State trust to give aid to persons with disability

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 3

The State Administrative Council (SAC), which met here today under the chairmanship of Governor NN Vohra, approved the Jammu and Kashmir State Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 2016.

According to an official spokesperson, this legislation would provide much-awaited relief, respite and cheer in the lives of those grappling with such disabilities.

The state trust was designed and devised on the lines of the national trust, whose jurisdiction had not been extended to Jammu and Kashmir.

The trust would be governed by a board of trustees comprising a chairperson, who would be a person of eminence having expertise in the field of autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, health, child development or related fields. This board would include other official and non-official members.

The non-official members would be from the associations of trade, commerce and industry engaged in philanthropic activities, registered organisations, voluntary organisations and associations of persons with autism, cerebral palsy and mental retardation.

One representative of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, was incorporated in the trust to leverage the expertise and resources of this ministry.

The SAC directed that immediate steps be taken to accelerate the constitution of the board of trustees. The trust would be underpinned with a corpus of Rs 5 crore and would be eligible for grants from the government and private sectors by way of donations, benefactions or endowments.

The functional attributes of the trust would unfold through a number of interventions and schemes like early intervention and school readiness scheme, providing support to persons with such disabilities, extending support to registered organisations, promoting measures for care and protection of such persons, addressing health needs of the persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities, health insurance, developing modules for day care and respite care, group home for adults, guardianship for such persons and realisation of equal opportunities and protection of rights and full participation of persons with such disabilities.