Niranjan Bhat, District Officer for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, said on Saturday that his department would conduct a survey of persons with disabilities in Udupi district from July, for the effective implementation of government programmes targeted at them.
He was speaking at a workshop organised by the Human Rights Protection Foundation and the Basrur Consumers’ Forum on the ways and means of ensuring better publicity to programmes meant for persons with disabilities, here.
Mr. Bhat said that the department currently had information of persons with disabilties in 64 gram panchayats. A survey would be conducted in the rest of the gram panchayats in the district with the help of junior health workers, anganwadi workers, volunteers of the Foundation and Red Cross Society.
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On the directions of the Deputy Commissioner, a pilot survey of persons with disabilties had been conducted in Kundapur taluk. This survey would be extended to the other taluks also. As per the 2011 census, there were 16,930 persons with disabilities in the district, Mr. Bhat said.
Ravindranath Shanbhag, President of HRPF, said that persons with disabilities , from poor and middle classes, were not getting information about government facilities available for their welfare.
Hence, the foundation will organise a conference of the parents of the persons with disabilities in the first week of September, which required proper figures about their number. It was necessary to provide physiotherapy facilities on a daily basis for children with disabilities. After the death of parents, it was likely that persons with disabilities would be thrown on the streets and it was necessary to start a rehabilitation centre for them in the district. Parents associations of persons with disabilities would be formed in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada districts, Dr. Shanbhag said.
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Shivaji, Education Coordination Officer, Department of Public Instruction, was present.