The Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) was established in 1986 as a registered society. It is a statutory body that is responsible for regulating and standardising training programs for professionals in the field of rehabilitation and special education in India. RCI certified professionals include clinical psychologists, special educators, audiologists and speech therapists, and rehabilitation technicians, among many others.
All of them play an instrumental role in supporting individuals with disabilities and providing services to them to help them achieve a better quality of life and inclusion in society. Despite their essential role, these professionals face numerous challenges that hinder their ability to deliver high-quality care and advance their careers.
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Lack of Awareness and Stigma
According to the National Mental Health Survey (2015-2016), 10.6% of Indian adults have some mental disorder (Pradeep et al., 2018). This number can only be presumed to be much higher now, especially after the COVID-19 lockdown. Yet, many people in India remain unaware of the existence, importance, and role of rehabilitation services as well as of RCI in itself. A majority of the population does not accurately understand the reasoning behind and the importance of seeking services from certified professionals.
This lack of awareness hinders the demand for these services, and in turn also impacts funding, policymaking, availability, and overall recognition of the profession. Moreover, a majority of the population in our nation has a stigma towards mental health. They have a negative, discriminatory, and judgmental attitude towards individuals with any sort of mental health condition. Thus, RCI professionals often find themselves advocating to the public as well as policymakers about their crucial contributions.
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Shortage of Skilled Professionals
The World Health Organisation recommends a minimum of 1 psychiatrist per 10,000 people. But in India, this ratio is somewhere around one psychiatrist for hundreds of thousands of individuals. There seems to be a similar scenario for clinical psychologists, counselling psychologists, and psychiatric social workers (Prakash & Kumar, 2024).
Additionally, a large portion of the disabled population lives in rural areas. And if there is a significant shortage of trained professionals in India overall, it is obvious that the concentration of the ones available will be in the urban settings. So, the rural population struggles to find any qualified help. The professionals who are present are spread so thin that they can’t even do anything to help, even if they do want to.
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Inconsistencies in Policies and Regulations
RCI seems to be developing certain guidelines, but they are so inconsistent with each other; a recent example of which is the release and withdrawal of the notices about the pathway to become a licensed clinical psychologist at the beginning of this year. They struggle to ensure uniform standardisation and compliance all over the country; a major cause behind this is the limited administrative resources and professionals present for a large number of people who need it.
Additionally, there is a significant inconsistency between RCI’s officially accredited courses in the field of psychology and the actual qualifications of the professionals listed in its Central Rehabilitation Register (CRR). This raises concerns about RCI’s credibility in the licensure process, thereby also confusing it for current and upcoming professionals about the path for obtaining a licence (Soni, 2024).
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Resource Constraints: Financial and Infrastructural
The council in itself isn’t a very large body considering the population of the country, which created a constraint on its restraints. These limited financial and human resources can hinder RCI’s ability to effectively implement and oversee rehabilitation programs across the entire nation. This can further result in an uneven distribution of resources and services, which then end up affecting the remote and rural areas where the need for these services is more prominent. Moreover, many schools, clinics, and rehabilitation centres lack the necessary structure to provide these effective services. This makes it even harder for the professionals to implement the practices or services they have been trained in. Government support becomes extremely important here.
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Low Wages and Recognition
The professionals providing these extremely crucial and essential services are neither paid well nor recognised for their efforts. The society at large seems to be unaware of the roles and contributions of these professionals; they are unaware of the work that the RCI professionals can do. This lack of recognition impacts the job opportunities they have and also limits any kind of advocacy for change in the policies.
Hence, not only affects the professionals’ capacity to work and grow, but also hinders the help that the general public could benefit from. Additionally, there is a huge lack in the funding they receive. While RCI does promote research, the gap in the resources, funding, and institutional support provided in comparison to what is required is huge.
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Need for Continuing Education and Research
RCI needs to keep up with the evolving standards of rehabilitation practices. As rehabilitation is a rapidly evolving field with constant advances in technology, techniques, and therapies, it is vital to keep professionals in India regularly updated and well-trained. Another challenge is that the RCI needs to ensure that its curriculum and training are kept up to date with the latest developments in the field and remain relevant.
Moreover, the way psychology professionals are defined and classified under Indian law does not align with global standards set by bodies like ISCO or the WHO.
This could reduce the credibility of Indian training and licensure globally as well as hinder the recognition of Indian psychology professionals (Mullanvathukkal, 2025).
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Integrated Approach to Rehabilitation: interprofessional collaboration
Effective rehabilitation often requires a collaborative approach involving various professionals, like counsellors, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and educators. However, in India, there seems to be a lack of this integrated approach to rehabilitation. Professionals often end up working alone and in isolation, which leads to ineffective outcomes for the clients. Thus, it becomes important for the professionals to collaborate.
Recent policy reforms have aimed to improve psychology education, but they have unfortunately led to fragmented governance and poor coordination in the field. This causes confusion about the recognisable qualifications and in understanding the accurate path to licensure, making it harder to navigate (Mullanvathukkal, 2025). Hence, there needs to be a greater collaboration with policymakers and stakeholders to effectively implement guidelines and address the needs of professionals and students, thereby working towards the betterment of society.
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Lack of Public and Government Support
Another challenge for rehabilitation professionals in India is limited support from the government and public, which hinders the development, implementation, and accessibility of quality services. Rehabilitation continues to be a low-priority area in national health agendas. This causes underfunding, poor infrastructure, scarce resources, and a weak institutional framework.
This results in a severe shortage of trained professionals and uneven distribution of the existing personnel and resources. This poor availability of resources, constraints in the finances allotted for rehabilitation, and lack of information hinder the general public’s access to essential services, highlighting the gaps that exist in rehabilitation in India (Kamalakannan et al., 2016). Therefore, RCI professionals will continue to struggle in providing comprehensive care without governmental, institutional, and public backing.
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Conclusion
While the Rehabilitation Council of India does want to provide standardised services for people with disabilities, it falls short on achieving this goal because of several reasons. RCI professionals play a leading role in creating a more inclusive and equitable society by helping and supporting individuals with disabilities as much as possible. However, for them to fulfil their potential and responsibility to the fullest, some changes are essential. They deserve recognition, better funding, access to resources, supportive policies, clearer processes, career development, and an increase in their numbers. By addressing and overcoming these challenges, India may be able to improve its rehabilitation services, ultimately empowering millions of lives.
FAQs
1. What is RCI?
The Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) was established in 1986 as a registered society. It is a statutory body that is responsible for regulating and standardising training programs for professionals in the field of rehabilitation and special education in India.
2. What are the challenges faced by RCI professionals?
RCI professionals face challenges like stigma, staff shortages, inconsistent policies, and resource gaps. They also struggle with low pay, limited training, and a lack of collaborative approaches.
References +
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