150 Visually-Impaired Students Receive Laptops

Bhubaneswar: As many as 150 laptops were distributed on Wednesday among blind students pursuing higher education in a programme held at the National Career Service Centre for Differently Abled (Erstwhile VRCH) at Gandamunda here.

State SSEPD, W&CD, MS & ME Minister Prafulla Samal attended the programme as chief guest and distributed the laptops.

Samal said that newly created Department of Social Security and Empowerment of PWDs (SSEPD) is trying its best for the comprehensive development of Persons with Disability (PWDs).

Laptop with JAWS software, were distributed to visually impaired students pursuing higher education. They will now have access to information from across the world through the internet, he added.

Samal also said that 250 laptops would be distributed among such beneficiaries, from this year onwards. For this purpose, the annual investment has been enhanced to Rs two crore from Rs 50 lakh.

SSEPD Principal Secretary Niten Chandra appealed to the corporate world to utilise at least five per cent fund under CSR for the empowerment of PwDs.

He also said Odisha is one of the frontline states among six states in the country, that has separate departments and independent officers for PwDs at the block and district level.

Department of SSEPD, Director, Susanta Mohapatra appealed to the students to utilise the given assistance appropriately to become independent and contribute meaningfully for the development of the country, parents, stakeholders and society at large.

He informed that in joint collaboration with the National Career Service Centre for Differently Abled (NCSCDA), Bhubaneswar pre-recruitment coaching for PwDs will be started for preparing for competitive examinations at the NCSCDA.

Under Secretary from the Department of SSEPD Ambika Prasad Patnaik and Assistant Director (Employment), NCSCDA, Ram Kishor Sharma were present as guests.

The beneficiaries said that this initiative of the government will help the blind students to take optimal advantage of technology to become more independent and empowered.