March 31, 2021
Dear Friends, A meeting with the Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, Shri Thawar Chand Gehlot took place today. We had sought an appointment with the Minister to update ourselves of the Ministry’s stand with regard to the proposal for merger of National Institutes catering to the disabled, mooted by the NITI Aayog. We had already submitted a memorandum signed by over a hundred disability rights organisations and activities on February 9, 2021. Jt. Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Dr. Prabhodh Seth, who was present in the meeting, was categorical that there is no plan for merger. He, however, maintained that the department is for forming clusters of institutes that have the same functions/cater to the same category of disabilities. To a specific query, he also ruled out creation of new chapters/centres of the existing National Institutes but said that the number of Composite Regional Centre for Skill Development, Rehabilitation & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (CRCs) have been expanded in the past seven years. The appointment was given at short notice. Many of those contacted were either unavailable in Delhi or could not attend calls. The following representatives were present: Muralidharan (NPRD), Rakesh Kumar (NAB), Meenu Mani (YWC) and Rameshprabhu (PDUNIPPD). Gopalakrishnan (AIFD) could not reach on time, due to some reasons. This is for your information. Regards Muralidharan -- National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) 36, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla Lane New Delhi 110 001 Tel. 11-23387674; 9868768543 -- Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AccessIndia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/CAGWwaney%3DXH1TnRj8OmyCBTWDd3pb-vCxBbrXSL3HmyPUjkMMQ%40mail.gmail.com.
