Rehabilitation Professionals

The Government of India introduced a Bill in the Parliament to give statutory powers to the Council for carrying out its duties effectively.

The Rehabilitation Council of India Act-1992 came into force with effect from 22nd June 1993, when the Government constituted the body for the purposes of this Act (For details refer RCI ACT 1992).

The Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 has changed the earlier concept of welfare for the disabled, to a demand of equal opportunities. The promise of access to education of every child with disability, casts a special responsibility on the Council to provide trained manpower, for their education, vocational & social integration.

RCI does not run any training programme on its own. It has several recognised institutions all though the country which are imparting education for manpower development. RCI regularly organises Seminars/Conferences/Workshops for upgradation of knowledge at national and international level.

All those interested may contact the nearest RCI recognised training institutions/centres for further information.

Students/parents of disabled children may contact the nearest RCI recognised training institutions/centres for further information.

The Rehabilitation Council of India was formed

#To regulate the training policies and programmes in the field of rehabilitation of people with disabilities.

#To bring about standardization of training courses for rehabilitation professionals/personnels dealing with people with disabilities.

#To prescribe minimum standards of education and training institutions in the field of rehabilitation uniformly through out the country.

#To regulate these standards in all training institutions uniformly throughout the country.

#To recognise institutions/universities running degree/diploma/ certificate courses in the field of rehabilitation of the disabled and to withdraw recognition, wherever facilities are not satisfactory.

#To recognise foreign degree/diploma/certificate in the field of rehabilitation awarded by Universities/Institutions on reciprocal basis.

#To maintain Central Rehabilitation Register of persons possessing the recognised rehabilitation qualification.

#To collect information on regular basis, on education and training in the field of rehabilitation of people with disabilities from Institutions in India and abroad.

#To encourage continuing rehabilitation education by way of collaboration with organisations working in the field of rehabilitation of persons with disabilities

National Programme of RCI "Bridge Course" has been launched by the Council. It is a path-breaking programme,targeted towards existing rehabilitation worders to bridge the gap between qualified and unqualified and professionalise them by upgrading their knowledge and skill. This makes them eligible for certification and recognition by the RCI as rehabilitation personnel as per rules. The programme is currently being run in over 125institutions across the country and already thousands of persons have been benefitted.

COUNCIL PLANS TO EXPAND ITS ACTIVITIES THROUGH:-

Fellowship & Research Scheme

Continuing Rehabilitation Education

Award to best Master Trainers

Council functions with the help of committees of eminent experts drawn from different disciplines.

For this the council has set up number of Expert Committees which meet regularly to consider total aspects of implementation of any programme, keeping the minimum level of standards to be maintained.

These Committees give guidelines for infrastructural facilities, faculty, their qualifications and equipment etc. for various levels of programmes.

The various committees are as follows:-

Locomotor Disability; Hearing Impairment; Mental Retardation; Visual Disability; Assessment & Accreditation committee; Planning & Finance Committee; Fellowship & Research Committee; Academic Review Committee.

Doctors Training:-

Council has planned to train 30,000 Primary Health Centre (PHC) Doctors in the area of prevention, early identification and rehabilitation. It will be done in two phases. Process to train master trainers has already begun and they in turn will train Primary Health Centre (PHC) Doctors through out the Country.

The rehabilitation of disabled persons in India has been receiving the attention during last four decades since independence. Hardly any planned efforts were made in the field for developing trained manpower which could help in rehabilitation of the disabled persons in India.

The year 1981, was declared as the 'International Year of the Disabled Persons' (IYDP). The declaration was made by the general assembly of the United Nations. This was a good and welcome beginning as it concentrated as a means to arouse public understanding and awareness as a first step before embarking upon a whole programme of activities which needs to be spread over a period of years.

Lack of appropriate trained manpower has been one of the major constraints in the expansion of rehabilitation services in the country.

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