Mohammad Jafar Iqbal. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 20: The state government has decided to computerise the list of disabled youth and children in every block to check the duplication of disability certificates.

“The list of such people available with the chief district medical officers and the block officers will be used for the purpose. The data will be computerised, so that there is no duplication,” said director, disability directorate, Sanjay Kumar Habada at a function organised by the Shanta Memorial Rehabilitation Centre for children with disabilities.

A special campaign titled Bhima Bhoi Bhinnakhayam Samartha Abhiyan beginning this month will include a camp in which persons with disability would be identified and issued certificates so that they can avail various government benefits. Doctors at the camp will examine the extent of disability and provide the certificates accordingly.

There will be a second camp where corrective surgeries would be offered to them free of cost at the National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research in Cuttack.

Aids and appliances for the disabled, ID cards and passbooks will be made available during the camp.

“Applications will be accepted from those interested for loans,” said the director adding that there were over 20 lakh persons with disability (PWD) in Orissa alone.

“An amount of Rs 12 lakh will be spend on each block in the event and funding for this campaign will be from the Chief Ministers Relief Fund,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, chief of the centre Asha Hans said the child rights assembly aimed to bring children from across the county to speak on issues that were of concern to them.

The two-day event will see special students participating in various competitions and discussions on various topics such as, disability, violence, sports and environment.

“Health and education remain the two major areas where these children are often neglected. The major problem faced by disabled children remains communication. Teachers are not able to explain to them in the language they would understand. Besides, there is an urgent need to introduce personality development sessions for these special children and develop their soft skills,” said Hans.

“We have done a survey of 400 children and would submit the report to the state government soon,” she said.