Govt has focused on Divyangjan, youth, poor: President Kovind

President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday asserted that the current government has launched several schemes for the welfare of the poor, youth and also for the specially abled.

Addressing both the houses of Parliament a day ahead of the interim budget, President Kovind said that the government understands the pain of the poor and know how healthcare expenses can make a poor man, poorer.

"My government understands this and started Ayushman Bharat Yojana. In the last four months, more than 10 lakh poor people have availed health benefits in hospitals under this scheme. Under 'Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana', 4,900 Jan Aushadhi centers have already been opened in more than 600 districts. More than 700 different medicines are being dispensed at low cost in these centres."

Elaborating upon welfare schemes that are important for maintaining good health, the President emphasised on the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

"Under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, more than 9 crore toilets have been constructed. According to an assessment, because of the toilets built, numerous poor persons have been spared of various kind of diseases and more than 3 lakh lives have been saved," added President Kovind.

In order to empower the youth, the Kaushal Vikas Abhiyan was launched. Under this Abhiyan, one crore youth have been trained every year in different skills till now. Furthermore, under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, which facilitates credit for professional and business requirements, loans worth more than Rs. 7 lakh crore has been disbursed to the youth without any guarantee. More than 15 crore people have benefitted and over 4.26 crore first-time borrowers have started their business under the scheme, said the President.

"Moreover, Under 'Start-Up India' and 'Stand Up India', my Government has provided financial assistance to make the youth self-reliant. As a result, in the world of Start-Ups, India now figures as a frontline country," added President Kovind.

As a part of social well being of the poor, "My Government is also striving hard to alleviate the challenge of malnutrition among poor women and children and has launched the National Nutrition Mission for persons suffering from malnutrition to eliminate the factors responsible for malnutrition," he asserted.

Speaking about those children who are specially abled, "Children using sign language in one state had to face considerable difficulty due to different types of sign languages while visiting other states. Taking note of their difficulty, my government started working on a uniform sign language for Divyangjan applicable throughout the country."

A dictionary for the Divyangjan with 3,000 words has already been published by the Delhi-based Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre and the work on another dictionary with 3,000 new words is in progress. In addition, the central government has made about 100 websites compliant to the needs of Divyangjan.

"Through the enactment of 'The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016', my Government has provided them with equal opportunity in education, social security and employment," Kovind added.

"In order to reduce the burden on poor as many as 21 crore poor brothers and sisters have been provided with insurance coverage and assistance of Rs 2 lakh in the event of an untoward incident is made available to them. The government has disbursed Rs.