Andhra Pradesh - Guntur   

`Special' run for them verily

Staff Reporter

Physically challenged persons come together to take part in a run

MAKING A POINT: Physically challenged persons take part in a run in Guntur on Sunday.

GUNTUR: It was a rally of a different kind. Physically challenged persons from across the district assembled in front of the District Collector's office on Sunday to participate in a "special run".

Some came in wheelchairs, some others leaned on crutches while quite a few enthusiastically drove their tri-cycles. Passers by noticed their drive and joined the run which began at the Collectorate and went on till Nagarampalem junction in the city.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, there are 600 million disabled people worldwide. That is roughly about 10 per cent of the world population.

"Poverty and disability were closely intertwined as an estimated 80 per cent of the physically challenged people live in developing countries," said Handicapped Welfare Assistant Director, Suryanarayana.

Disability must be addressed on several levels--medical, rehabilitative, social and political.

International agencies like the WHO believe that the best way to do that was to work together on a shared agenda with all the agencies concerned.

Welfare activities

Disclosing the welfare activities undertaken in the district for the physically challenged, he said that pensions for 10,600 persons in the district were sanctioned since April 2006.

He said that 5,813 medical certificates were handed over to the beneficiaries to apply for various schemes under the Indiramma programme.

Guntur Revenue Divisional Officer Somepalli Venkatasubbaiah was present.

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