The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 sets a progressive yet skeletal framework at the national level to foster inclusion and equal participation for persons with disabilities. However, implementation at the state and local levels remains woefully inadequate, worsened by limited awareness among stakeholders and deficits in implementation capacity. This is where Vidhi’s Disability Inclusion and Access Initiative (DIA) steps in – to create practical and localised solutions for legal implementation, bridging the gap between legal aspirations and on-ground reality.

The DIA is dedicated to improving the implementation of the RPWDA using law as a catalyst, as well as by shaping the public narrative.

Building on this mission, the DIA’s work is centred around conducting legal analyses to identify gaps in disability rights implementation, designing actionable policy frameworks to integrate disability rights into local governance, and partnering with government authorities and community-based organisations to operationalise the mandate of the RPWDA while strengthening awareness and implementation capacity at the ground level.