclusion to take all steps to meet the essential needs and promote the
protection, safety and respect for the dignity of persons with disabilities in situations of risk,
including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of
natural disasters.
Inclusion is important with humanitarian perspective to ensure that persons with disabilities
have access to humanitarian response, both in terms of protection and assistance, without
discrimination, and allowing them to fully enjoy their rights.

Dimension of Humanitarian Need

1. Non-discrimination: eliminate all forms of discrimination against persons with

disabilities in humanitarian programming and policy, including by guaranteeing
protection and equal access to assistance for all persons with disabilities. Facilitate the
protection and safety of all children and adults with disabilities, recognising that
multiple and intersecting factors such as gender, age, ethnicity, minority status, as well
as other diversity and context-specific factors necessitate distinct responses and
measures.
2. Full Participation: Promote meaningful involvement of persons with disabilities and
their representative organizations in the needs assessment, design, implementation,
coordination, monitoring and evaluation of humanitarian preparedness and response
programs and draw from their leadership, skills, experience and other capabilities to
ensure their active participation in decision making and planning processes including
in appropriate coordination mechanisms.
3. Inclusive response and services: Strive to ensure that services and humanitarian
assistance are equally available for and accessible to all persons with disabilities, and
guarantee the availability, affordability and access to specialized services, including
assistive technology in the short, medium and long term.
4. Cooperation and coordination: Foster cooperation and coordination among national
and local authorities and all humanitarian agencies, including international and
national civil society, UN agencies, the Red Cross, and representative organisations of
persons with disabilities, to facilitate cross-learning, and sharing of information,
practices, tools and resources inclusive of persons with disabilities.

Democratic Need of Inclusion

Educating for democracy has long been established as a central purpose for schooling in
India and continues to be included in the ongoing discourses on educational policy and
programs. While educating for democracy has been defined in many ways, it is commonly
agreed that it is the knowledge, skills, and experiences that members of a democracy should
possess in order to be contributing citizens of a global society.

Inclusion in its full capacity is the only possible was to true democracy as it enables the
participation and voice for all those affected by problems and their proposed solutions.
Within the context of education, democratic inclusive education is established for the purpose
of creating learning environments in which multiple perspectives are included in the
community-building and decision-making efforts of the classroom

A democratic inclusive classroom is established as teachers and students interact with each
other and with the curriculum in ways that include all perspectives and voices in the decision-
making of the classroom. Teachers of democratic inclusive classrooms view decision-making
as an ideal avenue for students to express opinions, and to include multiple perspectives and
identities. Educators who are committed to democratic inclusion find ways to involve their
students in decision-making of the classroom by engaging in deliberations about curriculum
decisions, and classroom decisions. Students are involved in curriculum decision as they
make decisions in terms of what is taught, how it is taught, and how it is evaluated. In this
way, democratic inclusive teachers reflect notions of participation and decision-making
identified in the literature, as students are involved in the processes and decision that affect
them. Students participate in classroom decisions as opportunities arise from living and
learning together that allow students to deliberate problems and their potential solutions.

Legal Need of Inclusion

The Constitution of India does not explicitly include children with disabilities in the
provisions made for education , but Article 41 does mention people with disabilities and says
in part “the State shall within the limits of its economic development make effective
provisions for securing the right to work , to education and to public assistance in cases of
unemployment ,old age, sickness ,disablement and in other cases of undesired want”. It does
not mandate the free and compulsory education as a fundamental right and is merely a
directive principle to guide state policy but Article 45 does rectify this by stating that free
and compulsory education should be provided for ALL children until they complete the age
of 14” The ALL is never specifically explained.
But the most recent 93rd amendment to the Indian Constitution passed in December 2001,
affirms the Government’s commitment to (EFA) or Education for All. In Sanskrit it is Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). The preamble explicitly states that this includes children with
disabilities. This policy aims at all children in the 6 to 14 age group being ale to complete
eight years of schooling by the year 2010. The SSA gives importance to early childhood care
and education and appropriate intervention for children with special needs and also and
makes special reference to the education of the girl child. The positive factor is the change
incorporated in the Education Act by adding a pertinent clause which clarifies that “ALL ”
includes children with disabilities.
On the 21st of March 2005, the Hon. Minister of Human Resource Development in the Rajya
Sabha presented a comprehensive statement on the subject of inclusive education of children
with disabilities .

The disabled and the constitution

The Constitution of India applies uniformly to every legal citizen of India, whether they are
healthy or disabled in any way (physically or mentally)
Under the Constitution the disabled have been guaranteed the following fundamental rights:
1. The Constitution secures to the citizens including the disabled, a right of justice, liberty of
thought, expression, belief, faith and worship, equality of status and of opportunity and for
the promotion of fraternity.
2. Article 15(1) enjoins on the Government not to discriminate against any citizen of India
(including disabled) on the ground of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
3. Article 15 (2) States that no citizen (including the disabled) shall be subjected to any
disability, liability, restriction or condition on any of the above grounds in the matter of their
access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment or in the use of
wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out
of government funds or dedicated to the use of the general public. Women and children and
those belonging to any socially and educationally backward classes or the Scheduled Castes
& Tribes can be given the benefit of special laws or special provisions made by the State.
4. There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens (including the disabled) in matters
relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.
5. No person including the disabled irrespective of his belonging can be treated as an
untouchable. It would be an offence punishable in accordance with law as provided by
Article 17 of the Constitution.
6. Every person including the disabled has his life and liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of
the Constitution.
7. There can be no traffic in human beings (including the disabled), and beggar and other
forms of forced labour is prohibited and the same is made punishable in accordance with law
(Article 23).
8. Article 24 prohibits employment of children (including the disabled) below the age of 14
years to work in any factory or mine or to be engaged in any other hazardous employment.
Even a private contractor acting for the Government cannot engage children below 14 years
of age in such employment.
9. Article 25 guarantees to every citizen (including the disabled) the right to freedom of
religion. Every disabled person (like the non-disabled) has the freedom of conscience to
practice and propagate his religion subject to proper order, morality and health.
10. No disabled person can be compelled to pay any taxes for the promotion and maintenance
of any particular religion or religious group.
11. No Disabled person will be deprived of the right to the language, script or culture which
he has or to which he belongs.
12. Every disabled person can move the Supreme Court of India to enforce his fundamental
rights and the rights to move the Supreme Court is itself guaranteed by Article 32.
13. No disabled person owning property (like the non-disabled) can be deprived of his
property except by authority of law though right to property is not a fundamental right. Any
unauthorized deprivation of property can be challenged by suit and for relief by way of
damages.
14. Every disabled person (like the non-disabled) on attainment of 18 years of age becomes
eligible for inclusion of his name in the general electoral roll for the territorial constituency to
which he belongs.

Education Law for the Disabled

* The right to education is available to all citizens including the disabled. Article 29(2) of the
Constitution provides that no citizen shall be denied admission into any educational
institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on the ground of
religion, race, caste or language.
* Article 45 of the Constitution directs the State to provide free and compulsory education
for all children (including the disabled) until they attain the age of 14 years. No child can be
denied admission into any education institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out
of State funds on the ground of religion, race, caste or language.

Health Laws
* Article 47 of the constitution imposes on the Government a primary duty to raise the level
of nutrition and standard of living of its people and make improvements in public health -
particularly to bring about prohibition of the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs
which are injurious toone’s health except for medicinal purposes.
* The health laws of India have many provisions for the disabled. Some of the Acts which
make provision for health of the citizens including the disabled may be seen in the Mental
Health Act, 1987

Family Laws
Various laws relating to the marriage enacted by the Government for DIFFERENT
communities apply equally to the disabled. In most of these Acts it has been provided that the
following circumstances will disable a person from undertaking a marriage. These are:
* Where either party is an idiot or lunatic,
* Where one party is unable to give a valid consent due to unsoundness of mind or is
suffering from a mental disorder of such a kind and extent as to be unfit for ‘marriage for
procreation of children’
* Where the parties are within the degree of prohibited relationship or are sapindas of each
other unless permitted by custom or usage.
* Where either party has a living spouse
The rights and duties of the parties to a marriage whether in respect of disabled or non-
disabled persons are governed by the specific provisions contained in different marriage Acts,
such as the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the Christian Marriage Act, 1872 and the Parsi
Marriage and Divorce Act, 1935. Other marriage Acts which exist include; the Special
Marriage Act, 1954 (for spouses of differing religions) and the Foreign Marriage Act, 1959
(for marriage outside India). The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 as amended in 1978 to
prevent the solemnization of child marriages also applies to the disabled. A Disabled person
cannot act as a guardian of a minor under the Guardian and
Wards Act, 1890 if the disability is of such a degree that one cannot act as a guardian of the
minor. A similar position is taken by the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956, as also
under the Muslim Law

Succession Laws for the Disabled

Under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 which applies to Hindus it has been specifically
provided that physical disability or physical deformity would not disentitle a person from
inheriting ancestral property. Similarly, in the Indian Succession Act, 1925 which applies in
the case of intestate and testamentary succession, there is no provision which deprives the
disabled from inheriting an ancestral property. The position with regard to Parsis and the
Muslims is the same. In fact a disabled person can also dispose his property by writing a
‘will’ provided he understands the import and consequence of writing a will at the time when
a will is written. For example, a person of unsound mind can make a Will during periods of
sanity. Even blind persons or those who are deaf and dumb can make their Wills if they
understand the import and consequence of doing it.

Labour Laws for the Disabled

The rights of the disabled have not been spelt out so well in the labour legislations but
provisions which cater to the disabled in their relationship with the employer are contained in
delegated legislations such as rules, regulations and standing orders.
Judicial procedures for the disabled
Under the Designs Act, 1911 which deals with the law relating to the protection of designs
any person having jurisdiction in respect of the property of a disabled person (who is
incapable of making any statement or doing anything required to be done under this Act) may
be appointed by the Court under Section 74, to make such statement or do such thing in the
name and on behalf of the person subject to the disability. The disability may be lunacy or
other disability.

Income Tax Concessions Relief for Handicapped

* Section 80 DD: Section 80 DD provides for a deduction in respect of the expenditure
incurred by an individual or Hindu Undivided Family resident in India on the medical
treatment (including nursing) training and rehabilitation etc. of handicapped dependants. For
officiating the increased cost of such maintenance, the limit of the deduction has been raised
from Rs.12000/- to Rs.20000/-.
* Section 80 V: A new section 80V has been introduced to ensure that the parent in whose
hands income of a permanently disabled minor has been clubbed under Section 64, is allowed
to claim a deduction upto Rs.20000/- in terms of Section 80 V.
* Section 88B: This section provides for an additional rebate from the net tax payable by a
resident individual who has attained the age of 65 years. It has been amended to increase the
rebate from 10% to 20% in the cases where the gross total income does not exceed
Rs.75000/- (as against a limit of Rs.50000/- specified earlier).

The persons with disabilities (PWD) (equal opportunities, protection of rights and full
participation) act,1995 which is now replaced by 2016 act. (discussed at later section of
this Chapter)

The Mental Health Act, 1987

Under the Mental Health Act, 1987 mentally ill persons are entitled to the following rights:
1. A right to be admitted, treated and cared in a psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing
home or convalescent home established or maintained by the Government or any other
person for the treatment and care of mentally ill persons (other than the general hospitals or
nursing homes of the Government).
2. Even mentally ill prisoners and minors have a right of treatment in psychiatric hospitals or
psychiatric nursing homes of the Government.
3. Minors under the age of 16 years, persons addicted to alcohol or other drugs which lead to
behavioral changes, and those convicted of any offence are entitled to admission, treatment
and care in separate psychiatric hospitals or nursing homes established or maintained by the
Government.
4. Mentally ill persons have the right to get regulated, directed and co-ordinated mental
health services from the Government. The Central Authority and the State Authorities set up
under the Act have the responsibility of such regulation and issue of licenses for establishing
and maintaining psychiatric hospitals and nursing homes.
5. Treatment at Government hospitals and nursing homes mentioned above can be obtained
either as in patient or on an out-patients basis.
6. Mentally ill persons can seek voluntary admission in such hospitals or nursing homes and
minors can seek admission through their guardians. Admission can be sought for by the
relatives of the mentally ill person on behalf of the latter. Applications can also be made to
the local magistrate for grants of such (reception) orders.
7. The police have an obligation to take into protective custody a wandering or neglected
mentally ill person, and inform his relative, and also have to produce such a person before the
local magistrate for issue of reception orders.
8. Mentally ill persons have the right to be discharged when cured and entitled to ‘leave’ the
mental health facility in accordance with the provisions in the Act.
9. Where mentally ill persons own properties including land which they cannot themselves
manage, the district court upon application has to protect and secure the management of such
properties by entrusting the same to a ‘Court of Wards’, by appointing guardians of such
mentally ill persons or appointment of managers of such property.
10. The costs of maintenance of mentally ill persons detained as in-patient in any government
psychiatric hospital or nursing home shall be borne by the state government concerned unless
such costs have been agreed to be borne by the relative or other person on behalf of the
mentally ill person and no provision for such maintenance has been made by order of the
District Court. Such costs can also be borne out of the estate of the mentally ill person.
11. Mentally ill persons undergoing treatment shall not be subjected to any indignity
(whether physical or mental) or cruelty. Mentally ill persons cannot be used without their
own valid consent for purposes of research, though they could receive their diagnosis and
treatment.
12. Mentally ill persons who are entitled to any pay, pension, gratuity or any other form of
allowance from the government (such as government servants who become mentally ill
during their tenure) cannot be denied of such payments. The person who is in-charge of such
mentally person or his dependents will receive such payments after the magistrate has
certified the same.
13. A mentally ill person shall be entitled to the services of a legal practitioner by order of the
magistrate or district court if he has no means to engage a legal practitioner or his
circumstances so warrant in respect of proceedings under the Act.
The Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992
This Act provides guarantees so as to ensure the good quality of services rendered by various
rehabilitation personnel. Following is the list of such guarantees:
1. To have the right to be served by trained and qualified rehabilitation professionals whose
names are borne on the Register maintained by the Council
2. To have the guarantee of maintenance of minimum standards of education required for
recognition of rehabilitation qualification by universities or institutions in India.
3. To have the guarantee of maintenance of standards of professional conduct and ethics by
rehabilitation professionals in order to protect against the penalty of disciplinary action and
removal from the Register of the Council
4. To have the guarantee of regulation of the profession of rehabilitation professionals by a
statutory council under the control of the central government and within the bounds
prescribed by the statute
The national trust for welfare of persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and
multiple disabilities act, 1999
1. The Central Government has the obligation to set up, in accordance with this Act and for
the purpose of the benefit of the disabled, the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with
Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disability at New Delhi.
2. The National Trust created by the Central Government has to ensure that the objects for
which it has been set up as enshrined in Section 10 of this Act have to be fulfilled.
3. It is an obligation on part of the Board of Trustees of the National Trust so as to make
arrangements for an adequate standard of living of any beneficiary named in any request
received by it, and to provide financial assistance to the registered organizations for carrying
out any approved programme for the benefit of disabled.
4. Disabled persons have the right to be placed under guardianship appointed by the ‘Local
Level Committees’ in accordance with the provisions of the Act. The guardians so appointed
will have the obligation to be responsible for the disabled person and their property and
required to be accountable for the same.
5. A disabled person has the right to have his guardian removed under certain conditions.
These include an abuse or neglect of the disabled, or neglect or misappropriation of the
property under care.
6. Whenever the Board of Trustees are unable to perform or have persistently made default in
their performance of duties, a registered organization for the disabled can complain to the
central government to have the Board of Trustees superseded and/or reconstituted.
7. The National Trust shall be bound by the provisions of this Act regarding its
accountability, monitoring finance, accounts and audit.

UN Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons

This declaration on the rights of mentally retarded person’s calls for national and
international actions so as to ensure that it will be used as a common basis and frame of
reference for the protection of their rights:

Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016

The Act replaces the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and
Full Participation) Act, 1995. It fulfills the obligations to the United National Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which India is a signatory. The Act
came into force during December 2016.
Salient features of the Act
Disabilities covered
* Disability has been defined based on an evolving and dynamic concept.
* The types of disabilities have been increased from existing 7 to 21 and the Central
Government will have the power to add more types of disabilities. The 21 disabilities are
given below:-
1. Blindness
2. Low-vision
3. Leprosy Cured persons
4. Hearing Impairment (deaf and hard of hearing)
5. Locomotor Disability
6. Dwarfism
7. Intellectual Disability
8. Mental Illness
9. Autism Spectrum Disorder
10. Cerebral Palsy
11. Muscular Dystrophy
12. Chronic Neurological conditions
13. Specific Learning Disabilities
14. Multiple Sclerosis
15. Speech and Language disability
16. Thalassemia
17. Hemophilia
18. Sickle Cell disease
19. Multiple Disabilities including deafblindness
20. Acid Attack victim
21. Parkinson's disease
* Persons with "benchmark disabilities" are defined as those certified to have at least 40 per
cent of the disabilities specified above.
Rights and entitlements
* Responsibility has been cast upon the appropriate governments to take effective measures
to ensure that the persons with disabilities enjoy their rights equally with others.
* Additional benefits such as reservation in higher education (not less than 5%), government
jobs (not less than 4 %), reservation in allocation of land, poverty alleviation schemes (5%
allotment) etc. have been provided for persons with benchmark disabilities and those with
high support needs.
* Every child with benchmark disability between the age group of 6 and 18 years shall have
the right to free education.
* Government funded educational institutions as well as the government recognized
institutions will have to provide inclusive education to the children with disabilities.
* For strengthening the Prime Minister's Accessible India Campaign, stress has been given to
ensure accessibility in public buildings (both Government and private) in a prescribed time-
frame.
Guardianship
* The Act provides for grant of guardianship by District Court under which there will be joint
decision – making between the guardian and the persons with disabilities.
Establishment of Authorities
* Broad based Central & State Advisory Boards on Disability are to be set up to serve as
apex policy making bodies at the Central and State level.
* Office of Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities has been strengthened who will
now be assisted by 2 Commissioners and an Advisory Committee comprising of not more
than 11 members drawn from experts in various disabilities.
* Similarly, the office of State Commissioners of Disabilities has been strengthened who will
be assisted by an Advisory Committee comprising of not more than 5 members drawn from
experts in various disabilities.
* The Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities and the State Commissioners will act
as regulatory bodies and Grievance Redressal agencies and also monitor implementation of
the Act.
* District level committees will be constituted by the State Governments to address local
concerns of PwDs. Details of their constitution and the functions of such committees would
be prescribed by the State Governments in the rules.
* Creation of National and State Fund will be created to provide financial support to the
persons with disabilities. The existing National Fund for Persons with Disabilities and the
Trust Fund for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities will be subsumed with the
National Fund.

Penalties for offences

* The Act provides for penalties for offences committed against persons with disabilities and
also violation of the provisions of the new law.
* Any person who violates provisions of the Act, or any rule or regulation made under it,
shall be punishable with imprisonment up to six months and/ or a fine of Rs 10,000, or both.
For any subsequent violation, imprisonment of up to two years and/or a fine of Rs 50,000 to
Rs five lakh can be awarded.
* Whoever intentionally insults or intimidates a person with disability, or sexually exploits a
woman or child with disability, shall be punishable with imprisonment between six months to
five years and fine.
* Special Courts will be designated in each district to handle cases concerning violation of
rights of PwDs.

c. Models of Inclusion
Models assist understanding by allowing one to examine and think about something that is
not the real thing, but that may be similar to the real thing. People use a variety of models to
obtain a clearer understanding of a problem or the world around them. So following are the
ways of understanding disability in order practice inclusion.

Charity Model

The history of disability is for the most part one of exclusion, discrimination and
stigmatization. Often segregated from society, persons with disabilities – and in particular,
children with disabilities – have been regarded as objects of charity and passive recipients of
welfare. This charity-based legacy persists in many countries and affects the perception and
treatment received by children with disabilities.

Driven largely by emotive appeals of charity, this model sees Persons with Disabilities
(PwDs) as helpless people needing ‘care’ and ‘protection’. This model relies largely
on the goodwill of benevolent humanitarians for ‘custodial care’ of the PwDs rather
than justice and equality.

The Charity Model is an offshoot of the Medical Model. It is based on the understanding that
disability is something in the body that can and should be cured. It is complementary to, and
in many ways the moralistic extension of, the Medical Model.
The Charity Model has been developed by non-disabled people and it’s both a way of
understanding and relating to disability, as well as an industry around disability. Where the
Medical Model sees medical professionals as experts in disability, the Charity Model sees
non-disabled people as the saviours of disability. Disability is not only something that should
be cured, but something that is tragic.
It therefore creates a view of disabled people’s lives as tragic and pitiable.

The Charity Model is also categories of fit and unfit were constructed to justify growing
inequality in the industrialised world.
The Charity Model requires that those with more resource should help those without. While
we don’t use the same definitions of fit and unfit anymore, the Charity Model bestows those
who would have fallen within the label “fit” with a moral duty to help those who are “unfit”.

The charity model was developed alongside growing inequality in the newly industrialised,
capitalist world.
Industrialised capitalism is an inherently hierarchical system, a triangle with the workforce at
the bottom and a few people at the top. The capitalist idea is that when wealth and wellbeing
improve, it improves for the whole triangle. That is, the people at the top get richer, but so
too does the material wellbeing of the people at the base. However, inequality is inherent as
there must be more people at the base of the triangle than at the top – a necessary evil for
capitalists.
to challenge inequality in its entirety would involve people at the tip of the triangle
redistributing all wealth to the base – not compatible with the capitalist system, so categories
of ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ are constructed to justify to whom wealth gets redistributed.

The Charity approach to disability viewed as being in the ‘best interests’ of disabled people
but it does not consider disabled people’s experiences and knowledge as necessarily valuable
or essential.

Functional Model

In a perfect world, everyone contributes economically.

The government considers only one function, working. Therefore, some disability rights
scholars term this the “Economic” model.
In The functional model, Disability is defined as the interaction between the individual and
his or her functions. The functional model defines disability as the inability to perform
socially valued roles (work). This is also called “role failure.”
 Human Rights Model

The rights based model of disability can be clearly understood from the UNCRPD
(2006)
The UNCRPD is an international human rights treaty of the United Nations intended
to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. The rights model is
primarily a fight for access to the privileges people would otherwise have had if they
were not disabled. A focus on rights is not a struggle for fundamental social change;
rather, it strives to make changes within the existing system.
A human rights approach to disability acknowledges the rights of people with
disabilities and views social structures and policies restricting or ignoring the rights
of people with disabilities as often leading to these disabled peoples’ discrimination
and exclusion. A human rights perspective requires society, particularly governments,
to actively promote the necessary conditions for all individuals to fully realize their
rights.