Honouring ability: 27 specially abled individuals felicitated

As part of the ongoing Seva Pakhwada, the BJP, Special Olympics Bharat and Roshni Sansthan jointly honoured 27 specially abled and distinguished individuals for their outstanding achievements.

The event was attended by Dr Mallika Nadda, president of Special Olympics Bharat, and Dr Rajiv Bindal, BJP state president, who felicitated the achievers.

Addressing the gathering, Dr Nadda said under the vision of a capable and prosperous India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has transformed the nation’s perception of disability. “Today, differently abled individuals are seen as people endowed with divine abilities. Serving them is not just a duty — it is our shared responsibility,” she emphasised.

Highlighting the government’s initiatives, Dr Nadda said nearly 5 per cent of India’s population comprises people with disabilities — about 7 crore nationwide and 3.5 lakh in Himachal Pradesh. She urged citizens to dedicate at least one hour each day toward their welfare, rather than limiting efforts to symbolic observances.

She also appealed to the Mahila Morcha and Yuva Morcha members to spread awareness and work collectively to end exploitation of the differently abled.

Expressing gratitude to the Central Government, Dr Nadda lauded the enactment of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which expanded recognition to 21 categories of disabilities, including blindness, hearing impairment, autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and Parkinson’s disease.

Dr Nadda said the Modi government has enhanced reservation for persons with disabilities — from 3 per cent to 5 per cent in educational institutions and from 3 per cent to 4 per cent in government jobs. She also mentioned the provision for free education up to 18 years and pension benefits for individuals with 40 per cent or more disability.

The honourees included Deepak (Skiing Gold), Shiv and Shalini from Bilaspur; Anchal from Una; Girdhan (Skiing Gold) from Kullu; Abhishesh, Riya, Avinash, Bhavik, Aman Raghuvanshi and Praveen from Solan; Akriti, Arvind, Dimple, Rohit, Anu and Nikhil from Kangra and Harshita and Akshay Negi from Shimla.