22 students is a record,yes record. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/22-blind-students-join-Shimla-colleges/articleshow/48139062.cms
SHIMLA: Higher education for persons with disabilities is no more a far-off dream in Himachal Pradesh as a record 22 blind students, including nine girls, from rural areas will study in two prestigious residential colleges of Shimla this year. This is for the first time in the hill state that such a large number of visually-impaired students have joined colleges. Of them, 20 belonging to the economically weaker section of the society, will study on full scholarship by Umang Foundation, a public welfare trust. The expenditure on their fee, hostel and mess will be borne by the foundation till the government implements recent high court order of providing free education to disabled students. Ajai Srivastava, chairman of Umang Foundation, said that last year 10 blind students, including five girls and five boys were admitted at RKMV College and Government College, Sanjauli. In the current session, the foundation has helped four girls and eight boys join the same colleges. All of them have been allotted hostel accommodation by their respective colleges. A full-time woman attendant has also been provided in the hostel for these girls by the foundation. The admission to these students was ensured in government schools through a high court order on Srivastava's PIL and on June 4, this year, a landmark judgment in the same case made education up to university level free to students with disabilities. A bench of Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan directed the government to provide free education to the disabled up in all classes, including professional and vocational courses. The court also increased the rate of scholarships for the disabled. -- 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..
