Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced seven initiatives for the disabled under the name ‘Indradhanus’. He said that free travel will be available in RTC buses. At least one disabled representative will be nominated in local bodies, corporations, and public sector enterprises. If no disabled candidate wins an election, the Chief Minister will assign the post as an ex-officio member. He said that all this is intended to enable the disabled to participate in politics and public service.
Naidu also announced the revival of a special concessional loan scheme for the disabled, estimated at Rs. 19 crore. Sports programs and talent development schemes will be provided through SHAP. In multi-storey government projects, ground-floor housing will be kept exclusively for the disabled. The government would establish a special degree college in Bapatla for hearing-impaired students. Social security pensions will be distributed to disabled students in Gurukul schools, colleges, and hostels. ‘Divyang Bhavans’ will be built in all districts and Amaravati. The Chief Minister underlined that Amaravati would become a disabled-friendly city.
Naidu was the chief guest at the International Day of Disabled Persons held in Vijayawada. Scholarships were distributed to disabled students. A retrofitted motor vehicle was given to Veeranki Sirisha. A laptop and a touch phone were distributed to Manoj and Glory, respectively.
The Chief Minister also announced the setting up of a National Center for Disability Sports in 23 acres at Visakhapatnam, a facility that will facilitate sports programs for disabled people. Motor vehicles that are retrofitted will be distributed and 1,800 vehicles are targeted this year. Tricycles, hearing aids, and wheel chairs would be provided to 14,000 people. Naidu added that the deadline for filling backlog posts relating to the disabled has been extended. As part of filling the backlog posts, 2,260 special teacher posts have been filled through the Mega DSC.
Long-time support to the disabled highlighted Chandrababu Naidu. Initially, the disability pension was introduced by NTR. From Rs. 200 in installments to 6,000 rupees, the increase of the pension took place under Naidu's regime. Now, 7.68-lakh disabled people receive pensions at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore to the government.
The Chief Minister faulted the previous YSRCP government for not implementing programmes meant for the disabled. He said International Day of Disabled Persons was not celebrated nor any funds were allocated for it. In fact, he said YSRCP leaders created divisions that harmed the disabled community.
Event Participants The program was attended by Minister Dola Sribala Veeranjaneyaswamy, MLAs Bonda Umamaheswara Rao, Gadde Rammohan Rao, MS Raju, MLC Thippeswamy, Chairman of the Development and Welfare Corporation of the Disabled Narayana Swamy, and TDP State President of the Differently-abled Wing Koteswara Rao.
