Parliament Question: Accessibility of school infrastructure for Children with Disabilities

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.537 ANSWERED ON 04.02.2026 Accessibility of school infrastructure for Children with Disabilities 537 Smt. Jebi Mather Hisham: Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has noted the lack of school accessibility for Children with Disabilities, including unmet basic safety standards, if so, what corrective measures have been taken; (b) whether any study has linked poor infrastructure to declining post-elementary enrolment of Children with Special Needs (CwSN), if not, whether such a study will be conducted and what is its timeline; (c) State-wise/UT-wise literacy and dropout rates of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) compared with the general population, details thereof; and (d) State-wise/UT-wise central funds released and spent under the RPwD Act, including accessible toilets, WASH facilities and outcomes, details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) & (b): The National Education Policy is in complete consonance with the provisions of RPwD Act 2016 and endorses all its recommendations with regard to school education. Accordingly, Samagra Shiksha Scheme and Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) Scheme aims at education of all children including children who are differently abled in a continuum from foundational to secondary stage. The Accessibility Code for Educational Institutions was Gazette notified by Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSEL) in January, 2024 and also Gazette notified in RPwD Rules 2017 in June 2024. Under Samagra Shiksha, financial support is provided to States/UTs for creation of CwSN-friendly infrastructure, including ramps and CwSN toilets. As per UIDSE+ 2024-25, 11.64 lakh schools have ramps, 8.08 lakh schools have ramps with handrails, 5.23 lakh schools have CwSN – friendly toilets. Every year, States/UTs under Samagra Shiksha & PM SHRI schemes are making schools accessible with ramps, handrails & CwSN toilets. Based on the identified infrastructure gaps in schools, States/UTs propose financial support through the Annual Work Plan & Budget(AWP&B) under Samagra Shiksha and the PM SHRI Scheme. The proposed interventions and budgets for each activity including CwSN friendly infrastructure under the respective components are examined and approved by the Project Approval Board (PAB). (c): As per the Census of India 2011, the literacy rate of differently abled population in India was 54.50% and overall literacy rate of India was 72.98%. As per Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Report 2023-24, overall literacy rate of the country for the age group of 7 years and above is 80.9%. The Department of School Education and Literacy maintains data on the enrollment and drop out of children in the age group 3-18 yrs in the UDISE+ portal. The enrolment of CwSN is 0.87% against the total enrolment as per UDISE+ 2024-25. The dropout rate is 2.3% at primary level, 3.5% at upper primary level and 8.2% at secondary level which includes CwSN also. (d): A statement showing State/UT-wise details of fund released and utilized for creation of differently-abled friendly infrastructure such as ramps, ramps with handrails and differently- abled friendly toilets for barrier free access in schools for 2024-25 is at Annexure. ****ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (D) OF THE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 537 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2026 ASKED BY SMT. JEBI MATHER HISHAM, HON’BLE MP REGARDING “ACCESSIBILITY OF SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES” State/UT-wise details of fund released and utilized for creation of differently-abled friendly infrastructure such as ramps, ramps with handrails and differently-abled friendly toilets for barrier free access in schools for 2024-25 State/UT Approved Amount for Expenditure in Lakh CwSN Friendly Toilets & Ramps Arunachal Pradesh 16 16 Assam 176.45 130.22 Bihar 394.61 294.37 Chhattisgarh 621.86 23.59 Goa 6.39 6.39 Gujarat 877.99 74.12 Himachal Pradesh 2.95 2.95 Jammu and Kashmir 315.52 114.39 Jharkhand 1601.54 633.37 Karnataka 9.65 9.65 Kerala 152.01 10.24 Ladakh 364.09 357.32 Madhya Pradesh 592.88 0.57 Maharashtra 2937 0 Manipur 744.09 91.43 Meghalaya 107.03 59.85 Mizoram 585.14 585.14 Nagaland 0.5 0.41 Odisha 2435.87 2250.01 Punjab 606.05 605.24 Rajasthan 8.84 0.05 Sikkim 54.17 30 Telangana 602.81 0 Tripura 810.5 807.65 Uttar Pradesh 158.62 146.55 Uttarakhand 220.66 58.8 West Bengal 3776.44 0 Grand Total 18179.65 6308.31