Punjab Government will set up a state-of-the-art Advanced Research and Treatment Centre for the patients of autism, a serious developmental disorder that impairs one’s ability to communicate and interact, at Mohali.
The in-principle approval for the same was given by the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Friday while presiding over a meeting with a host of medical experts, doctors and the organisers of NGOs dealing with such patients.
Badal, taking part in the deliberations, underscored the need to draw a time-bound action plan to effectively tackle the incidence of autism in the State. He was apprised that on an average, one person per 1000 was inflicted with autism in India whereas the incidence of this disease in USA was 100 per 1000 as per study.
Badal asked Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) to earmark a suitable land for the Centre which would house institutes for running a diploma course for educators to impart special education to the children suffering from autism besides providing research and healthcare facilities. Chief Minister desired that in the latest stage, more satellite centres would be set up at the all district headquarters affiliated to this advanced centre to provide the best healthcare facilitates to the autism patients.
Responding to another vital issue, Badal asked the health department to sensitise their disability medical boards at all district headquarters to issue disability certificate to the person suffering from autism, which were now facing acute hardship and passing through mental agony due to scant knowledge about it.
likewise, he directed the health department to pro-actively take up the issue with the education department for giving admission to the children suffering from autism in the normal schools to save them from scourge of discrimination and inferiority complex.
It may be recalled that at present, majority of such children were studying in special schools meant for autism patients.
Badal asked PGIMER’s professor and Head of Psychiatry Department Dr Ajit Awasthi to prepare a detailed blueprint within a month for the setting up of Advanced Centre besides suggesting ways and means to establish special wings of autism in all the Government Medical Colleges at Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot with trained manpower comprising child psychologists, occupational therapists, clinical psychologists and special educators or motivators.
Highly appreciating the role of Red Cross Society, Faridkot, for successfully running an education institute for imparting skill training and education to the patients suffering from autism, he asked other Red Cross Societies to replicate this model.