No Chief Commissioner of PwDs for over five years despite three attempts to fill the post, Centre tells RS

Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities position remains vacant for over five years despite multiple failed attempts.

The post of Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities has remained vacant for over five years now, the Social Justice Ministry told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (December 4, 2024) It added that its latest attempt to fill the position had failed at the stage of approval by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which is part of a Ministry directly managed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This comes a day after the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, when Mr. Modi had highlighted the “massive strides” in improving conditions for PwDs across the country over the last 10 years through his government’s policies. 

The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment’s statement came in response to an unstarred question from Rashtriya Janata Dal Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha, who asked why the position has not been filled yet.

In a written response, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment B.L. Verma said that the post had fallen vacant on January 27, 2019, since when three attempts had been made to fill the position, all of which had failed. “However, no name could be finalised. Now, fresh advertisement is being issued,” he said. 

During this time, the Secretary of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities has been holding the position as an additional charge, the government informed the Rajya Sabha.  

Describing the steps taken to try and fill the position since 2019, the Social Justice Ministry said that the Department had first submitted a proposal to fill the position in March 2019, which was “turned down by the Competent Authority”.  

It continued that a second attempt was made four years later in March 2023, which too was “not approved by the Competent Authority”. This led to the third attempt at filling the post, which was initiated in November 2023.