Already trained 44,000 Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) by teaching various skills to garner jobs, the Union government has decided to train five lakh PwDs by the end of 2018.

The government has also set a target of skill training for 25 Lakh PwDs till 2022. Addressing a Press conference in Chandigarh on Thursday, Chief Commissioner for PwDs, Union ministry of social justice and empowerment, Dr Kamlesh Kumar Pandey said that under the Skill Development Mission, the department is in the process of providing Unique Disability Identification (UDID) to PwDs which will have universal recognition.

“The government is providing 46,000 pre-matric, 30,000 matric and 200 scholarships to research students going for studies abroad,” he said. Pandey also said that National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC) is providing loan at the rate of four per cent to start employment schemes of Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS), the National Trust are online available for Non-Government Organisations (NGOs).

It was informed that, till date the department has organised 40 mobile courts in 22 states and many are in pipeline. It has conducted 6,000 camps for distribution of aids and appliances and Rs 600 crore were spent on it. A total of nine lakh persons with disabilities have received aids and appliances in these camps, added the Chief Commissioner for PwDs.

Earlier, during the review of implementation of the Act in the state, the Chief Commissioner takes periodical review with the state government officials.

During the financial year 2016-17 and 2017-18, Chief Commissioner for PwDs taken review meeting in the states of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand and West Bengal.

To reach out to the PwDs and hear their grievances pertaining to availability of the benefits meant for them, the office of the Chief Commissioner for PwDs is organising ‘mobile courts’ in different parts of the country along with the Commissioners for PwDs of the concerned state government.

It was stated that, in the mobile courts, the complaints are registered, examined, heard in consultation with the officers of the concerned departments and necessary orders are issued by the chief commissioner in respect of matters pertaining to Central government departments and by the state commissioner.