From the States

Government unresponsiveness to the needs of blind students

Though its students have the courage to stand against all odds in life, the blind schools of the State are facing shortage of textbooks from the very beginning.

The few books printed by the Braille Press are also awaiting government’s green signal for distribution among the students.

The Blind High School in Latakata at Guwahati, which is run partially by the department of Social Welfare under the Government of Asom, is facing a shortage of textbooks. The visually challenged students of this school are in urgent need of a special kind of embossed textbooks in Braille script.

“Provincialized in 2004, this school has shown excellent academic records in the Board examinations”, says Dipen Sarma, academic in-charge of the school.

In the last HSLC examination, five student of this school secured a first division including three students securing star marks. Cent per cent students of the school passed in the last HSLC exams.

The school managed to produce such satisfactory result in spite of the lack of sufficient textbooks and other Braille equipment like typeboard, slate, pen etc. On the other hand, the Braille press, run by Department of Social Welfare itself, had printed some books for class IX and X under the SEBA course. The books of eight subjects, printed in English and Asomiya languages, are still await Government directives regarding their distribution among blind children.

It may be mentioned here that the Braille press, established in 2000, started working this year only after the costly machines bought from Sweden - that were lying abandoned in the press for several years, were repaired.

The seven blind schools in the State are waiting to get the books from the press so that the hardship of the visually challenged students can be minimized.

Source: Goverment blind towards blind students’ needs. The Sentinel, Daily. Guwahati, 21 September 2006.

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Increase in cash incentives resented by the disabled

The physically challenged seem to be dissatisfied with the announcement to hike cash incentives from Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000 being paid to healthy people marrying disabled persons.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy asked the officials to prepare the proposals for increasing the cash incentives to the couples. But couples want support like loans for self-employment, jobs and house sites from the government. They urged the government to announce a comprehensive package for leading a secured life.

“If the government comes out with such proposals more normal persons will come forward to marry disabled persons ”, said B. Nagu, a physically challenged person.

Organizations involved in working with disabled people say that such policies of giving cash incentives are short-sighted and do not deal with the crux of the matter. “The government has to have a better understanding of the needs of the disabled,” said B. Udaya Rama Rao, president of Andhra Pradesh Sanghamitea Association for the Physically Handicapped.

Mr. Basawanappa, convener of Sweekar Home for Disabled, said that providing support should be the duty of the government. “Give them support to establish themselves and start new lives. Giving a paltry sum is like giving alms,” Basawanappa remarked.

However, the officials did not agree with the argument of the associations. Mr. Muhammad Yousuf, commissioner of Department of Disabled Welfare, believes that offering cash encourages normal persons to come forward and marry disabled people. The Commissioner said, “The disabled persons have three per cent reservation in all schemes, we help those couples in getting benefit from such schemes.”

Source: Physically challenged resent cash hike. Deccan Chronicle, Daily. Hyderabad, 22 September 2006.

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Physically handicapped to receive old age pension

A total of 3138 destitute physically handicapped and socially backward persons of district kargil have been brought under the ambit of old age pension schemes so far. This was informed in a review meeting of Social Welfare and ICDS department held at Kargil on 21 September under the chairmanship of the Social Welfare Minister, Haji Nisar Ali. Pensions to these persons is being distributed through a committee at block and village levels.

Speaking on the occasion the minister stressed on redoubling the efforts to streamline the functioning of the social welfare departments, so that the needy have an easy access to the available benefits. He also stressed for timely completion of various schemes. Deputy Commissioner, Kargil Kachoo Isandiyar Khan was also present in the meeting.

Source: Aid for physically handicapped. Kashmir Times, Daily, Jammu, 21 Sep2006.

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Blind students create uproar for their rights

Demanding removal of the principal, the blind students of Rajakiya Drishti Badhit Inter College staged a demonstration on September 20.

The irate students first sat on dharna inside their school and later blocked the busy Mohan Road for nearly an hour. The roadblock was lifted on the assurance of the authorities.

The blind students alleged that despite giving assurance, the principal of the college, DC Dubey, never made any effort to fulfill their demands. The students demanded an increase in scholarship from Rs 550 to 1,000. They said that Rs 550 was not sufficient to meet their monthly expenses. They also demanded renovation of the hostel, which was in a dilapidated state. On 19th, the students had locked all the officers of the school and had staged a demonstration for several hours.

Source: Blind students demand removal of principal. The Pioneer, Daily. Lucknow, 22 September 2006.

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Barrier free environment at DU

The Delhi University, it seems, is now looking to translate its intentions towards the differently-abled from paper to reality. A resource centre for visually impaired students is ready and several initiatives are also being started for making the university facilities more accessible for special students.

According to DU Vice-Chancellor, Deepak Pental, there is a plan to include elevators in some of the new buildings. “ Some university buildings are built in a way that any modification is difficult, but something has to be done to improve accessibility,” said Pental. He added that in the coming months, the heat would be on in the colleges to improve infrastructure.

“The Dean of Colleges will write to all the colleges, apprising them of the university policy. We are starting with the area around the Arts Facility as many students visit that area. This should serve as a model,” Pental said. At present, only a handful of colleges like Indraprastha, Miranda House, Khalsa and Sri Venkateswara are barrier-free for wheelchair users. While, colleges like Hindu, St. Stephens, Miranda, DU’s Department of Education and LSR have developed facilities for the visually impaired.

A phased programme for making the campus and its buildings barrier-free and accessible, beginning with the Central Reference Library, Jubilee Hall and Arts Faculty in the North Campus has already been launched.

The resource centre at the Tutorial Building of the Arts faculty will enable print Handicapped students to get textbooks converted in Braille, digital talking books and electronic texts as per their needs.

The resource centre has been created by DU in association with the National Institute for the Visually Challenged, Dehradun, and the Force Foundation of Netherlands.

“A high speed Braille embosser has been installed in the centre that is located in the Tutorial Building in the Arts Facility at north campus. If a student takes a textbook or an audio book, it can be converted into Braille very fast. Earlier, the process was carried out manually which was a very laborious process,” said Vinod Sena, a former DU teacher and founder chairman of the DU Committee for Persons with Disability.

Similarly Braille books can be converted into audio books. The University is concentrating on providing disabled friendly facilities and free access on the ground floor to start with. “This is merely the beginning. We already have ramps in the park in Arts Faculty, the Central Reference Library and Jubilee Hall. Arts Faculty will get a barrier-free toilet by next month,” said Rama Kant Agnihotri, chairman DU, Equal Opportunities Cell.

Source: Disability no more a disadvantage at DU. The Hindustan Times, Daily. New Delhi, 20 September 2006.

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Polio eradication losing battle in faith in UP

Polio eradication is fraught with challenges in Uttar Pradesh. Some cases of immunized children developing polio in the minority-dominated western UP have prompted the state government to declare the vaccine ineffective. This will be among the grievances heard by Health Minister, Anbumani Ramadoss, on September 21, when he meets health ministers and health secretaries from affected states like UP, Bihar, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand, MP, Haryana and Delhi.

“Apart from meeting health ministers and officials from the high-risk states, I will hold meetings with minority religious leaders in the coming week to request them to convince their community to get their children vaccinated,” says Ramadoss. “Everyone is concerned about the spurt in cases up to 297 in 2006 from 66 in 2005, and the programme needs urgent attention to make eradication possible.”

Western UP has reported 279 of the country’s 297 cases because of several reasons. Experts from the WHO and UNICEF are the government’s partners in the pulse-polio programme and are working closely with the ministry to examine the causes. They insist there is nothing wrong with the quality of vaccine to build a pool of protected children and if there is some slippage and a few children are missed for some reason, the virus attacks,” says Dr. Jay Wenger, project manager, National Polio Surveillance Project in India, WHO.

According to the WHO, one of the reasons for the vaccine not working is the abysmal environmental hygiene in Uttar Pradesh. Poor hygiene causes frequent bouts of diarrhea among children, making it difficult for them to retain the oral vaccine in their body long enough to develop immunity.

Complicating matters further is the varying quality of coverage in different district. “All districts have to implement the vacation programme in a consistent manner to keep the virus away,” says Dr Wenger. “Districts such as Meerut, Mazzafarnagar and Gaziabad had zero cases last year but have reported polio this year because the virus spread from the neighboring district.

One cause of erratic coverage is the Muslim community’s suspicion of the vaccine because of rumors that it is a form of birth control. “Most people from the Muslim community are very corporative, but even if a few, it provides enough leeway for the virus to attack,” says Micheal Galaway, chief programme communication, UNICEF. “The maximum children missed are because the houses are locked or the children are away from home”.

Virus spread unchecked
Polio s probably the most daunting public health challenge India has faced. Over the years, the campaign has seen in all-celebrity promotions, surveillance programmes, massive immunization drives. But all these seem to have had little effect.

What is polio?
Polio is viral paralytic disease. The virus enters the body through the mouth due top contaminated water or food. If infects the intestinal wall and then enters the bloodstream and the central nervous system. 

Source: UP losing battle against polio. The Hindustan Tines, Daily. New Delhi, 20 September 2006.

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