Welfare minister Joba Manjhi addresses the workshop at Ranchi Club on Thursday. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Ranchi, July 17: For the past 20 years, Deepshikha has been a friend and a guiding light to those living with disabilities.

Today, it organised a seminar, Utkarsh, to mark 20 years of its existence. The department of social welfare, government of Jharkhand, sponsored the two-day event.

Speaking on the occasion, R. Rangasaiyee, the director of the National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped (NIHH), said installation of new facilities would help the disabled and also create jobs for them.

A national-level telephonic helpline for persons with disabilities is launched in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. The helpline will provide information about all disabilities, about various centres available for diagnosis and a guide to appliances, training and employment guidance.

The telephonic helpline has also become helpful for the disabled, who are gathering necessary information, the director said.

“The website of NIHH has exhaustive information on those with disabilities. This includes studies on prevention and rehabilitation, details on aids and appliances, educational guidance, parent guidance, schemes and facilities offered by the government and a list of special schools for the special people in India. Also, training programmers and other activity details are published through the site,” the director added.

Ashok Kumar, the advisor of the skill training Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FCCI), New Delhi, stressed that those with disabilities are under the modular employable skill scheme can be part of the programme.

“Even the visually challenged can work but they should be trained in skills suited for him. After being trained, they can get a certificate from the National Council for Vocational Training,” Kumar suggested.

S.Z.H. Zaidi, the deputy director of Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for Handicapped (VRCH) spoke about the problems and the solutions in training and placement of persons with disability. Present on the occasion was the vice-chancellor of Ranchi University, A.A. Khan, and director of Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP), S. Haque Nizamie.