In Jammu and Kashmir, children with special needs and their parents continue to struggle for inclusive education, early intervention, rehabilitation, and essential medical services, particularly in rural and remote districts where access to early intervention programmes and inclusive education remains severely limited.
With the increasing identification of children with developmental disabilities and other special needs, including autism and ADHD, the demand for quality rehabilitation and developmental services has grown significantly.
In Jammu and Kashmir, Government Medical Colleges and district hospitals have very limited, and in some places no, early intervention services for children with special needs. Even where such services are available, many facilities lack adequate infrastructure, accessibility, trained professionals, and child-friendly support systems. As a result, parents are often left with no option but to seek treatment and rehabilitation services from private centers, placing a significant financial burden on families.
The Government must strengthen early intervention services in public healthcare facilities across J&K and ensure that every child with special needs has timely, affordable, accessible, and quality rehabilitation and therapeutic support close to home.
Regulating Private Centres
Over the past few years, private Child Development and Rehabilitation Centers have increased across both the Kashmir and Jammu divisions, with rehabilitation professionals and medical practitioners establishing centres to provide services to children with special needs. While the availability of such services can be a positive development, it raises a fundamental question, who is regulating and monitoring these Child Development Rehabilitation centres?
Are these Child Development and Rehabilitation Centres properly registered with the competent Government authorities? Is infrastructure, qualification of professionals, treatment practices, safety standards, and quality of services being regularly inspected? Who conducts their monitoring and audits, and what action is taken when centers fail to meet prescribed standards?
These are not merely administrative questions. These centres deal directly with the lives, development, health, dignity and future of vulnerable children. Parents place enormous trust in rehabilitation professionals and centers, often spending substantial amounts of money in the hope of improving their child's quality of life. Therefore, there must be a transparent system of mandatory registration, professional verification, regular inspection, clinical and administrative audits, grievance redressal, child-safeguarding mechanisms, and accountability.
The absence of effective regulation can leave children and their families vulnerable to poor-quality services, unqualified practice, exploitation and malpractice. Every child with a disability has a right to dignity, safety, quality rehabilitation, healthcare and inclusive education, not unregulated services or charity.
Several parents have informed me that they visited different Child Development Rehabilitation Centers (CDCs) for their children’s therapy and paid substantial amounts for months and years of services. However, after nearly two months of therapy, some parents reportedly discovered that the individuals providing speech therapy and occupational therapy to their children did not possess the required professional qualifications or degree in speech and language therapy.
Parents have also reported instances where they were allegedly abused, humiliated, or treated disrespectfully by CDC management when they asked for information about their child’s progress, requested access to CCTV footage, or raised questions about the centre’s infrastructure, safety, and quality of services. These concerns highlight the urgent need for effective regulation, professional verification, transparent monitoring, proper infrastructure, and a robust grievance-redressal mechanism for Child Development and Rehabilitation Centers.
Interventions, From CWC to Courts
In Jammu and Kashmir and across India, thousands of Child Development Centers (CDCs) are reportedly functioning without adequate registration, qualified professionals, proper infrastructure, accessibility, and effective regulatory oversight. In 2025, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Srinagar, headed by its Chairperson, Dr. Khair-ul-Nisa, along with a four-member team, conducted surprise inspections of several Child Development and Rehabilitation Centres (CDCs) in Srinagar. During these inspections, the Committee reportedly identified several serious deficiencies and loopholes, including inadequate accessibility, lack of proper infrastructure, absence of essential facilities, improper or incomplete registration, and centers functioning without proper formalities and regulatory compliance.
Following the inspections, the CWC Srinagar Chairperson Dr Khair Ul Nisa organised a meeting with the heads/representatives of various Child Development and Rehabilitation Centers and directed them to complete the required formalities and ensure compliance with the applicable rules and requirements within three months. This intervention highlights the need for regular inspection, monitoring, registration and accountability of such centers to ensure that children with disabilities receive safe, accessible and appropriate rehabilitation and developmental services.
Concerned about these serious issues, Advocate Rahul Bajaj from Delhi and this author, Jammu and Kashmir, collected information and documentation regarding the functioning and regulation of CDCs pan-India and approached the Supreme Court of India by filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in June 2026.
On 16 June, during the first hearing, the Chief Justice of India and Justice V. Mohana heard the matter, took note of the concerns raised, and issued notice to the Government. The Chief justice also indicated that the issue was already within its knowledge and directed that the matter be listed on priority for the next hearing. The intervention of the Supreme Court is an
important step towards ensuring that children with special needs receive safe, qualified, accessible, and dignified rehabilitation and developmental services.
The prayers made by both the petitioners in this PIL are aimed at ensuring that Child Development Centres (CDCs) and rehabilitation facilities providing services to children with disabilities operate in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act), Mental Health Act and the applicable regulatory framework governing rehabilitation professionals. The petitioners seek appropriate directions to ensure that every eligible centre providing rehabilitation and developmental services is properly registered with the competent government authorities and complies with prescribed standards relating to infrastructure, accessibility, safety, staffing, and quality of care.
The PIL also seeks to ensure that professionals providing regulated rehabilitation services Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation Therapy, Special Education to children possess the appropriate qualifications and, wherever applicable, valid registration with the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI). No child should receive therapy or rehabilitation services from an unqualified or improperly trained individual, particularly when parents are paying substantial amounts and placing their trust in these centers. The Head of all the Rehabilitation and Child Development centres should be a Rehab professional.
The petitioners further seek a transparent and effective system of regular inspection, auditing, monitoring, and accountability by the appropriate government authorities. Such inspections should examine the qualifications of professionals, registration status, infrastructure, accessibility, safety measures, records of therapy and progress, fees charged, grievance-redressal mechanisms, and the overall quality of services provided to children.
Children Deserve Better
The objective of the PIL is not to stop genuine private rehabilitation centres or professionals from providing services. Rather, it is to ensure that every centre follows the law and that parents can access services without fear of exploitation, negligence, humiliation, or unsafe practices. Parents of children with disabilities should have the right to know who is providing therapy to their child, what qualifications they hold, what services are being provided, and whether the centre meets the required standards.
Every child with a disability deserves safe, qualified, accessible, evidence-informed, and dignified care, not unregulated services. Effective registration, professional verification, regular government inspection, independent auditing, and strong accountability mechanisms are essential to protect children and their families. The PIL therefore seeks to establish a system in which the welfare, rights, dignity, safety, and best interests of every child remain at the centre of rehabilitation and developmental services across Jammu and Kashmir and throughout pan India.
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