The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : ‘Only 10 p.c. of all disabled have jobs'

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Monday, Jun 28, 2010
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

‘Only 10 p.c. of all disabled have jobs'

Staff Reporter

Need for access to education, training and employment more than compassion: MLA Christine Lazarus

— Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

Lending support:Secunderabad legislator Jayasudha with differently-abled students during Hellen Keller's 130th birthday celebrations on Sunday.

HYDERABAD: A resolution to implement three per cent reservation in jobs for the disabled in Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) will be moved at its board meeting on June 28, assured it's Chairman Swaranjit Sen on Sunday.

He was participating in the presentation ceremony of Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan Awards where several speakers had highlighted the problems associated with the disabled getting employment due for them in various sectors including the government.

No jobs

Despite 70 million persons with disabilities in the country, only 10 per cent of them have jobs, pointed out MLA Christine Lazarus.

“They do not need compassion but access to education, training and employment… If we have their full inclusion, we can have their full participation in everyday life.”

Eligibility

The eligibility criterion of the government for a person to qualify as disabled came in for criticism from Krupakar, parent of a deaf child.

The government has introduced a G.O. where anyone with more than 40 per cent disability is eligible for reservation.

But deafness up to 60 per cent can be corrected with the help of hearing aids. Severe deafness (more than 60 per cent) cannot be corrected, he said.

Opportunities affected

“They (those with milder disability) are knocking off the opportunities of the more severely affected,” he said urging authorities to review the eligibility criteria.

Lesser number of ENT hospitals compared to eye speciality hospitals, complications involved in setting up schools for the disabled and early identification of disability symptoms was the other issues raised in the programme. “It is unfortunate that parents neglect special children.

They should take them to an ENT specialist at an early age. Early identification is the best way to plan a child's future,” said the principal of a special school.

Taking a cue, MLC Rajalaxmi suggested Anganwadi teachers be trained to identify children with deaf and dumb symptoms at an early age.

More audiologists

“It is also necessary to train more audiologists and speech therapists to work at village-level.” She conceded there were many difficulties associated with setting up schools for the deaf and dumb.

The Chairman of Helen Keller's Institute of Research and Rehabilitation for the Disabled, Omar Khan, narrated the success stories of some of his students while MLA Jayasudha read out verses from Helen Keller's poem ‘Reach for the sky'.

Awards

The Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan Awards were presented by Speaker of Legislative Council A. Chakrapani. K. Raghunanda Reddy of Sweekaar Rehabilitation Institute for the Handicapped and BM Arvind of Devnar School for Blind were declared student toppers.

Best Teacher

Best teacher awards were given away to Srinivas Reddy and P. Padma (Devnar School for Blind), S. Mamtha and Mercy Rani (Sweekaar Rehabilitation Institute for the Handicapped), C. Satyavathi Devi and J. Anjaiah (Helen Keller Institute), David Ignatius (Boystown), KL Shoba Rani (New Good Shepherd School for Deaf), B. Sitarama Rao and V. Neeraja Devi (Andhra Mahila Sabha), Neil Fredrick (National Institute for Hearing Handicapped) and Divya (Ashray Akruti).

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