The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government is formulating an action plan and a policy for the doubly-marginalised in the state: women with disabilities.

?Women being marginalised in the first place in our society, the condition of disabled women is far worse than their male counterparts,? state women and child development and social welfare secretary S.N. Haque said on Sunday.

?Hence, the decision to formulate an action plan for them,? he explained.

According to the state women and child development and social welfare departments, Bengal accounts for 1.84 million disabled people, of whom 787,000 are women. Of these women,

393,000 are visually handicapped,

75,000 are speech impaired,

60,000 are hearing impaired,

145,000 are movement handicapped, and

187,000 are mentally disabled.

A nine-member state-level task force has already been formed by the state government for this purpose. The task force is headed by the commissioner for persons with disabilities, Supriya Gupta.

Others include the secretary of the Rajya Sainik Board, deputy secretary of the women and child development and social welfare department, secretaries of the Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy and Bikash Bharati Welfare Society, and the principals of Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys? Academy and Calcutta Deaf and Dumb School.

This task force will sit once every three months at the office of the commissioner for persons with disabilities on Ganesh Chandra Avenue, a senior state government official added.

While the body will address issues that are common to male and female disabled persons, like setting up of ramps, special lifts and so on in offices and public places, more emphasis will be laid on issues related to the disabled women.

One of these schemes is to help the disabled persons concerned avail of special employment generation programmes and other welfare benefits offered by the state and Central governments, as well as some non-government organisations, state women and child development and social welfare secretary Haque said.