Persons with Disabilities in India are defined according to “The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act of 1995” and are identified in seven categories of disability:
- Blindness
- Low Vision
- Leprosy-Cured
- Hearing Impairment
- Locomotive Disability
- Intellectually Disabled
- Mental Illness
The main features of the PWD Act (1995) can be accessed at the official website of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India.
The Disability India Network, India’s one-stop site for comprehensive information related to disability in India, hosted by the Society for Child Development.
National Center for Promotion of Employment for disabled people (the definitive resource for persons with disabilities in India) :
List of organizations working for the disabled in Delhi region
www.udaan.org/parivaar/orgdelhi.html
NCIP (National Center to Improve Practice in Special Education Through Technology, Media and Materials), funded by the U.S. Department of Education
Organizations, working at the local level, (non-profit) looking for partner organizations for joint projects, events, sharing resource persons for lectures, training or technical assistance, for study visits, internships or other cooperation including funding. (Pick the ones for India and US – international, National and Local)
www.independentliving.org/donet/index_localnonprofit.html
Consideration of a regional framework for action towards an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based Society for persons with disabilities in Asia and the Pacific:
www8.cao.go.jp/shougai/english/biwako/contents.html
World Health Organization (WHO) Community Based Rehabilitation, an Urban Experience:
Excellent US resource for searching on Disability organizations by Country and Disability:
Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI) is a network of national organizations or assemblies of disabled people, established to promote human rights of disabled people through full participation, equalization of opportunity and development.
Comprehensive and integral International Convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities (Draft Convention – India)
www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/wgcontrib-india.htm
A comprehensive directory of resources by Choike.org, a project of the Third World Institute:
www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/4/83/info_util6.html
Women and Disabilities – India (a bimonthly web-zine of international disabilities news):