Issue and Challenges of Lis Professionals in Inclusive Education System in India: A Case Study

The PWD act 1995, emphases that differently abled person should have access to education at all level in education system. To implement the PWD act, an inclusive education has been started at all level of education in India, all necessary equipments were provided, special budget was allocated, special educators were appointed and required training was provided to teachers at block level, district level, and state level. The inclusive education is an initiative which enables differently abled children to attend a school near to their home with normal children without any differences. In spite of this, full inclusion is still awaited because libraries and information centers either are in initial stage of inclusion or following the traditional approaches to serve the users. The library and information center is the heart of the institute, and without their inclusion, a complete inclusive education system cannot be imagined. So far, no special training was provided to LIS professionals to understand and handle information needs of differently abled person. Like normal people, differently abled persons also require latest information to update, to educate, to empower, to employ and to be independent. But, only few libraries and information centers open their door for differently abled and result of that it creates a wide gap between information need and library services available for differently abled. This study discusses the issue and challenges faced by LIS professional in inclusive education system in India. It also focuses on information needs, impact of right information and how information need of differently abled person can be fulfilled by LIS professionals.