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Saturday 23 November 2013

Bid to empower disabled through employment : LUCKNOW

People with disability in the state are deprived of the benefits given through the National Disability Finance Development Corporation due to lack of initiative on the part of government agencies. This came to the fore at an awareness programme for promotion of livelihood opportunities for persons with disabilities held here on Wednesday. The programme was organized by Leonard Cheshire Disability Trust.

Speaking on the occasion, national placement coordinator Shijo Joseph said NDFDC was an effective platform to help persons with disability lead a self-reliant life. But many states including Uttar Pradesh were not able to exploit the opportunity well. He stressed the need to make them employable and confident to face the world and get over the feeling of dependence on family members.

NDFDC provides a loan of up to Rs 5 lakh to people with disability through government agencies and banks to start an occupation. In Uttar Pradesh, instead of disabled welfare department, which is officially responsible for all affairs related to the disabled, UP Finance Corporation is the lead agency. Yet, few are aware of the agency as different stake holders shirk from their bit of responsibility. While the disabled welfare department puts the blame on UP Finance Corporation, the corporation passes the buck on banks.

As a result of confusion, the grant that comes to help people with disability has lapsed. In the 2012-13 financial year for instance, Rs 2,260.58 lakh was disbursed of which Rs 2,219.31 could be spent. Smaller states are doing much better. Tamil Nadu, which is half the size of UP, drew double the money. Also, with lesser grant, some states are able to do much better than UP. Andhra Pradesh is a case in point. With a sanctioned amount of Rs 1,423.27 lakh, Andhra Pradesh has more than 4,600 beneficiaries.

Amitabh Mehrotra, founder and chairperson of SPARC-India, who has been working to provide livelihood to persons with disability shared how employment can empower them.
 
 
 
Source : TOI , 21st Nov 2013 

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