DEPWD organizes Regional Conference on ‘Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme’

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New Delhi : Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, implements a scheme, ‘Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS)’. A Regional Conference on the scheme was organized at Kolkata, West Bengal, on February 18, 2019.

The conference was attended by Programme Implementing Agencies (PIAs) from the Eastern and North-Eastern Regions of the country. This is the third of a series of Regional Conferences held across the country and the exercise will culminate in a National Conferenceto be held on March 1, 2019, in New Delhi.

Programme Implementing Agencies mostly NGOs, State Government representatives from the 13 States of Eastern and North-Eastern region namely West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim & Tripura were present at the conference. Under DDRS, Financial assistance is provided to about 600 NGOs every year. About 26% of total NGOs under DDRS and 46% of Special School for Children with Intellectual Disabilities are from Eastern and North-Eastern States.

DDRS is a Central Sector Scheme of Government of India implemented since 1999 for providing financial assistance to NGOs working for education and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. This scheme was revised in 2018 and the revision is effective from April 1, 2018. This Regional Conference was organized in order to disseminate the provisions of the revised scheme and to bring the department closer to the implementing agencies and other stakeholders.

During the day long deliberation on DDRS scheme, the representatives of various agencies shared their views on how the scheme can be implemented better. The conference was an effective step towards good governance where the functionaries of the Central Government Ministries are reaching various parts of the country for creating awareness among the public.

Chief Guest of the conference Dr Prabodh Seth, Joint Secretary, DEPwD, M/o SJ&E, described NGOs of DDRS as partners in the mission of empowerment of persons with disabilities and highlighted the need for creation of inclusive society that accepts and respects persons with disabilities without discrimination. He also made a presentation highlighting the provisions of new scheme such as increase in the cost norms by 2.5 times, streamlining the procedure of application, increase the funding of projects from 75% to 90% of their total cost, extending special benefits to special areas such as Left Wing Extremism, according to a PIB release.

The conference was also addressed by Dr Abhishek Biswas, Director, National Institute of Locomotor Disabilities (NILD).