The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) (DEPwD) organised an award function of Short Film Competition on Divyangjan Sashaktikaran in association with Directoriate of Film Festival (DFF) on Thursday. And a total of 10 awards were given in three categories of Documentaries, Short Films and TV Spots. Thaawarchand Gehlot, the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, was the Chief Guest and presented the awardees with certificate and mementos.
Delivering his key note address, the Minister said that in last three years the Ministry is focusing on various schemes for empowerment of divyangjans.
Highlighting achievements of department during the last three years, he said that more than 5700 camps under ADIP schemes have been organised — distributing aids and assistive devices which benefitted more than 8 lakh persons with disabilities for their physical empowerment.
Enumerating various achievements of the Department, he said that the Ministry is providing Rs 6 lakh per child for Cochlear Implant surgery to help hearing impaired children.
He said that short films are a powerful medium to spread awareness among the common masses in today’s time when everybody is connected through various tools of media.
Dolly Chakravarty, Joint Secretary, DEPWD said that accessibility in the films by use of audio captioning and subtitling ensures universal accessibility in the entertainment domain. There is also the pressing need of the hour to ensure to portray disabled people as bold, courageous and empowered characters.