Latest news with #PwDs
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Tamil Nadu Governor emphasises urgent need to address intellectual disabilities
Intellectual disabilities are increasingly becoming a key issue in the country and must be addressed as a top priority, Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi said. He noted that a solution has to be found for intellectual disability. Speaking at the South Zone Regional Abilympics and Conference 2025, said: 'Developing technology which will benefit people with disabilities (PwDs) in the long run is the need of the hour. I am hopeful that institutes like IITM will come up with the right R&D for the PwD sector.' Organised by the National Abilympic Association of India (NAAI) in collaboration with Sarthak Educational Trust, and supported by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Government of India, TPCDT, and IndusInd Bank, the event saw over 100 PwDs from across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Puducherry. Jitender Aggarwal, Secretary-General of NAAI and Founder & CEO of Sarthak Educational Trust highlighted that they have help over 1 lakh people with disabilities to secure jobs. also pointed out that Sarthak Educational Trust is planning to launch Sarthak Global University, which is aimed to fill in the gaps in Early Intervention and therapy for infants and children, shortage of rehabilitation professionals and more. The plan is to start with 5 schools in 20 departments providing over 200 courses which is aimed to train 10,000 professionals specializing in disability rehab, inclusive education, assistive technology and more. This will enable 100,000 PwD's through education, vocational training, and skill development programs. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras said, ' We have a centre developed for mobility in IITM. As a country we have the human capital to develop these technological needs which can benefit PwD's in their daily life. We are looking forward to a long technical collaboration with Sarthak to provide mobility and accessibility solutions for PwD's.'
The Hindu
a day ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Disability-related questions in Census must be framed differently, say rights groups
Past population counts, including the last Census in 2011, have historically undercounted people with disabilities, according to rights activists and experts who have written to the Office of the Registrar General of India, seeking a 'shift in approach' to framing disability-related questions in the upcoming Census exercise. In the past, 'simplistic' questions with negative connotations, posed by enumerators with minimal training, wthout considering accessibility concerns, have all contributed to low disclosure, they said, claiming that the 2011 Census had counted 'only 2.21%' of the country's disabled population per some estimates. They sought time to make suggestions for better methodologies for the upcoming Census. After delaying the 2021 Census, the Union government on June 16 notified dates for the next Census, to be completed by March 2027. 'Most undercounted' The 2011 Census recorded about 2.68 crore people with disabilities (PwD) across the country. In their letter to the ORGI and the Secretaries of the Home and Statistics Ministries, disability rights organisation Nipman Foundation and policy think tank The Quantum Hub noted that extrapolations from the World Health Organisation's global estimates suggested that India had at least 200 million, or 20 crore, people with disabilities – almost ten times what was counted in the Census in 2011. In the letter, Nipman Foundation founder Nipun Malhotra said that PwDs are amongst the 'most undercounted' populations in the country. He argued that the 2011 Census had under-reported the number of PwDs in the country because of several factors, including 'simplistic' questions being framed with 'negative connotations' given the existing social stigma. Mr. Malhotra said that questions that asked whether one was mentally or physically disabled, only providing space for a 'yes/no' answer, resulted in low disclosure. 'Moreover, enumerators also received minimal training in disability awareness, contributing further to under-reporting,' he said in the letter. 'Improve accessibility, question formats' He added that the Census process must also be made accessible through the use of Indian Sign Language, Braille, and screen-reader friendly documents, further urging authorities to employ interpreters to ensure meaningful participation of disabled people. The rights group argued that the Washington Group on Disability Statistics, under the UN Statistical Commission, 'offers a more functional approach'. This involves a six-question set, which Mr. Malhotra said was 'most suitable' for national Censuses. For instance, one questions is, 'Do you have difficulty seeing, even if wearing glasses?', and provides a graded response scale, from 'No difficulty at all' to 'Cannot do it at all'. The Nipman Foundation further posited that this was 'much-improved methodology compared to the present approach'. 'These changes are critical to ensuring more accurate and inclusive data collection,' it said in the letter.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Ludhiana: 1.7L voters to lock nominees' fate today
As many as 1.74 lakh voters in Ludhiana West will exercise their right to franchise on Thursday in the by-election which has 14 candidates in fray. The bypoll comes after 20 days of campaigning and will be followed by the counting of votes on June 23. The election is expected to witness a tight four-cornered contest among the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). AAP has nominated Sanjeev Arora, a sitting Rajya Sabha MP and prominent industrialist, whose declared assets, including those of his spouse, amount to ₹301 crore. This makes him the richest candidate in the recent Punjab elections. Arora's candidature has triggered criticism from Opposition leaders who allege that he was made to contest merely to secure a Rajya Sabha seat for Arvind Kejriwal. The Congress has placed its hopes on Bharat Bhushan Ashu, a seasoned politician, former cabinet minister and two-time MLA. The BJP has fielded Jiwan Gupta, a local leader and the party's general secretary, who is contesting his first election. Similarly, the SAD has nominated advocate Parupkar Singh Ghumman, who is known for offering free legal aid to the poor. Both Gupta and Ghumman are debutants in the electoral arena. The by-election was necessitated due to the unfortunate death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Gogi in an accidental firing incident in January. Since the formation of the Ludhiana West seat in 1977, the constituency has witnessed 10 elections. The Congress has won six of these, SAD two, while AAP and the former Janata Party have secured victory once each. In 2022, AAP's Gogi defeated Congress' Ashu, marking AAP's first win from this constituency. The district administration has made extensive preparations to ensure a smooth polling process. District electoral officer and deputy commissioner Himanshu Jain has confirmed that all 194 polling stations will be equipped with masks, sanitizers, tents, fans, drinking water, wheelchairs and ramps to facilitate voters. Strict Covid-19 safety measures will be in place and polling will be closely monitored through webcasting to maintain transparency. In an innovative move, the Election Commission of India has introduced a mobile phone deposit facility at every polling booth this time. Special arrangements have also been made to encourage inclusive voting. A women-staffed polling station has been set up at Lodhi Club in Rajguru Nagar. Persons with disabilities (PwDs) will manage a polling station at BVM School in Kitchlu Nagar, while a green polling station has been established inside the PAU campus at the Government Senior Secondary School. Ten model polling booths have also been created to showcase ideal voting conditions. Additionally, the 'Vote from Home' initiative has been launched for senior citizens and voters with disabilities. On the eve of the election, 194 polling teams departed from Khalsa College for Women in GPS-enabled vehicles to reach their designated locations. Security arrangements have also been tightened in the constituency. Additional deputy commissioner of police (operations) Ramandeep Singh Bhullar stated that 60 checkpoints have been established and 19 patrol teams are actively monitoring the area. There are also 21 flying squads and nine strategic surveillance teams in place. More than 1,000 police personnel will be deployed on election day to ensure law and order. Historically, Ludhiana West has recorded strong voter turnouts. Since 1977, voter participation has consistently stayed above 55%. In 2012, 2017 and 2022, the voter turnout crossed the 60% mark, reaching close to 70% in 2012 and 2017. The political stakes are high, particularly for AAP, which is looking to recover from its recent defeat in the Delhi assembly elections, where even party leader Arvind Kejriwal lost his seat. Arora, contesting his first assembly election after being nominated to the Rajya Sabha, is seen as a key figure in AAP's plan to regain ground. Congress' Bharat Bhushan Ashu is aiming for a comeback after losing in 2022 and spending over a year in jail following a corruption case. Though the high court quashed the charges against him, internal rifts within the party may affect his prospects. The SAD, once a dominant player in Punjab politics, is attempting to rebuild its influence after two successive electoral defeats in 2017 and 2022. The party is banking on Ghumman's clean image and social work to strike a chord with voters, but it faces an uphill battle to regain relevance. Meanwhile, the BJP is trying to gain foothold in Punjab. The party performed strongly in Ludhiana West during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where it secured the highest number of votes in the segment, pushing AAP to a distant third. Its candidate Jiwan Gupta, a local resident, hopes to ride on this momentum to achieve victory in his maiden electoral contest.
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Under PDS, TN to door deliver essentials to the elderly, disabled
CHENNAI: In a first for the state, the Tamil Nadu government is gearing up to launch a door-to-door delivery service of essential commodities such as rice, sugar, wheat, palmolein oil and toor dal under the Public Distribution System (PDS) to cater to those facing difficulties in accessing the fair price shops for their supplies. In the first phase, the scheme will cover around 15 lakh of the roughly 2.21 crore ration cardholders, focusing on those cardholding families that have only senior citizens aged 70 and above or persons with disabilities (PwDs) with no other family members available in a capacity to visit the shops for procurement. Beneficiaries will include both Priority Household (PHH) and Non-Priority Household (NPHH) cardholders. The proposed home delivery of commodities in Tamil Nadu, expected to start in July or August, will be implemented by the cooperation department using various vehicles such as maxi trucks, mini trucks and vans. A similar scheme, which was launched in Andhra Pradesh by the previous YSRCP government in 2021, was discontinued in May this year due to issues, including frequent failure of biometric authentication, irregularities in delivery and high operational costs. Chief Secretary N Muruganandam recently held a detailed review meeting with officials from the civil supplies and cooperation departments at the secretariat. According to official sources, the final list of beneficiaries is being finalised at the moment.
The Sun
6 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Perak PMR 2025: 183, including two PwDs, secure employment
LUMUT: Two persons with disabilities (PwDs) were among 183 applicants who successfully secured jobs after passing interview sessions held during the MYFutureJobs Career Carnival at the Perak MADANI Rakyat Programme (PMR) 2025 at Lumut Waterfront, here. Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) Teluk Intan branch manager S. Mageswari said that the PMR 2025 programme offered approximately 1,793 job opportunities across various fields and employment sectors nationwide. 'Over the past two days, and including today, the third day, the response has been very encouraging, with many job seekers attending the interview sessions. For Perak PMR 2025, we have engaged 14 employers who are offering job placements,' she said. 'As of Friday and Saturday, a total of 318 candidates attended interview sessions, with 183 successfully securing jobs. Another 43 candidates are awaiting second interviews, which will be conducted at the respective employers' premises,' she said when met here today. She added that among the top five employers offering the highest number of vacancies are Malayan Flour Mills Sdn Bhd, Malakoff Corporation Berhad, YTY Industry Sdn Bhd, Lagenda Properties Berhad, and KPJ Seri Manjung Specialist Hospital. 'On the third day today, we are offering various job categories, including positions in the operations sector, manufacturing industry, professional roles, and service fields, particularly in delivery,' she said. Mageswari added that the categories of job applicants have also been expanded beyond just graduates and career switchers, to include PwDs and individuals aged 50 and above. 'In fact, through MYFutureJobs, we have implemented initiatives nationwide. Many have participated, and we've brought programmes into rural and remote areas. 'Therefore, we encourage the public to come forward and seize this opportunity. Now, it is up to them to secure the jobs being offered,' he said. Meanwhile, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) engineering graduate Muhammad Harun Hafiz Shaarani, 25, said the career carnival held at PMR 2025 in Perak was very helpful for him in his job search. Having graduated last year in electrical engineering, he took the opportunity to attend interview sessions offered by participating companies on the final day of PMR. 'There are actually many job opportunities in Malaysia, we just need to explore them diligently. 'In my opinion, the claim that there are no jobs is inaccurate. Perhaps students in this country need to be more strategic in choosing fields of study that align with national workforce needs,' he said. Perak is the second location to host the large-scale PMR initiative, a result of strategic collaboration between the Performance Acceleration Coordination Unit (PACU) of the Prime Minister's Department, which serves as the main secretariat, and the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), as the lead ministry.
