Government employees who have children suffering from autism will be exempted from routine transfers and they will not be asked to take voluntary retirement on refusing such postings, the Centre said today.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has issued an order including autism in the category for disabled children whose parents (government employees) are exempted from transfer.

"Considering the fact that the autism spectrum disorder child requires constant caregiver support and it would be imperative for the government employees to take care of their autism spectrum disorder child on continuous basis, it has been decided to include 'Autism' in the term 'disabled'," it said in its directive issued to all central government ministries and departments for compliance.

Autism is a mental condition characterised by great difficulty in communicating.
A government employee with a disabled child serves as the main caregiver and any displacement of such employee will have a bearing on the systemic rehabilitation of the child since the new environment or set up could prove to be a hindrance for rehabilitation process, it said.

"Therefore, a government servant who is also a caregiver of disabled child may be exempted from the routine exercise of transfer or rotational transfer subject to the administrative constraints," the DoPT said.

The word disabled includes blindness or low vision, hearing impairment, locomotor disability or cerebral palsy, leprosy, mental retardation, mental illness and multiple disabilities, it had said in an earlier order.

"Upbringing and rehabilitation of disabled child requires financial support. Making the government employee to choose voluntary retirement on the pretext of routine transfer or rotation transfer would have adverse impact on the rehabilitation process of the child," the DoPT said.

The move came following demands that a government employee who is a caregiver of the disabled child should not suffer due to displacement by means of routine transfer or rotational transfers.

"This demand has been made on the ground that a government employee raises a kind of support system for his or her disabled child over a period of time in the locality where he or she resides which helps them in the rehabilitation," it said.

The matter regarding the scope of disabled was further examined by the DoPT which found that rehabilitation is a process aimed at enabling persons with disabilities to reach and maintain their optimal physical,sensory, intellectual, and psychiatric or a social functional level.

"The support system comprises preferred linguistic zone, school or academic level, administration, neighbours, tutors or special educators, friends, medical care including hospitals, therapists and doctors, etc.

"Thus, rehabilitation is a continuous process and creation of such support system takes years together," the DoPT said.