Seventy-five differently abled city kids are readying for the trip of their lives - to be part of the Republic Day parade in Delhi.
The children, most of whom will be visiting the national capital for the first time, will reach on January 24 and be back by January 27. And the authorities are going the extra mile to make the children's trip special.
"Initially, we booked sleeper class tickets for the children. But later, we decided to book tickets in air-conditioned coaches as many have never travelled in AC compartments before," said Sanjay Kumar Sinha, regional director, National Institute of Open Schooling. "The children would be taken on a tour of the tourist hotspots of Delhi on January 24 and January 25 before they take part in the parade. We want to give them all a very special treatment. It is not confirmed yet, but we are planning to arrange a meeting for the children with Union HRD minister Smriti Irani."
Bihar, he said, is the first state from where differently-abled children have been asked to take part in the parade.
Out of the 75 children, 65 are students of city-based JM Institute of Speech and Hearing. The rest are from Vigil, an NGO.
JM Institute principal Prem Lal Roy said: "The students expressed their happiness through signs and symbols. They were vividly excited. We are really proud of them. We have already started grooming them for the event."
He said 13 special educators would accompany the children.
Some of the children are speech and hearing impaired from a very early age, like Twinkle (16), who lost her hearing when she was given a high dose of antibiotics when she was 1. Parents of Suman Kumar (15) are still clueless how their son lost hearing when he was just three months old.
Umesh Prasad Yadav, father of Suman Kumar (15), said: "My son is very excited. He has told me through signs and symbols that he wants to shake hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. All our family members and relatives will be glued to the TV to see him in the parade."
Twinkle's father, Mukesh Sinha, said: "I am looking forward to see my daughter on TV. This initiative will help not only motivate many such children but also their parents."
