What is PWD Category? 

PWD Category: A Person with Disabilities (PWD) is defined as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. This includes people who are deaf, blind, have mobility issues, have mental health conditions and other disabilities. The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, came into enforcement on February 7, 1996. This act provides for both preventive and promotional measures of rehabilitation such as education, employment and vocational training, etc. 

Types of Disabilities

The definitions of different categories of disabilities are mentioned below: 

1. Blindness: It refers to permanent vision loss, which needs to be certified by an ophthalmologist. Additionally, people with limited field sight are also categorised under blindness.  
2. Hearing Impairment: Any individual who has lost hearing ability due to loss of equal to or more than 60 dBs.
3. Locomotor Disability: Any person with a disorder in muscles, bones and joints which limits the motion of affected human parts is recognised as people with a locomotor disability. 
4. Cerebral Palsy: It is a medical condition that is characterised by non-progressive disorders. Individuals suffering from this condition are unable to control their posture which results from brain injuries or spinal injuries.
5.  Orthopaedically Handicapped People: These individuals are categorised under PWD. 

Special Points in PWD Category  

1. When can a PWD candidate get an unreserved seat in the jobs/education field?

When a post is viable for a person with disabilities, the concerned organisation cannot deny them the right to employment. Therefore, a human being with a disability can be appointed for unreserved vacant posts, provided that the job profile is apt for the person under the relevant government-recognised category. 

2. How does the Government Calculate Reservations for the PWD category?

The calculation is based on the number of vacant seats in the organisation in the year of appointment. Even though the reservation is for a certain percentage of seats, sometimes the appointments can exceed 4%.

3. Vertical Reservation Vs Horizontal Reservation

The vertical reservation is for backward classes of citizens belonging to SC, ST and OBC. This applies separately for each reservation of the groups that are specified under the law. It is also mentioned in Article 16A of the Indian Constitution. 

The horizontal reservation refers to the equal opportunity that is provided to the other categories of the beneficiaries such as women, the transgender community and individuals with disabilities. This reservation comes under Article 15(3) of the Indian Constitution.

Relaxation for Persons with Disabilities

The people who fall under the PWD category are given some benefits which are given below:

• The students will get a relaxation in their age limit. The maximum age of disabled people can be reduced by 10 years, 15 years, and 13 years for the general category, SC/ST, and OBC categories respectively. In the case of direct recruitment to Group C and Group D a relaxation of 5 years, 8 years, and 10 years for the general category, OBC category, and SC/ST category, respectively.  
• If a sufficient number of persons with disabilities are not available on the basis of the general standard, then the vacancies reserved for them will be given to those who are next in line.  
• Disabled people will not have to pay examination and application fees. application fee, as determined by SSC, PCS, UPSC, and other conducting authorities. 
• Rule 10 of the Fundamental Rules of the laws governing the entry of PWD candidates into government organisations state that specially-abled and disabled candidates need to submit a medical certificate of fitness from an accredited government authority. The rule further states that if certain job profiles already mention that candidates with disabilities are viable for these positions, then the authorised Medical Officer conducts the required medical test on eligible candidates.

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FAQs

Hence, we hope that this blog has helped you comprehend what a PWD category entails. If you are planning to get a seat under the PWD category, you can refer to this blog for detailed information.

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