Despite enactment of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and India's ratification of the CRPD, Persons with Disabilities continue to face systemic exclusion from social security. Critically analyse the gaps and suggest reforms.

The RPwD Act, 2016 domesticated India's CRPD obligations — expanding recognised disabilities from 7 to 21, raising job reservation to 4% and education reservation to 5% [1]. Yet on social security, the CRPD's Article 28 guarantee of an adequate standard of living, the statutory promise remains largely unredeemed [2].

Where the framework has delivered

• Justiciable entitlements: benchmark disability (40%), reservations, and a grievance mechanism under the Chief Commissioner [1].
• Accessibility mandate: Section 40 empowers the Centre to notify accessibility standards; 20 ministries now frame sector-specific guidelines, monitored by DEPwD [3].

Persisting gaps in social security

• Coverage exclusion: IGNDPS reaches only about 8.33 lakh beneficiaries, against 2.68 crore PwDs enumerated in Census 2011 [4][5] — eligibility is doubly filtered by BPL status and severe/multiple disability [4].
• Inadequate quantum: central assistance is ₹300 per month (₹500 above 80 years) [4]; actual receipts depend on discretionary State top-ups, so entitlement turns on domicile rather than degree of disability — contrary to CRPD Article 5's equality and non-discrimination norm [2].
• Financing squeeze: SIPDA sub-schemes doubled from 6 to 13 while allocation rose barely 9% (₹193 crore to ₹210 crore), with pooled funds risking dilution of objectives [5].
• Delivery deficit: the Accessible India Campaign achieved roughly 30% building and 65% website accessibility; no funds were released for accessible government websites, and only 11 States/UTs sought barrier-free grants [5].

Reforms

• Legislate a universal disability pension floor, indexed to inflation, delinked from BPL and calibrated to extent of disability.
• Ring-fence SIPDA sub-scheme allocations and raise outlays with outcome-linked release to States.
• Camp-mode, time-bound UDID certification to end entitlement delays.
• Mandatory accessibility audits of government digital platforms under Section 40 [3].

Rights-based legislation has settled the principle; the unfinished task is fiscal and administrative. A guaranteed pension floor, backed by accessible delivery, would convert the RPwD Act's promise into substantive equality under Articles 14 and 41 — and align India fully with its CRPD commitments.