From the States

Chennai

New Delhi

Providing support to the Physically Disabled

Nimitha (17) a former student of the Madhuram Narayana Centere, was all smiles as K.R. Shyam, physiotherapist from the Freedom trust, bent her legs, stretched her hands and assessed her at the camp for physically disabled children held at the centre, Jayavarshini was among the 50 children who participated in the assessment for disability.

S. Sunder, managing Trustee of the Freedom Trust, said he had been associated with the Madhuram Narayanan Centre for the last 10 years, after a music performance he gave there. A specialist in physiatrist, he chose to apply it for treatment of special children using physical methods, avoiding drugs or surgery.

"We also study how to prescribe a caliper or artificial limb to suit the needs of each child," he said, pointing out that the Trust also worked in the field of pain relief. Freedom is an acronym for Foundation for the Rehabilitation, Empowerment and Education of the Disabled of Madras.

The Trust also provides orthotic appliances that are fixed to the body, after a two-stage process of assessment and prescription. In one of the largest camps conducted in Madurai, 215 patients were screened and 165 appliances were disputed. Prosthetics are artificial limbs and orthotics includes calipers, splints and mobility aids.

At the Madhuram Narayanan Centre, Physiotherapy training is part of the curriculum, said R. Balamurga, physiotherapist.

If children do not have neck control by three months, do not sit by six or eight months or do not crawl/ stand 10 months or walk by the 12th month, the problem needs to be looked into. It could be because of brain damage during birth of before birth.

With cerebral palsy being the main reason for dysfunction of limbs or motor activities, therapeutic treatment is part of early intervention, he says. The assessment and provision of orthotic and prosthetic devices for the patients will be free of cost.

Source: Reaching out to the physically challenged. The Hindu, Chennai, 12 July 2006.

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Ministry fails to abide by its own Laws

The Centre directed its departments to ensure that vacancies earmarked for disabled youth are filled in right earnest.

The Department of Personnel and Training (Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions), which has directed all the government departments to prepare the reservation roster registers as provide by it since the enforcement of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1996, stipulating reservation for disabled persons in the posts for three categories of disabilities- blindness hearing impaired and locomotor disability.

An official memorandum dated April 26 has already been circulated by the department in this regard. The circular says, "If some or all the vacancies so earmarked had not been filled by reservation and were filed by able-bodied persons either for the reasons that points of reservations had not been earmarked properly at the appropriate time or persons with disabilities did not become available, such unutilized reservation should be carried forward to the first recruitment year occurring after issue of this memorandum and be filled as such.

If it is not possible to fill up such reserved vacancies during the said recruitment year, reservation would be carried forward for further two years."

However, the department itself has been caught on the wrong side. It has been issuing memorandums but has discriminated against employment of disabled candidates in civil service in the past.

Source: 'Disabled vacancies should be filled up'. Asian Age, New Delhi, 17 July 2006.

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