Date:22/12/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/12/22/stories/2006122221880200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Helping differently abled face life's challenges

Staff Reporter

Over 1,000 differently-abled chidren were given welfare aids

ASSISTANCE: Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Basavaraj Horatti speaking to students at the inauguration of World Disabled Day celebrations at R.V. Teachers' College on Thursday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: There was jubilation in the air. Rays of hope and determination shone in the eyes of the differently abled children who had assembled to receive tricycles, walkers and other aids.

The occasion was the observance of World Disabled Day, organised by the Sarva Shikshana Abhiyana, Bangalore Urban district, at the RV Teachers' College on Thursday. Primary Education Minister Basavaraj Horatti inaugurated the event.

He said that people from lower classes of society had little means to access medical and other aids to overcome the problem of disability. The Government was committed to bringing the differently abled children into the mainstream, Mr. Horatti said.

Over 1,000 differently abled children from Bangalore Urban district were provided with different aids such as tricycles and walkers, worth Rs. 20 lakh on the occasion. The Government and Skanda Educational and Medical Trust shared the cost. Bangalore Urban Zilla Panchayat president Renuka Gopalakrishna, Skanda Trust Chairman Sudarshan and Deputy Directors of Public Instruction Kalappa Goruru and Dev Prakash were present. Jayanagar MLA R. Ramalinga Reddy presided.