Comments on the Karnataka Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Employment and Education Bill, 2025
Following the publication of the draft Karnataka Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Employment and Education Bill, 2025, on 21 November 2025, the Labour Department, Government of Karnataka, invited stakeholder comments. The Bill seeks to advance disability inclusion in education and employment at the State level, in consonance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act) and India’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
In response, the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy submitted comments focusing on strengthening the implementability of the draft Bill, ensuring it operates in harmony with the RPwD Act, while minimising ambiguity, administrative fragmentation, and the risk of future litigation.
Our key recommendations include:
Distinction between accessibility requirements and reasonable accommodation
- Indicating the need for distinguishing between accessibility requirements, which must be ensured proactively and from the inception stage, and reasonable accommodation, which is based on individualised, case-specific measures, as per the Supreme Court’s guidance in Rajive Raturi v. Union of India (W.P.(c) no. 243 of 2005, judgment dated 08.11.2024), the RPwD Act, and the UNCRPD.
Ensuring implementation consistency with the RPwD Act framework
- Examining provisions that may raise questions of overlap, ambiguity or inconsistency with the RPwD Act, particularly in relation to mandatory reservation in private-sector employment; reservation for persons with disabilities in educational institutions and private employment; and the enforcement framework.
- Specifically clarifying the scope and eligibility for reservation to avoid inconsistent interpretation and implementation across educational institutions and employers.
Strengthening rights in education
- Seeking clarity on how the proposed reservation under the Bill is intended to operate alongside existing statutory mandates, including the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
- Suggesting expansion of the scope of reasonable accommodation and accessibility obligations to cover the full educational experience, beyond admissions and examinations, while also ensuring clarity on applicable accessibility standards.
Addressing constitutional and implementation concerns in employment
- Suggesting articulation of the legislative rationale for mandatory private-sector reservation to promote workplace inclusion of persons with disabilities, so as to support its justification as a reasonable restriction on the freedom of trade and profession under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India, and to strengthen the Bill’s position in the event of a constitutional challenge.
Harmonising certification, regulatory, and enforcement mechanisms
- Aligning disability certification requirements with the existing statutory framework under the RPwD Act and the Unique Disability ID system.
- Clarifying the roles and relationships between newly proposed regulatory and enforcement authorities and existing bodies under the RPwD Act, to avoid duplication and fragmentation.
- Providing clearer guidance and safeguards around inspection and audit powers to ensure effective but proportionate enforcement.
Through these recommendations, Vidhi’s submission seeks to strengthen the draft Bill’s legal clarity and implementability, to meaningfully advance inclusion in education and employment for persons with disabilities in Karnataka.
