'Nearly 7.5 lakh people given hearing aid under accessible

Around 7.5 lakh people have been issued cochlear implant (hearing aid) through 5,500 camps held across the country under the accessible India campaign, Union minister Krishan Pal Gurjar said today.
Speaking at an inauguration of two-day national conference at Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment listed out various government initiatives aimed at benefitting persons with disability.
"Five-year-old children with disability shall be sponsored with Rs 6 lakh for cochlear implants by the government," Gurjar said in a statement.
He said that elderly BPL family members with disability will be taken care of for their every needs. "12-13 camps in India have been established in this regard," he said.

"The government has now increased the reservation from 3 to 4 per cent in central government services and to 5 per cent in education for them," he said.
The seminar on topic - Vocational Rehabilitation and Economic Inclusion of PwD in India - was jointly organised by IGNOU's National Centre for Disability Studies (NCDS) and National Handicap Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC).
IGNOU Vice Chancellor Ravindra Kumar said, "The government has provided Rs 77 crore worth scholarships to 13,140 students of NHFDC who underwent 3-6 months training course along with a stipend of Rs 2,000 per month.