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Rs. 2-a-kg rice for disabled persons

HYDERABAD: The State Government has decided to provide rice at Rs. 2 a kg for all persons with physical disabilities from April next year.

The Government will include cochlear implants, the electronic device that restores partial hearing to the hearing-challenged in the Rajiv Arogya Sri health insurance scheme which will be extended to five more districts – Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda, Chittoor, East and West Godavari – from December 5. The scheme, enabling the poor to have access to corporate hospitals, is operational on a pilot basis in Mahabubnagar, Srikakulam and Anantapur districts.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy announced a series of sops on Sunday during his interaction with representatives of several organisations of the disabled. The meeting comes in the light of the demonstration staged by physically-challenged persons under the leadership of Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti president Manda Krishna Madiga who, however, was not present in protest against the Government refusal to convene an all-party meeting.

Dr. Reddy said steps had been initiated to constitute an exclusive society for juvenile and disabled persons that would have on its board a practising disabled person from the judiciary and representatives of voluntary organisations working for the disabled. Mandal Samakhyas were being constituted with the physically-challenged to ensure that they were given loans at three per cent interest (‘Pavala vaddi’).

The disabled were being enrolled for pensions under the Indiramma scheme based on saturation concept. All the physically challenged would be covered under the pension scheme once its third phase was completed, he added.

The delegation comprised representatives from Differently Abled Employees’ Action Committee, AP StateVikalangula Hakkula Sadhana Samiti, Vikalang Maha Sanghathan, Employees’ Welfare Association for Persons with Disabilities and other organisations.

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