cover pros - IGNOU

2. INTRODUCTION TO THE REHABILITATION
COUNCIL OF INDIA
The Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) was set up as a registered society in 1986. Subsequently,
the Parliament enacted the Rehabilitation Council of India Act 1992, and on 22 nd June 1993, the
Rehabilitation Council of India became a Statutory Body. The responsibility of the Council is to
create 16 categories of professions to cater to the needs of persons with disabilities. The categories
are as under:
1. Audiologist and Speech Therapists
2. Clinical Psychologists
3. hearing and Ear Mould Technicians
4. Rehabilitation Engineers and Technicians
5. Special Teachers for educating and training the Handicapped
6. Vocational Counsellors, Employment Officers and Placement Officers
7. Multi-purpose Rehabilitation Therapists Technicians
8. Speech Pathologists
9. Rehabilitation Psychologists
10. Rehabilitation Social Workers
11. Rehabilitation Practitioners in Mental Retardation
12. Orientation and Mobility Specialists
13. Community Based Rehabilitation Professionals
14. Rehabilitation Counsellors, Administrators
15. Prosthetics and Orthotists
16. Any other category to be notified by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in
consultation with RCI.
RCI has the twin responsibility of standardizing and regulating the training of personnel and
professional in the field of rehabilitation and special education.
Some specific objectives of RCI are as follows:
To regulate the training policies and programmes in the field of rehabilitation of persons
with disabilities;
To prescribe minimum standards of education and training of various categories of
professionals/personnel dealing with people with disabilities;
To regulate these standards in all training institutions uniformly throughout the country;
To recognise institutions/organisations/universities running Master’s Degree/Batchelor’s
Degree/P.G. Diploma/Diploma/Certificate Programmes in the field of rehabilitation of persons
with disabilities;
To recognise Degree/Diplomas/Certificates awarded by foreign universities/institutions on
reciprocal basis;
To promote research in rehabilitation and special education;
To encourage continuing education in the field of rehabilitation and special education by
way of collaboration with organisations working in the field of disability.
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