Employment scheme for disabled soon: Minister

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 27

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dhani Ram Shandil said the state would soon introduce a comprehensive scheme for the disabled which would include provision for survey, research and most importantly vocational and skill training for ensuring employment.

Shandil said this while presiding over a two-day workshop on “Skilling and Employment Persons with Disabilities” in the context of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) organised by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment here. He said the issues like grant of soft loans and subsidy for self-employment, marriage grant and incentives to best performing individual persons with disabilities and best employer would be taken care of.

He said as an immediate measure, the department had already identified 750 children up to five years of age, who, after their medical assessment, were being provided aids and appliances. A provision of disability relief allowance to 44,378 disabled persons had been made as a social security measure along with issuance of Disability Identity Cards to more than 79,000 persons.

The government was also providing grant-in-aid of Rs 1.46 crore to NGOs working towards the uplift of the disabled. In a special drive, the government had filled 1,700 posts and efforts were on to fill remaining posts.

The minister said the government had made a provision for scholarship to all disabled students. Disability relief allowance was being given to persons having disabilities of 70 per cent and above. “For ensuring early childhood care and also life cycle-based education for the disabled, the department had established a special school for the disabled girls at Sundernagar and had been supporting the HP Council for Child Welfare in running two schools for disabled boys at Dhalli in Shimla and Darri near Dharamsala,” he stated.

Secretary, Social Justice and Empowerment Anuradha Thakur said the department was in the process of making an action plan for medical assessment of all identified disabled during this year by organising special camps. She said efforts were being made to encourage private sector to employ persons with disabilities after giving them the required skills and training.

Representatives of public sector undertakings and private sector enterprises and officers of various departments attended the meeting.