The schemes that look to provide assistance to people with disabilities by the government are appreciable and well designed and formulated. The National Trust of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, has various schemes for the inclusion of “Divyangjan” into the mainstream.
The schemes include DISHA (Early Intervention and School Readiness Scheme) It provides an early intervention and school readiness program for children in the age group of 0-10 years with the four disabilities covered under the National Trust Act.
The Vikaas (Day Care) scheme aims to provide caregiving support to Person with Disability (PwD) during the time the PwD is in the Vikaas center. The Samarth (Respite Care) scheme provides respite home for Persons with Disabilities (PwD) from BPL & LIG families inclusive of basic medical care from professional doctors.
Similarly, the Nirmaya (Health Insurance Scheme) provides affordable Health Insurance of up to Rs. 1 lakh for OPD treatment including the medicines, pathology, diagnostic tests, etc. The Sahyogi (Caregiver training scheme) scheme aims at setting up Caregiver Cells (CGCs) to provide training and create a skilled workforce of caregivers to provide adequate and nurturing care for Person with Disabilities (PwD) and their families who require it.The government also has Gyan Prabha (Educational support), Sambhav (Aids and Assisted Devices), and Badhte Kadam (Awareness and Community Interaction). Similarly, the Centrally sponsored Samagra Shiksha – is an integrated scheme for School Education of the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education. It covers children from pre-primary to senior secondary level, including children with special needs. The scheme has provision for barrier free access within schools with ramps with handrails and differently abled friendly toilets.Despite all these schemes provided by the government, still a lot needs to be done. As according to 2011 census, the number of disabled individuals are about 2.68 crore, which corresponds to 2.21 percent of total population. To bring the best for the disabled individual, public private partnership should be promoted, to reach out to more population.All the above schemes are made with the finest precision but the implementation and loopholes require a check. The middleman needs to be uprooted and the facilities should be readily available to the actual candidate.A lot of the special needs’ population is unaware about the schemes. All the schemes should be advertised, so it creates awareness in the society and the required person reaps the benefits.
The schemes include DISHA (Early Intervention and School Readiness Scheme) It provides an early intervention and school readiness program for children in the age group of 0-10 years with the four disabilities covered under the National Trust Act.
The Vikaas (Day Care) scheme aims to provide caregiving support to Person with Disability (PwD) during the time the PwD is in the Vikaas center. The Samarth (Respite Care) scheme provides respite home for Persons with Disabilities (PwD) from BPL & LIG families inclusive of basic medical care from professional doctors.
Similarly, the Nirmaya (Health Insurance Scheme) provides affordable Health Insurance of up to Rs. 1 lakh for OPD treatment including the medicines, pathology, diagnostic tests, etc. The Sahyogi (Caregiver training scheme) scheme aims at setting up Caregiver Cells (CGCs) to provide training and create a skilled workforce of caregivers to provide adequate and nurturing care for Person with Disabilities (PwD) and their families who require it.The government also has Gyan Prabha (Educational support), Sambhav (Aids and Assisted Devices), and Badhte Kadam (Awareness and Community Interaction). Similarly, the Centrally sponsored Samagra Shiksha – is an integrated scheme for School Education of the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education. It covers children from pre-primary to senior secondary level, including children with special needs. The scheme has provision for barrier free access within schools with ramps with handrails and differently abled friendly toilets.Despite all these schemes provided by the government, still a lot needs to be done. As according to 2011 census, the number of disabled individuals are about 2.68 crore, which corresponds to 2.21 percent of total population. To bring the best for the disabled individual, public private partnership should be promoted, to reach out to more population.All the above schemes are made with the finest precision but the implementation and loopholes require a check. The middleman needs to be uprooted and the facilities should be readily available to the actual candidate.A lot of the special needs’ population is unaware about the schemes. All the schemes should be advertised, so it creates awareness in the society and the required person reaps the benefits.
The author is Paediatric Neurologist & Co-founder of Continua kids.
