Legal Cell for Disabled Persons. As we know, the Persons with disability are the most affected section of society, they are not only neglected in their family but also from the society. Persons with Disability means a person suffering from not less than forty percent of any disability as certified by a medical authority. Generally, disability can be divided in two categories viz Legal Disability and Physical Disability. Legal disability can be defined as the absence of legal capacity to do certain acts or enjoy certain legal rights. Physical Disability is of different kinds like Blindness, Leprosy cured persons, Hearing Impairment, Locomotor Disability, Mental Illness and Mental Retardation, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Learning Disabilities(Dyslexia), Writing Disabilties (Dysgraphia) etc. The Constitution of India has guaranteed the full protection to the rights of disabled people. The Preamble of the Constitution embodies the concept of social justice and equality of status and opportunity to all the people of India. The disabled citizens have the same rights as other citizens to a descent standard of living and economic security, right to work, education, employment and also right to access and communication. The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 defined the responsibilities of the Central and State govt. with regard to the services for disabled persons. Provisions have been made in this Act for the prevention of disabilities, protection of rights, provision of medical care, education, training, employment and rehabilitation of disabled persons and benefits which a normal person gets. The Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992 was passed to regulate the man power development programmes in the field of education of persons with special needs which was amended in 2000 to entrust the additional responsibility of promoting research in rehabilitation and special education. The Govt. of India also launched the District Rehabilitation Centre Scheme in the year 1995 which had included prevention and early detection, medical intervention and surgical correction, fitment of artificial limbs, therapeutic services, training, job placement etc. As we are aware that the Lok Sabha has passed "The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill - 2016" on 27th December, 2016whichhas replaced the existing PwD Act, 1995. In the new Bill, the types of disabilities have been increased from existing 7 to 21 and the Central Government will have the power to add more types of disabilities. This law is an important landmark and is a significant step in the direction of ensuring equal opportunities for people with disabilities and their full participation in the nation building. The New Act will bring our law in line with the United National Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which India is a signatory. This will fulfill the obligations on the part of India in terms of UNCRD. Further, the new law will not only enhance the Rights and Entitlements of Divyangjan but also provide effective mechanism for ensuring their empowerment and true inclusion into the Society in a satisfactory manner. Still, the situation, today, in the developing country like ours, is that many of disabled persons are not aware of their legal rights. To protect the fundamental rights of the disabled people, to provide the legal assistance at grass route level, the Social Activists, Lawyers need to work on the same. VED VASUDEV PRATISHTHAN has started working on the same. Brief about VED VASUDEV PRATISHTHAN: Ved Vasudev Pratishthan, (VVP), a registered spirituio -social non-government organization working all over Maharashtra, in various states like UP, MP, Gujrat, A.P., and overseas in Singapore, Kenya,etc. Vasudev Seva Sangha, a separate and one of the most important wing under V.V.P. serves the society by keeping with our philosophy of ‘SHIVBHAVE JEEVSEVA’ which literally means ‘Service to man is Service to God’. The people who are physically weak, defective deserve equal care and equal treatment and they should neither be neglected nor be treated differently. Vasudev Seva Sangha works for Pradnya Chakshu (Visually Impaired) and differently abled students, destitute old age women and blind girls above 18 years of age. We vow to empower them academically, socially, and financially by providing computer literacy program, skill development training, academic help, sustainability training etc. We are running three hostels ‘JIVHALA’ for visually impaired people. Two blind homes at Pune for Boys and Girls and one home for destitute and old blind women in Akola.Please visit our website below for more details. http://vedvasudevpratishthan. org/activities/vasudev-seva- sangh/ VVP organized this National level seminar at Pune, ‘Sight beyond vision, Vision beyond sight’ to guide the Visually impaired students about career opportunities. To guide these students, a seminar was conducted on "Investment Education, Financial Planning and Banking" in association with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India). VVP organized chess tournament for blind students. An overwhelming response was received in the said event. Also the seminars had been conducted for Divyang on the occasion of World Disability Day, at Pune and at Akola, on 3rd December 2016 and 10th December 2016, respectively. Experts from various fields had addressed the subjects such as prevention of Disability, Improvement in employ-ability skills , Persons with Disabilities Act and its scope, Rehabilitation of disabled women-Our Contribution etc. in the seminars. VASUDEV LEGAL SOCIETY: Pratishthan has taken a step further, by forming a Legal Cell on 1st January, 2017 with the intention to provide legal assistance in the field of Visually Impaired and Disabled Community. The objectives of the Legal Cell:- i) Seminars:- To provide legal aid, legal awareness and education by way of conducting workshops, seminars all over Maharashtra, initially and across the nation, further. ii) To conduct programmes like Advocacy to increase public awareness through Research and Investigation on Human Rights Violation. iii) Public Interest Litigation:- To file the cases in lower courts, High Courts and Supreme Court and to fight for the legal right of this community. iv) Library, Publications:- To form a library, booklets on the Legal information to update the lawyers as well as NGOs. To collect citations, case laws, latest GR/ Notifications / various schemes published by the State Government/ Central Government on the concerned policies or laws. Also to make documentaries/ PPT presentation to make awareness in the poor people. VASUDEV SEVA SANGH has included the Counsel Adv. Uday Warunjikar, Adv. Jaya Sagade, Adv. Girish Takwale, in the said Legal Cell and also involved Senior Advocates like Adv. Sahil Bhangde, Adv. Mithil Kolte, Adv. Sunil Purankar, adv. Shailesh Munje, to name a few and would like to include Lawyers, Social Workers, NGOs from all over India. Mr. Ajit Tukdeo, The President, Ved Vasudev Pratishthan believes that to tackle with the gigantic hurdles and the large scale struggles of the disabled people, The Legal support will play an important role and will remain an unavoidable activity. Therefore, the support of like- minded people and organizations, legal, para- legal organizations is very necessary to protect the rights of the Divyang community. VVP is also entering into the field of the disabilities other than blind like Mental Retardation, Multiple Disabilities, Hearing Impaired, Research on Early Intervention and Prevention, to name a few. We want to create a bridge between the under priviledged, poor, disabled people and the society by way of providing them their fundamental rights gifted by the Constitution of India and avoid discrimination. We are religiously committed to the cause and to serve the society with the Golden Thought, “SHIVBHAVE JEEVSEVA”. In this regard, we at Ved Vasudev Pratishthan, would be more happy to receive your assistance, guidance and Co-operation. Your ideas and innovations will be highly appreciated and would be obliged. Aishwarya Ambike Advocate, High Court 9930730409