Sarita calls for relook at rehabilitation measures for disabled

Mysore, Mar 10 (UNI) The National Policy on Rehabilitation has recognised the rapid changes in the area and decided to bring amendments to the Disabled Persons Act, Ms Sarita Prasad, Secretary, Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry, informed today.

Inaugurating the two-day national meet of Rehabilitation Experts here, she said the draft of the proposed amendments to the Act were ready and the text had been placed on the website and suggestions invited.

She opined that the country's population had to be analysed for different kinds of disabilities and focus should be on the manpower needs to address the task of rehabilitation.

Stating that India had more than 20 million disabled people, but only 28,000 professionals to treat them, Ms Prasad said there was an urgent need to increase the number of professionals in the country.

New information and communication technologies needed to be introduced to attract more professionals in the area of rehabilitation, she added.

With the rise in the number of people with poor vision and multiple disabilities, the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) need to implement new strategies to cope with the situation, she said.

Nearly 150 professionals were attending the meet organised by the RCI and All India Institute of Speech and Hearing here.

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