The Council has been entrusted with the statutory responsibility of maintaining standards of education and training uniformly in the country with regard to sixteen professional categories allocated to the RCI under the RCI Act. The Council is also maintaining a Central Rehabilitation Register of professionals and personnel rendering services for the rehabilitation of persons with disability. Updating of knowledge and skills of registered Rehabilitation professionals and personnel is mandatory at least once in seven years for renewal of registration. For this purpose the Council supports Continuing Rehabilitation Education (CRE) Programmes, Workshops, Seminars, Conferences. Symposia etc. from time to time.
In the year 2000-01, the need was felt for streamlining and restructuring the CRE programmes, therefore, a meeting of experts in different disability areas was convened to finalize the themes/topics, contents, duration, target groups, budget etc. Altogether 73 such themes on contemporary issues of importance were selected. It was decided that every two years new themes would be identified.
For the first time, an effort has been made to compile a report of CRE programmes sponsored by the Council in the major disability areas, viz, Hearing Impairment, Locomotor Impairment, Mental Retardation. Multiple Disabilities, and Visual Impairment.