In each and every society, the disabled are the most underprivileged minority. Regardless of a country's human rights or economic situation, they are generally the last in line to have their human rights respected. Being denied the opportunities that would enable them to be self-sufficient, most disabled resort to the kindness of others like family members and relatives. In India also the disabled are discriminated in all aspects of life such as education, health, transportation, employment and access to public places. But "[a] dramatic shift in perspective has taken place over the past two decades from an approach motivated by charity towards the disabled ones based on rights. In essence, the human rights perspective on disability means viewing people with disabilities as subjects and not as objects. It entails moving away from viewing people with disabilities as problems towards viewing them as holders of rights. The debate about the rights of the disabled is therefore connected to a larger debate about the place of difference in society". This paper attempts to unearth the provisions relating to protection of disabled persons in India and also provides the norms laid down by United Nations and its specialized agencies.

The concept of disability varies from society to society, from time to time. Earlier, the term `handicapped' was used as a substitute for the term `disability', which is a derogatory term because it is "popularly believed to have derived from the phrase `cap in hand' referring to the medieval custom where the beggars would extend their cap to receive the handouts. It, in fact, is a derogatory term". Generally, impairment, handicap, disability are used as synonymous but, in fact, all these terms are distinct.

Impairment is "an exteriorized loss of structure, or abnormality of function at the organ level, disability [i]s a restriction of actions at the person level and handicap [i]s a set of disadvantages within the individual's particular social context". Thus, three different levels are involved with, in most cases, impairment leading to disability and disability leading to handicap.

The terms `disability' and `handicap' were often used in an unclear and confusing way, which gave poor guidance for policy-making and for political action. The terminology reflected a medical and diagnostic approach, which ignored the imperfections and deficiencies of the surrounding society.

National Sample Survey Organization defines disability as: A person with restrictions or lack of abilities to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being was treated as having disability. It excluded illness/injury of recent origin (morbidity) resulting into temporary loss of ability to see, hear, speak or move.

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