Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today inaugurated the social security and empowerment of persons with disabilities department. For the moment, it would function from the premises of state institute of disability rehabilitation at the Capital Hospital. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150702/jsp/frontpage/story_29115.jsp#.VZTkobeJgmw Minister of women and child development Usha Devi is heading the department.
Till now, there was only a directorate working under the women and child welfare department for the persons with disabilities, but there was no full-fledged department and nothing whatsoever for the welfare of senior citizens and transgenders. Commissioner-cum-secretary of the department Saswat Mishra, who now also heads the new department, said creation of a separate department for these categories of citizens had become imperative. "This department has been created to reduce the burden on the women and child development department to look into the problems of these vulnerable categories. The directorate of disability welfare will be merged into this new department," said Mishra. Mishra said this new department would also deal with social security pensions of the state and central governments. Activists working for welfare of the differently-abled people have welcomed the move and expressed hope that the state co-ordination and executive committees mandated under the Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Act, 1995, would also be created shortly. "These two committees will ensure that various governmental schemes meant for the differently-abled people are properly implemented. The committees should be formed with complete transparency, otherwise the department would fail to meet its objectives," said disability activist Sruti Mohapatra. She said the new department should focus on education, employment, accessibility and research. "The department should have a senior administrative officer as the secretary, and he should dedicate himself completely to this work," said Mohapatra. Welcoming the move, senior citizens said that apart from dealing with matters pertaining to pensions under various government schemes for them, the department should also work for their social security and safety. "The government must ensure that the senior citizens get their due credit and their lives are safe and secure socially and economically," said Krupasindhu Sahu, vice-president of the All-India Senior Citizens' Federation. The transgenders also welcomed the move and said the government should adopt new policies for them and start welfare schemes. "We hope the government will look into our problems and take steps to help us lead a respectable life," said Meera, a transgender. -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in 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..
