Addressing in a seminar on ‘Rights of Child with Special Need,’ Poonam Natrajan of the National Trust, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment urged the firms in the State to employ at least 3 per cent disabled persons.
“Parents out of shame don’t collect birth certificates and don’t report to the census which in turn leads to invisibility and further complicacies. Negligence towards immunisation at an early stage and malnourishment are the basic causes that lead to disability,” she opined. The seminar was organised by the Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI) on
the occasion of its Golden Jubilee year.
Speaking on the occasion, OPEPA Director Krushna Gopal Mohapatra called for more participation from the civil society members in brining the children with disabilities to the mainstream.
He expressed concerns that there was a shortage of Braille books in Odisha, which was a major handicap in the education of the children.
Director, Welfare of Persons with Disability under State Women and Child Development department Bibhuti Bhusan Patnaik said There are 12, 44, 203 disabled persons in our State which amounts to 12 per cent of the total population. He cautioned that development of the State is impossible by ignoring this sizable number.
He said that children constitute 25 per cent of the total population of the disabled and underlined the need to create a friendly environment to help them. UNICEF State head Yumi Bae said there are 21 million people in India who are disabled, out of which 1 million are in Odisha.
Expressing her concern over growing crimes against the disabled, she said, “The children subjected to child labour are 3-4 times more vulnerable to physical and sexual violence and the children with intellectual disability are 4-6 times more vulnerable to sexual violence.”
Among others, UCCI president Ramesh Mahapatra, Geetanjali Padhi and Prabhakar Rout spoke. Nilambar Ratha proposed a vote of thanks.