Figure 1.
The timeline presents milestones from 1992 to 2024, beginning with the Rehabilitation Council of India Act, assuring that the disabled would receive high quality rehabilitation services and support, and that professionals offering these services are suitably qualified and trained, followed by the Persons with Disability Act, ensuring equal opportunities, protection of rights, and full participation, ensuring equal opportunity to education, employment, creation of barrier free environment, and social security, then the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Multiple Disability Act, providing provisions of legal guardianship of the four categories, and creation of enabling environment for as much independent living as possible, alongside the National Policy for Persons with Disability 2006, outlining national policy towards envisioning the society and environment with equal opportunities, recognizing as the valuable human resources, assured participation in work and the society, protection of rights, providing barrier free environment for the independent living, followed by The Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016, identifying 21 disability types and outlining principles for empowering persons with disabilities, including respect for dignity, autonomy, non discrimination, participation, inclusion, diversity, equality of opportunity, accessibility, gender equality, and respect for children capacities and identity preservation, and concluding with the Rights of Persons with Disability Amendment Act, streamlining the application process for disability certificates and unique disability identity cards UDID cards, improving accessibility and service efficiency.Chronological development in acts and policy pertaining to the PWDs in Indian context (source: Authors)