| Though the enactment of the Persons
with Disabilities Act 1995, made the government responsible for providing
comprehensive rehabilitation services to disabled persons, the record
of coverage has been pathetic with only about 5 per cent of these persons
having access to any kind of help.
For persons with disabilities ling in the rural areas, any kind of physical
handicap is seen as a curse, an affliction to be borne with not even elementary
services to improve their quality of life.
In a bid to reach out to the disabled in the small towns and villages,
the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has identified 112 districts
where comprehensive rehabilitation services will be made available.
So far the Ministry's strategy was no hold 'health camps' in rural areas
for those with disabilities. The Rs 20 -odd lakhs that were spent on each
of these camps would result in the distribution of calipers or crutches,
or glasses, but it was a one-time affair. There was no follow up and the
result was disabled children continued to use the same calipers, even
when they had outgrowth them.
The new plan would be to locate the centers for rehabilitation services
in existing structures, like a school, or a college or a guest house,
and to involve all the trained manpower available in the district. "Funding
for the Ministry's existing budget, so I am not going to be spending money
on putting up buildings, The scheme will utilize the existing infrastructure,"
said Minister for Social justice and Empowerment, Maneka Gandhi.
There district centers would be manned by trained persons, usually the
local doctor or primary health care personnel who have been trained to
provide rehabilitation services, Each of the disability centers would
be accessible to people living to six contiguous districts.
The scheme would coordinate the services that can be provided by doctors,
non-governmental organizations, local functionaries of the department
of Women and Child Health and Family Welfare and Panchayat representatives
in order to make it as cost-effective as possible.
For mild disabilities, the treatment could be provided at the local center
itself, while more complicated or advanced cases would be referred to
the nearest place where such facilities are available.
"The idea is to have a permanent place where people with disabilities
can get some help. Right now they have nothing", said Gandhi.
The rehabilitation services would cover ailments affecting hearing, sight
and limbs. ALIMCO, the state-owned artificial limb manufacturing unit
has shed its lethargy, and has stepped up its capacity from 11 per cent
to 93 per cent. Four more branches of ALIMCO are also on the anvil.
Right now the efforts of the Ministry are concentrated on getting these
112 centers running. "Depending on their success, we can think of
expanding the network," say Gandhi.
"What is more important is that these centers should run on their
own and reach out to people who do not have access to any rehabilitation
services whatsoever," she adds.
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