The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Disabled persons' views sought on amendment

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 17, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Disabled persons' views sought on amendment

Staff Reporter

Brainstorming session to be held in Chennai on July 18

WEBSITE LAUNCH: Union Minister Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan launches the Tamil Nadu Handicapped Federation Charitable Trust website in Chennai on Sunday. — Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

CHENNAI: The Government is in the process of gathering suggestions and opinions from disabled persons and non-governmental organisations on the amendment of the Persons With Disabilities Act 1995, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan said on Sunday.

On July 18, a brainstorming session will be held in Chennai. Officials, city-based stakeholders and representatives from all southern States will attend. Local NGOs working with the disabled have been demanding measures to make public buildings more disabled-friendly. A representative of the NGOs handed over to the Minister a list of suggestions regarding the amendment. They included a re-look at making all public buildings accessible as well as increasing the quota for the disabled in government departments and educational institutions.

Technical training

The Minister, who inaugurated the fifth anniversary celebrations of the Tamil Nadu Handicapped Federation Charitable Trust (TNHFC), called for providing technical training to all disabled persons across the State. She said the training given to mentally challenged persons by an industrial house in Ambattur Industrial Estate could be emulated in all the districts. This would go a long way towards making the disabled self-sufficient and help them in finding jobs. While the Government would guide the disabled, more men could form self-help groups to help them become self-sufficient.

TNHFC president G. Chidambaranath said out of the 17 lakh disabled in the State, only 50,000 had jobs that provided a steady source of income. He appealed to the authorities to remove hurdles, especially in case of obtaining an identity card.

According to Sunitha from Vidyasagar, disabled women suffered both on account of their handicap as well as their gender. An estimated 40 per cent of the total number of the disabled population consisted of women. The problems faced by disabled women included sexual abuse to lack of mobility.

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