New Delhi, Aug 4 - Disabled children will also benefit from a bill making education free and compulsory passed by the Lok Sabha Tuesday. Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said it would be for the fist time such children would be integrated in the school system.

Speaking on the debate on the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2009, that was passed by the Lok Sabha with a voice vote late Tuesday, Sibal said the legislation left it to the states to list out disadvantaged children according to local circumstances, but 'it would be the obligation of the states to include differently abled children'.

'When we frame the model rules for the implementation of the legislation, we will ensure that children suffering from disabilities must be included among the disadvantaged children,' the minister said.

'This would be the first time in India that disabled children would be integrated in the school system,' he added amid thumping of desks by the members.

Sibal said there was another legislation of the 1990s that spoke of equal opportunities and this 'is being amended to include certain differently abled categories in that legislation'.