‘State govts should educate people about Persons with Disabilities Act schemes’

“The states should generate awareness among them (people with disabilities) so that they might be able to get the due benefits of the various welfare schemes.” (Representational)

The state governments should extensively educate people with disabilities about the advantages of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 so that they can get the benefits of various schemes, Navreet Singh Kang, secretary to Union government in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment said on Friday. Kang said this while chairing a regional conference at a city in which Chandigarh took part among several states and UTs.

He further said Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which has been brought into force from April 19, 2017, has guaranteed economical and social welfare of the people with disabilities. “The states should generate awareness among them (people with disabilities) so that they might be able to get the due benefits of the various welfare schemes. Under the act, the reservation has been increased from 3 to 4 per cent besides recognising 21 disabilities which were earlier seven,” said Kang.

Officials said it was discussed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Accessible India Campaign/Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan on December 3, 2015, for creating an universal accessibility for Persons with Disabilities in built environment, transport and information & communication technology (ICT) ecosystem.

During the conference, other key schemes that were launched by the government were also reviewed. These included scheme of assistance to disabled persons for purchase/fitting of aids and appliances, Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme, setting up of district disability rehabilitation centres, national action plan for skill development of persons with disabilities, scholarship schemes for persons with disabilities.