Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh today announced to set up a hostel here for physically challenged students.
"The scholarships given to the physically challenged students by the Social Welfare department will be doubled soon. A hostel, with capacity of 500, for such students will also be set up here," he said at an awareness workshop inaugurated under Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan).
Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot presided over the function jointly organised by the Centre and the state government.
"Gehlot has given in-principle consent to the Raipur hostel," Singh said.
"The hostel will be sanctioned as soon as the proposal is sent to the Centre", Gehlot said.
The Chief Minister said identity cards will be issued to 6.25 lakh physically challenged persons of the state after conducting a survey in the next one year.
"The social welfare department had already issued 4.50 lakh identity cards to the physically challenged in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched 'Sugamya Bharat Abhiyaan' to make the physically challenged stand on their own feet," he said.
"The main aim is to make access easy for the physically challenged people to all public and state government buildings in the entire state by December," Singh said.
Instructing the district Collectors to prepare a master plan in this regard, to be sent to the Centre as soon as possible, he said the Collectors had been empowered to spend up to Rs 1 crore on facilities to be ensured for the disabled at state government buildings.
Chhattisgarh is the first state in the country to provide six per cent reservation to the physically challenged in government jobs and it is making efforts to establish Composite Regional Rehabilitation centres at all divisional headquarters, Singh said.
Later in the day, Gehlot inaugurated the first Composite Regional Centre of the state for persons with disabilities in Rajnandgaon district.
The centre will cater to education, housing, health, self-employment training, artificial limbs distribution for the physically challenged.
