Train Travel Concession for Disabled Persons.

   Train Travel Concession for Disabled Persons

   Indian Railways grant concession to four categories of disabled persons in extreme cases i.e. (i) Orthopedically Handicapped/Paraplegic persons who cannot travel without escort (ii) Mentally Retarded persons who cannot travel without escort (iii) Completely Blind persons travelling alone or with escort and (iv) Totally Deaf and Dumb persons (both afflictions together in the same person) travelling alone or with escort. One escort is also granted same concession. Concessions are granted at stations on surrendering the copy of prescribed disability certificate.

   No age limit has been prescribed for eligibility of concession in the case of disabled persons. Indian Railways grant concessions to disabled persons on production of prescribed disability certificate irrespective of age.

    This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Shortage of Houses for Government Employees.

   Union Minister for Urban Development Shri Kamal Nath has said that there is shortage of accommodation for Central Government employees in cities like, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai.  The position is comfortable at other stations.

 

   He said in a reply to a question in Lok Sabha today that the following initiatives have been taken to increase availability of houses:-

 

   (i) Construction of residential and office/commercial accommodation at Ghitorini Delhi;

 

   (ii) Redevelopment of old Government colonies, namely, East Kidwai Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Srinivaspuri, Mohammadpur, Kasturba Nagar, Thyagaraja Nagar and Sarojani Nagar in Delhi for utilizing the maximum available floor area ratio (FAR);

 

   (iii) Acquiring 96 flats of various categories in the Common Wealth Games Village, New Delhi; and

 

   (iv)Construction of 130 units of Type-V and Type-VI categories at Hyderabad Estate, Mumbai by demolishing 48 Type-VI flats which have been declared dangerous and meanwhile hiring  50 flats equivalent to Type-VI category to instantly meet the deficiency caused by demolition of existing flats.

 

   Details of Demand and Availability of General Pool Residential Accommodation in Delhi

Status as on 08-03-2013

House Type	Stock in GP	Total Demand as on Date	Shortage/Surplus  (+) – Shortage  (-) - Surplus
1	16722	16788	66
2	23716	34832	11116
3	11723	20189	8466
4	5343	9290	3947
4S	792	3117	2325
5A	1402	2148	746
5B	860	2265	1405
6A	791	1457	666
6B	146	305	159
7	181	372	191
8	125	254	129
Total	61801	91017	29216

Employment to Disabled Persons.

   As per Section 33 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) (PwD) Act, 1995, every appropriate Government shall appoint in every establishment such percentage of vacancies not less than three percent for persons or class of persons with disability of which one per cent. each shall be reserved for persons suffering from-

   (i) Blindness or low vision;

   (ii) Bearing impairment;

   (iii) Loco motor disability or cerebral palsy, in the posts identified for each disability:

   Further, with a view to encourage employment of Persons with Disabilities in private sector, the Government provides the employer’s contribution for Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees State Insurance (ESI) for 3 years, for employees with disabilities including visually impaired persons employed in the private sector on or after 01.04.2008, with a monthly salary upto Rs.25, 000 under its Scheme of Incentives to the Private Sector for Employment of Physically Challenged Persons.

   Government has issued uniform and comprehensive guidelines for conducting examination for the persons with disabilities for regular and competitive examinations.

   Government has issued instructions that such persons having disability certificate should be provided reservation in all groups of identified posts in the matter of direct recruitment, and in Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ posts identified in the matter of promotion.

   This information was given by the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri D. Napoleon in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.