The Hindu : Karnataka News : Earmark 3 p.c. funds for people with disabilities or face action: official

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Saturday, May 28, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Earmark 3 p.c. funds for people with disabilities or face action: official

Special Correspondent

Each district to get up to 5 cr. if fund is set aside
Concern over poor coverage of beneficiaries

BANGALORE: Taking exception to the fact that local bodies right from town panchayats to corporations and government departments were yet to follow the mandatory norm of earmarking 3 per cent of their budget for the welfare of people with disabilities, the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities has decided to book criminal cases against heads of these bodies if they failed to earmark such funds.

Announcing this at a press conference here on Friday, State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities K.V. Rajanna said: “We will book criminal cases against chief executive officers of zilla panchayats at the district-level if they have cleared action plans of any particular department that have not earmarked three per cent funds for the welfare of people with disabilities.”

“Planning officers and project officers of the zilla panchayats, and officials at the taluk level will be held responsible in case of non-compliance with the law,” he said.

Every district was estimated to get anywhere from Rs. 2 crore to Rs. 5 crore (depending upon the size of its action plan) for the welfare of people with disabilities if they adhered to the norm of providing three per cent of funds from their action plan, he said.

Pointing out that the State had 9.44 lakh people with disabilities as per the figures of 2001 census, he expressed concern that only about 20 per cent of them had been covered by welfare measures. It should be possible to cover 85 per cent to 90 per cent of them under the welfare schemes and rehabilitation measures in the next five years if the 3 per cent norm is adhered to, he said. Meanwhile, the Union Government had issued a notification asking all MPs to provide Rs. 10 lakh a year from their local area development fund for the welfare of people with disabilities, he said.

He had now written letters to the Chief Minister and Speaker to ask legislators to contribute Rs. 5 lakh from their local area development fund for this.

He said that the Government had simplified procedures for certifying physical disability through a notification on February 18, 2011 which empowers doctors to provide such a certificate in cases where disability is clearly visible.

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