AALO, Nov 24: “People should rise above social stigma, taboos and prejudice to work in a cohesive manner with the stakeholders to give the disabled people their constitutional rights and link them with the national mainstream,” said the union ministry of social justice & empowerment’s (MSJE) Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPD) Secretary Shakuntala D Gamlin in her address at the ‘Northeast regional parents meet’ which concluded at Gumin here in West Siang district on Saturday.
Organized by the Arunachal Pradesh Parents’ Association for Disabled (APPAD) in collaboration with the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities
(NIEPID) and Parivaar, the two-day meet was attended by around 700 parents from across the district.
The DEPD secretary said the state needs a composite regional institute which would help give training to develop appropriate models of care, habitation and consultancy services.
“We have been able to produce gold medallists and world cup winning teams in sports by nurturing and giving right direction to the disabled people,” she said.
State Tourism Minister Jarkar Gamlin, who also attended the meet, exhorted the stakeholders involved in the campaign to intensify the movement, and urged the parents of the disabled to reap the benefits of the two-day camp.
Responding to a memorandum submitted by APPAD general secretary Simal Raje, the minister assured to take up all issues that need the state government’s intervention. He also distributed smart canes and smart mobiles to the blind, hearing aids and awareness kits to anganwadi sevikas, and TLM kits to children with intellectual disability.
MSJE Joint Secretary Dolly Chakravarty spoke on social inclusion and multiple approaches and activities to enhance the quality of life of persons with intellectual disability.
“We need to make a spirited effort to make it a people’s movement in this region, so that deprived sections too are taken along with us,” she said.
Informing that two percent of Arunachal’s population are comprised of disabled people, as per the 2011 census, state SJETA Commissioner Gamli Padu said fund for pensions “are kept unspent in spite of the government’s directive,” and asked the ICDS department to reach out to the people on such issues through the Sarkar Aapke Dwar programme.
Deputy Commissioner Swetika Sachan, NIEPID DDA Maj BV Ram Kumar, Parivaar NCPO president Cdr Shrirang Bijur, and APPAD organizing chairman Nyajum Yinyo also spoke. (DIPRO)
