Equipments worth Rs 700 crore distributed to differently-abled since 2014: Kovind

The condition of the differently-abled persons were so dismal that till 2014 only 56 camps were organised where they were given assistive aids, President Ram Nath Kovind said Thursday, while highlighting the series of initiatives taken by the Modi government for their welfare.

"After formation of my government in 2014, following the vision of Atal-ji, efforts were made with full sensitivity to solve the problems of Divyangjans," Kovind said while addressing the joint sitting of Parliament.

Around 1,000 government buildings and more than 650 railway stations have been made fully accessible for the persons with disabilities under the Accessible India campaign to help them commute with ease, Kovind said.

"If our Divyang brothers and sisters are provided assistance to ameliorate their physical difficulties, they can achieve new heights on their own. With this in mind, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment established by Atal-ji had started the tradition of organising camps to assist them. But the situation was so dismal that up to 2014 only 56 such camps could be organized," he said.

Kovind said that assistive equipments worth Rs 700 crore have been distributed to around 12 lakh "Divyangjans" in a "fully transparent manner" in the past four-and-half years.

The government organises 140 camps on an average every month where persons with disabilities are given assistive aids and devices, he said.

Taking a note of the difficulties faced by children using sign language because of lack of uniformity, Kovind said 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.

"Children using sign language in one state had to face considerable difficulty due to different types of sign languages while visiting other states. In many instances multiple sign languages were being used within a state," he said.

In addition, the central government has made about 100 websites compliant to the needs of the differently-abled persons.

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