The State Government will strictly implement the provisions of Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, that enable free and compulsory education to specially challenged children aged between six years and 18 years.
Minister of State for Women and Child Welfare Umashree announced this on Wednesday at a programme organised by her Department to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
“So far, all children in the age group of six to 14 years have been getting free and compulsory education under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Now, under RTE, children with disabilities aged between six years and 18 years will get free and compulsory education," she said.
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Sources said although the Persons with Disabilities Act already has this provision not many were aware about it. Following the Minister’s announcement, the department will now strictly implement the existing provision.
The Minister, who spoke about the various welfare programmes initiated by the Government for the specially challenged, called upon organisations who use the word “disabled” in their names to drop the word and instead use “specially challenged” or “differently abled”.
“Persons with disabilities are differently abled physically. They are not mentally sick. There are some who are physically fine but mentally sick and it is this category of people who are a threat to our society,” she said in an indirect reference to the recent spate of sexual child molestation cases.
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Ms. Umashree also announced that the department will hold district level sports competition for physically-challenged children. “Those selected at the district level will participate in State-level competitions and the finalists will be awarded appropriately,” she said.
Ms. Umashree along with R. Roshan Baig, Minister for Infrastructure, Information, Public Relations and Haj, presented awards to organisations and teachers involved in the welfare of the differently abled.
Wheel chairs, tricycles, hearing aids and white canes were also distributed on the occasion.
Differently abled achievers - Ashwin Karthik, an engineering graduate working with a noted software firm, and Ghanashyam, a film-maker who produced a Kannada documentary “Ingale marga” were honoured on the occasion.