High priority to welfare of differently-abled: Rajaiah

Separate hostels established: Assembly Speaker

Warangal: The government has been according priority to welfare of differently-abled persons, said Deputy Chief Minister Dr T Rajaiah and Assembly Speaker S Madhusudhana Chary here on Wednesday. They called upon the physically challenged to be confident and achieve self-reliance for which the government would extend all possible support. The first step towards it was enhancing their pension amount.

Speaking at a programme organised in Hanamkonda on the ‘World Disabled Day’ Dr Rajaiah said 45,125 physically challenged persons were identified in the district for receiving pension. If there were any beneficiaries left out, they would also be included in the list.“There might be a minor delay but all eligible persons would be given pensions,” he asserted. “If enough care is taken during pregnancy, disability can be avoided,” he said.

The Speaker said the government had established separate hostels for differently-abled students and was providing free education from first standard to degree, besides financial assistance to start business. With the support of Telangana Physically Challenged Cooperative Society, artificial limbs, hearing aids, tri-cycles, Braille slates, audio equipment and others were being provided to support to the differently-abled persons.

He alleged that the previous governments had neglected the disabled. The current regime has been giving priority to them. Joint Collector Pausumi Basu advised the differently-abled persons to maintain health and take interest in education. MLA D Vinay Bhaskar wanted appointment of speech therapy teachers to assist the deaf and dumb and to set up a special wing for them at the physically challenged support centres. Child Welfare committee chairman L Anitha Reddy said the physically challended need encouragement and not sympathy.