Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday said special efforts have been made by the state government for social, educational and economic upliftment of disabled persons in four year rule.

He made these remarks during the launching of national health fest for Divyangjan- We Care organized by Special Olympics Bharat under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav at BBMB Colony Sundernagar in Mandi district during which he awarded the winners of the Special Olympics and announced a grant of Rs 25 lakh to the Special Olympic Association.

Thakur said the state government is committed for the all round development of specially-abled and has implemented the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 with the objective of benefitting more and more persons with disabilities and ensuring their full participation in the society.

In order to keep persons with disabilities physically and mentally healthy, their participation in sports was being encouraged. In Himachal Pradesh, Rs 75,000 was being given to the gold medalist of Special Olympic Games, Rs 50,000 to the silver medalist, Rs 20,000 to the bronze medalist and Rs 10,000 to other participants, the CM said.

Describing education as the core of all-round development of the individual, the Chief Minister said that to encourage Specially-abled children towards education, tuition fees were not being charged from them from class First upto the university level including Industrial Training Institutes and Polytechnical institutes and 5 per cent reservation was also being provided to them in higher educational institutions. A scholarship of Rs 625 to Rs 5,000 per month was being given to specially-abled students without any income criteria from class First to university level.

These efforts have made specially-abled people more skilled and self-reliant in every field and they have brought laurels to the country and the state.

To educate the deaf-dumb and visually impaired children, free education and residential facilities were being provided to them through special educational institutes in Sundernagar of Mandi and Dhalli of Shimla District up to class 12th by the state government. Digital and valid Unique numbers were being provided to them for their inclusion in various government schemes, he added.

The Chief Minister stated that the countrywide Sugamya Bharat campaign has been started for the disabled persons to use public and private transport facilities with dignity and freedom, under which hundreds of buildings, railway stations, airports have been made accessible to the specially-abled in the country.

Many commendable achievements have been made by the specially-abled in various fields. Talented specially-abled sportspersons from Himachal made the state proud by winning 12 medals in the Special Olympic Games held in Abu Dhabi in the year 2019, he further stated.

The Chief Minister awarded winners of the World, Winter and Summer Games in Special Olympics India of Sahyog Special School, Sundernagar including two time bronze medalist in Snow Gold Jagdish, two time silver medalist Shubham Singh in Alpine skiing, Chirag Thakur a silver medalist in basketball, Rahul for finishing fifth in football and Parth Malhotra for participating in snow shoeing.