President Droupadi Murmu on December 3 stressed on the maximum use of technology to remove language-related barriers in education and to make education more accessible to differently-abled children.
She presented the National Awards for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities for 2021 and 2022, in New Delhi, on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Addressing the gathering, the President said that according to an estimate of the United Nations, more than one billion people in the world are persons with disabilities. It means that almost every 8th person in the world has a disability in some form or the other.
More than two per cent of India's population are differently-abled people. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of all to ensure that those people can lead a dignified life independently.
"It is also our duty to ensure that they get a good education, stay safe in their homes and society, have the freedom to choose their career and have equal employment opportunities," she said.
The President said that in Indian culture and tradition, disability has never been considered a hindrance in acquiring knowledge and achieving excellence.
"Often, it has been seen that divyangjan are gifted with divine qualities. There are innumerable examples in which our divyang brothers and sisters have achieved impressive feats in many fields on the strength of their indomitable courage, talent and determination. Given enough opportunities and the right environment, they can excel in every field," she said.
She said education is key to the empowerment of every individual, including differently-abled people.
"We should make maximum use of technology in order to remove language-related barriers in education and to make education more accessible to differently-abled children," she said.
She said she was happy to note that the conversion of NCERT text books for Classes I to VI into Indian sign language for hearing-impaired children has been done. She said it is an important initiative to include those students in the mainstream education process.
The President said the government is taking several steps for the empowerment of divyangjan. She said inculcating self-confidence in them is very important so as to empower them.
"Differently-abled people have talents and abilities just like normal people and sometimes more than them. To make them self-reliant, it is only necessary to instil in them self-confidence," she said.
She urged all sections of the society to motivate the divyangjan to become self-reliant and move ahead in life. She said that when divyang people would make their effective contribution by joining the mainstream, then the country would move forward on the path of development at a faster pace.
The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment gives away the National Awards for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities every year to individuals, institutions, organisations, State/district, etc. for their outstanding achievements and work done towards empowerment of differently-abled people.
The applications shortlisted by the screening committees were considered by the National Selection Committee in its meeting held on November 2 and recommended 25 awardees for the year 2021 and 29 awardees for 2022.
