The Hindu : Karnataka News : Inclusion of disabled as separate category in census mooted

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Friday, Sep 17, 2010
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Inclusion of disabled as separate category in census mooted

Staff Correspondent

Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities to meet Census officials

‘There is a need to set up a separate ministry for the welfare of persons with disabilities'
‘Amend law for allocation of funds from MP and MLA Local Area Development schemes'

Chitradurga: Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities K.V. Rajanna has said he would meet with Census Commission officials on September 24 on the inclusion of persons with disabilities as a separate category in the census.

Addressing presspersons here on Thursday, Mr. Rajanna said that such a provision was not made in the 2001 Census as a result of which the Government did not know the exact number of persons with disabilities in the State.

He felt that it was possible to set aside adequate funds and make comprehensive plans for the welfare of persons with disabilities only when the Government knew the exact number of disabled people.

WHO report

Mr. Rajanna said that according to a World Health Organisation report, around 5 per cent of the people of the State were disabled.

Stating that the Government had no clear guidelines on how to spend funds for the welfare of disabled persons, Mr. Rajanna said that he had prepared a set of guidelines in this regard. “The new guidelines will focus on four critical aspects for the comprehensive development of persons with disabilities. They are: social, educational, economical and medical. I am confident that if these guidelines are implemented strictly, we will see a dramatic change within four years.”

He said that there was a need to set up a separate ministry for the welfare of persons with disabilities. Mr. Rajanna said that the Government had made provisions to reserve funds for the welfare of disabled. However, he said that he would write to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the Parliament to amend the law to allocate funds for persons with disabilities in the MP and MLA Local Area Development schemes.

The commissioner said that he would hold discussions with the officials concerned to identify suitable jobs for persons with disabilities in government departments.

He said that the State had around 16,000 posts for the disabled and that it was his priority to ensure that they were filled quickly.

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