Asia
Pacific Country Laws and Policies:
The Protection and Welfare of the Disabled
Persons Act 2039 (1982)
Date of Royal Seal and Publication 2039-8-6 (2 Nov. 1982)
Act No. 13 of the Year 2039 (1982)
An Act made to provide for the protection and Welfare provisions
of the disabled persons.
Preamble: Whereas, it is expedient to protect and promote the interest
of the disabled persons: to prevent and abolish the circumstances
leading one to be disabled ;and to make the disabled persons capable
members as well as actively productive citizens of the society, by
making necessary welfare provisions for the health, education, care,training
of the disabled persons and their right to equality and employment
as well.
Now, therefore, his Majesty the King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev
has, on the advice and with the consent of the national Panchayat,
enacted this Act.
1.Short title and commencement:
1. This Act may be cited as “The Disabled Persons Protection
and welfare Act 2039 (1982)”.
2. This Act shall commence at once.
2.Definitions:
Unless the subject or context otherwise requires, in this Act.
a. “Disabled person” means a Nepalese citizen who is
physically or mentally unable or handicapped to do normal daily lifework.
The expression also include a blind ,one eyed, deaf, dumb ,dull, crippled,
limb, lame handicapped with one leg broken, handicapped with one hand
broken or a feeble minded person.
b. “Helpless disabled persons ”means a disabled person
who does not have any assets or any person to attend and serve him
and who cannot earn his living by doing a job himself.
c. “Disabled Person Home” means a house arranged also
for the subsistence of the helpless disabled persons.
d. “Social
Welfare Officer” means an officer appointed or designated by
His Majesty’s Government under Section 18.
e. “Prescribed” or “as prescribed” means prescribed
or as prescribed in the rules framed under this Act.
3.Determination of disability:
1. The definition of the disabled person set forth in clause (a)
of section 2 and the determination of disability shall be on the basis
of the generally accepted principles of the medicine and the criteria
set in the context of the Kingdom of Nepal.
2. With regard to the matter whether any person is a disabled one
or not under subsection 1, the decision of the doctor or committee
designated or consulted by His Majesty’s Government for this
purpose shall be authentic.
Provided that nothing in this section shall be deemed to bar His
Majesty’s Government from making alternations to the decision
made by such doctor or committee designated or consulted, through
an order published in the Nepal Gazette, by taking into consideration
of international practice and the context of the Kingdom of Nepal.
4.Protection of the interest of the disabled persons:
His Majesty’s Government may make appropriate provisions as
required to make available necessary medicines and health services
to the disabled persons for the treatment of their disability, to
make them have such accessories, equipment and tools as are required
to minimize, to the maximum extent possible, the adversaries likely
to occur due to their disability, and to have acquisition of capacity
to work, to provide them with welfare assistance and services to rehabilitate
them educationally, professionally, economically, physically, mentally,
socially and to make them fully participate in the community on the
basis of equality.
5.Right to Equality:
1. No disabled person shall solely on the basis of their disability,
be denied entry into on the basis of their disability be denied entry
into any association or club or community or function providing education
or training or launching social or cultural programme within the Kingdom
of Nepal.
2. No disabled persons shall be deprived of such political rights
and the right to economic and social security, to spend life with
dignity, employment to have humanitarian dignity to engage in any
useful, productive and meaningful occupation as other are entitled
thereto.
3. No discrimination shall be made against any disabled person in
the appointment of Government service or any other public service,
and there shall not be deprived the disabled persons of being appointed
for any post or promoted or upgraded or having equal treatment, merely
on the ground of their disability.
Provided that this section shall not be inappropriate the appointment,
promotion or upgrading or equal treatment of the disabled person of
any type for the work of any service of specific nature, according
to the nature of the service or work.
6. Provision for education and training:
1. In case of any disabled person is to get admission to any educational
institute to pursue education, he shall not be required to pay fees
at such educational institute.
2. Necessary arrangements may be made for appropriate trainings to
the teachers teaching the disabled persons.
3. There may be made special arrangements for the education to the
blind, deaf and feeble minded persons.
7. Provision for health and medical treatment:
1. His Majesty’s Government may make necessary arrangements
to prevent and abolish the disability which is preventable or abolishable,
and to find out the factors leading to disability and to prevent,
abolish, control do away with and cure it.
2. His Majesty’s Government may make necessary arrangements
to provide health check up and health service so as to reduce different
adverse impacts to be occurred from the disability, as much as possible.
3. In order to abolish, as far as possible, the conditions may also
make necessary arrangements for the increase in nutritious food, the
control or abolition of viral diseases and prevention of accidents.
8.Provision for Training and Employment:
1. Necessary arrangements may be made for appropriate trainings and
employment for making the disabled persons economically independent
.Arrangements may be made to provide them with such type of training
as may enable them have proper reward of labor in an environment commensurable
to their condition.
2. Arrangements may be made to engage the disabled persons by way
of labor supply system, in labor or employment scheme such as open
and self-help industry or rural employment.
3. Arrangements may be made to provide the disabled labors with additional
facilities needed at least for the maintaining of normal livelihood.
4. A factory which appoints more than 25 labors may be so required
that it should appoint the disabled persons in a number not less than
five person of the total number of the labors to the appropriate works,
to the extent available, on the basis of their physical capability,
training, qualifications and experience. Such labor shall receive
such remuneration as is equal to that payable to other labors. Their
terms of service and career development opportunities shall also be
the same, as are of the labors.
Provided that where any factory, having shown the fact that in appointing
a disabled person by the factory there exists a possibility of injury
to his health of other condition, has obtained prior approval of the
Social Welfare Office, such factory may be granted exemption from
the mandatory provision of this sub-section.
5. Arrangements maybe made to provide basic facilities, availability
of raw materials, loans, market management etc. and protection so
as to operate cottage and rural small scale industry for providing
private employment to the disabled persons only.
6. Arrangements shall be made to do study or cause to be done study
as to employment and ways and means of livelihood for the disabled
persons, only and the feasibility of the facilities and concessions,
which may be granted and ought to be granted thereto.
7. Arrangements may be made to require the use of such security equipments
as is to secure a disabled person while engaging him in work with
any equipment.
9.Priority of disabled person:
In providing the facilities and concessions, which are provided for
in this act and other available ones, such facilities and concessions
may be provided in consideration of the condition of those who are
more disabled than other disabled persons.
10. Facilities and concessions:
1. In case of any disabled person who is homeless needs land to build
his house or any disabled person needs land to engage him in agricultural
occupation, his Majesty’s Government may subject to the terms
and restrictions prescribed make available the land to be distributed
or granted for cultivation at present under the prevailing law.
2. In case any disabled person desires to take part in sports, entertainment
or cultural exhibition/show etc. she may be given priority in regard
to the provision of appropriate training, teaching and the making
of arrangements for the act in the concerned organization.
3. While traveling by bus, train, plane, any disabled person and in
case he shall be in need of continuous help of any other person, such
one other person as well as may be granted concession of half of the
passenger fare.
4. His Majesty’s Government may wholly or partly exempt accessories,
equipment or tolls to be used by the disabled persons and goods, machinery
parts and raw materials to be used for the training of the disabled
persons or the custom, excise duties, sales-tax, local taxes surcharge
and other levies as well.
Provided that such employment shall exclusively be the employment
of the disabled persons.
5. His Majesty’s Government may exempt the disabled persons
or the organizations established for their rehabilitation of disabled
persons or used for the execution of that work, from income tax and
all other types of taxes. After the disabled persons and such organizations
so exempted have submitted a certificate showing their engagement
in the service of their own disability and in that service respectively,
they shall not be required to submit the returns of income.
6. His Majesty’s Government may exempt a factory which provides
employment to the disabled persons from income tax by the rate as
prescribed in proportion to the disabled persons appointed by that
factory. The expenses incurred for the special replacement in the
equipment of own factory or the spare parts equipped therewith so
as to appoint the disabled persons may be permitted to be added to
the sum exemptible from income tax, in such a quantum as prescribed.
7. Arrangements may be made to make available loans on normal interest
from banks and financial institutions to social associations, trade
or industrial enterprise which provides training or employment or
makes arrangements for employment to the disabled persons only.
8. Arrangements may be made for the disabled person homes for the
aged disabled and helpless disabled persons to live in and for instruments
for entertainment and spending time with comfort in such disabled
person homes.
9. Such unemployment allowances, living allowances, aged persons pension
as prescribed for the disabled persons and special allowance for the
disabled persons unable to earn and maintain themselves may be arranged.
10. Arrangements may be made to have reservations of some seats in
the mean of public transportation for the disabled persons.
11. Maintenance of the disabled persons:
The family member, guardians of or heir to a disabled person shall
take care of and maintain him.
12.Duty of guardians and doctor:
It shall be the duty of the guardian of and the doctor examining
any person, who,in their opinion, ha become disabled or been in a
position to become disabled, to notify or take such person to the
nearby hospital or the place prescribed by His Majesty’s Government
as soon as possible. It shall be the duty of such hospital or doctor
to treat such person on the priority basis and to commend and send
him to the place where his treatment can be done in case his treatment
cannot be done there.
13.Organ may be donated:
In case any person desires to donate any organ of his body, after
death, to any institution, he may donate it by making a deal.
14.To set aside funds:
The factories or industries, enterprises or religious associations
shall in order to protect and promote the disabled persons set aside
the funds, in the prescribed percentage, of their incomes.
15. Additional provision via-a-vis leprous disabled persons:
Nobody shall reject any disabled person suffering from leprosy on
the grounds that he is untouchable or on similar other reasons. In
case any person rejects him any way on the ground or so abuses or
defames him as to destroy his mental disposition, such person and
other persons, too, responsible for the act may be punished as prescribed
in this act.
16. Additional provision for disabled persons having mental
disorder:
1. Arrangements may be made to keep and treat the disabled persons
of mental disorder at a hospital or treatment home.
2. No disabled persons suffering from mental disease, save those against
whom proceedings are being taken or who have been punished in a criminal
offence under the prevailing law, shall not withstanding anything
mentioned in the prevailing law, be kept in a jail except for treatment
or security arrangements.
17. Crime relating to disabled persons and punishment:
1. No person shall intentionally so carry on transaction or prepare
documents on behalf of any disabled person as is against his interests.
2. No person shall make any person or attempt to make a disabled one
with or without his consent with a view to using him in begging or
doing any immoral act or similar other Act.
3. No person shall engage any disabled person in begging or doing
immoral act or similar other dealing.
4. No disabled person shall be entitled to earn living by doing immoral
profession or occupation.
5. Any person who commits or attempts to commit or order to commit
or aids to commit any act prohibited under this act any punishable,
in addition to the punishment, is not awardable ,according to this
Act, with imprisonment for a term in maximum of one year or with a
fine of up to five thousand
Rupees or both.
6. In cases where by virtue of the commission of any act prohibited
under this act or omission to do any other act required to be done,
an healthy person ahs become disabled one, there shall be provided
in addition to the punishment awardable under sub-section 5, a reasonable
compensation for medical treatment of the matter that in case such
person has to become virtually incapable of earning livelihood in
a normal manner.
18.Administrative provisions in regard to the disabled persons:
1. His Majesty’s Government shall make arrangements regarding
the administration fot he disabled persons through the Ministry of
Labor and Social Welfare (thereinafter referred to as the Ministry).
2. For the purpose of sub-section 1, His Majesty’s Government
may if it seems necessary appoint the Social welfare Officer in a
district or designated any officer to that effect.
3. The ministry shall register the name of the disabled person in
the Kingdom of Nepal and maintain an inventory according to their
nature.
The Ministry may collect and publish the data relating thereto in
every five years.
4. The Ministry may do or cause to be done the research of various
techniques in such matters as are to provide more facilities to the
disabled persons and make them self-dependent.
19. Government to be the plaintiff:
In the cases under this act. His Majesty’s Government shall
be the plaintiff and the case shall be deemed to be included in Annex-1
of the Government Cases Act. 2017 (1961)
20. Policy on disabled persons and scheme of programs:
1. His Majesty’s Government shall in consultation with the
Social Service National Coordination Council formulate necessary policies
and programs in order to provide for the interests, treatment and
facilities concession to the disabled persons under this Act as well
to provide for such other arrangements as are deemed necessary. His
Majesty’s Government may also seek opinion of other bodies and
social associations, so as to formulate such plan. Social Organizations/associations
shall be encouraged to implement such plan.
2. It shall be the responsibility of the concerned body of His Majesty’s
Government to implement or cause to be implemented the plan formulated
under sub-section 1; and it shall be the responsibility of the ministry
to supervise it.
21. Relation with the Helpless Service Coordination committee:
1.While implementing the plan in regard to the disabled persons under
section 20,the Ministry shall act, in close contact with the Helpless
Service Coordination Committee.
2.The Ministry may in case it shall in consultation with the Helpless
Service Coordination committee deemed it proper entrust some acts
out of those mentioned in the Plan to, and get them implemented through,
the Local Panchayat or to social welfare associations or the organizations
established in regard to the interest of the disabled persons.
3. The Ministry shall make necessary arrangements and efforts to coordinate
and collect national and international sources, which are required
or may be available for the acts relating to the disabled persons.
The Ministry shall as per necessary make available the funds or goods
or services received from such sources to the Helpless Service Coordination
Committee or the concerned association or office.
22. Delegation of Power:
His Majesty’s Government may delegate any of the powers conferred
on it under this Act to the Social Welfare Officer or other personnel
or any office or association, subject to the exercise of such delegated
powers under the prescribed terms and restrictions.
23. His Majesty’s Government may give order to directions:
His Majesty’s Government may, for the protection of the disabled
persons and the welfare provisions under this Act, may give necessary
orders or directions to the Social Welfare Officer or other personnel
or any office or association; and it shall be the duty of all the
concerned to abide by such orders and directions.
24.Powers to frame Rules:
His Majesty’s Government may in order to carry out the objectives
of this Act frame the Rules.
25. Saving:
This Act or the Rules framed under this act or the orders or directions
under section 23 shall apply to the matters set forth therein, and
the prevailing law shall apply to the other matters. |
