The Hindu : Rs. 4.50 cr. for welfare of the disabled

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 04, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Rs. 4.50 cr. for welfare of the disabled

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MARCH 3. The Chief Secretary to the Government, K.K. Mishra, said here on Wednesday that based on a sample survey that found six per cent disabled persons among the State's population, the State Government had allotted a Rs. 4.50-crore annual budget for their welfare.

"Karnataka is among the few States that had a Commissioner for People with Disability, appointed under a Central legislation.

In all current and future policy-making, importance will be given to the special needs of the disabled," Mr. Mishra said.

The Chief Secretary was speaking at the inauguration of a two-day consultation with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and representatives of the Governments of the four southern States on the new United Nations Convention on Disability.

The consultation was organised by the Commissioner for Disabilities and the British Council.

The British Council Director for South India, Eunice Crow, said last year, the British Council sponsored a consultation on draft proposals for the U.N. Convention on Disability, with the participation of 20 countries, she said.

The representative for Karnataka said the State Government had been regularly consulting architects and town planners to ensure that all public buildings were accessible to the disabled. Of the existing 1,053 public buildings in the State, 957 had been made disabled-friendly, he said.

The Principal Secretary to the Government, D. Thangaraj, who welcomed the participants, said five per cent of the accommodation created by the Karnataka Housing Board and two per cent of all Bangalore Development Authority sites were now reserved for the disabled.

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