Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 28 (ANI/BusinessWire India): National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), India's leading disability rights-based advocacy organization, in partnership with Mindtree, a global technology services and digital transformation company, today announced that nominations for the NCPEDP-Mindtree Helen Keller Awards for 2022 are now open. The last date to submit nominations is 30 October, 2022.

New Delhi [India], May 15 (ANI): Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar will inaugurate the services of Composite Regional Centre (CRC) for Skill Development, Rehabilitation and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) at Shillong, Meghalaya on Tuesday.

New Delhi [India], March 8 (ANI): Power Finance Corporation (PFC), India's leading NBFC in the power sector, on Tuesday said it has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) for distribution of motorised tricycles to orthopedically impaired persons with disabilities (Divyangjans) under its CSR initiative.

New Delhi Nov 26 PTI Indian democracy has covered a remarkable distance since the first Lok Sabha polls and today seven decades and 17 general elections later womens participation in exercising franchise has exceeded that of men Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said on FridayHe also said that democracy and democratic institutions flourish when all groups of people are fully representedAddressing an international webinar on Enhancing Electoral Participation of Women Persons with Disabilities and Senior Citizens here Chandra narrated how the Election Commission made special efforts to enhance the participation on women people with disabilities senior citizens and transgendersIn most countries and territories voting rights were granted to women in a piecemeal manner he observed The United States took 144 years to give equal voting rights to women he pointed outIn India women got the right to vote the year the country was bornThis does not obliviate the fact that many Indian women campaigned for equal right to vote The Indian suffragette movement gathered momentum with the participation of more and more women in the freedom struggle he saidThe real logistics issue came up in the preparation of electoral rolls when a large number of women owing to customary practice refused to disclose their own names and wanted to be registered as As wife or Bs mother he recalledThe EC had to issue instructions that name is an essential part of identity and women voters must be registered in their own name Public appeals were issued and extension of one month was given for enabling women voters to register In the first ever general election of this country back in 1951-52 the ECI undertook special measures to facilitate women voters To make women voters comfortable at least one woman was appointed as polling staff at each polling stationWherever it was felt they women voters would find it difficult to appear at polling booths as in the case of purdahnashin or women who wear veils separate women booths were set up and 27527 such booths were reserved for women which had all women polling officersIt is a remarkable distance that we have covered since then Today seven decades and 17 general elections since Independence womens participation in India has exceeded that of men and stood at more than 67 per cent in the 2019 general electionGender gap a crucial parameter which was minus 1671 per cent in 1962 has not only closed but reversed to plus 017 per cent in 2019 India has witnessed 23572 per cent increase in female electors since 1971 elections he pointed outTaking a holistic view of gender definitions the EC included a provision whereby transgenders had the option of registering as third gender in electoral rollsClose to 40000 persons chose to register themselves as third gender in the 2019 elections the CEC said The poll panel Chandra said has made consistent efforts and has gone that extra mile to empower and facilitate the participation of senior citizens and persons with disabilities Braille signage were introduced on electronic voting machines 16 years ago on a pilot basis in 2004 assembly elections of Andhra Pradesh and in 2009 Lok Sabha elections were enforced in every constituencyIt was 13 years ago that directions were issued to provide facilities for electors with disabilities like ramps in buildingsWe have been mapping PwDs with active involvement of stakeholders and civil society organisations and more than 77 million PWD voters have been mapped he saidThe event was organised to mark the completion of two years of chairmanship of the Association of World Election Bodies A-WEB by the EC PTI NAB NAB DV DV

New Delhi [India], November 23 (ANI): The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday issued draft guidelines for MHA specific built infrastructure and Associated Services for Police Stations, Prisons and Disaster Mitigation Centers to ensure disabled people can access the buildings and their services at ease.

Guwahati Oct 28 PTI The election machinery in Assam has put in place all necessary arrangements for the smooth conduct of by-polls to five assembly constituencies on October 30 As many as 796 electors are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 31 contestants in Gossaigaon Bhabanipur Tamulpur Mariani and Thowra constituencies a state Election Department release said here on Thursday To make sure that there is no problem on the law and order front and to keep a strong vigil on expenditure incurred the Election Commission of India ECI has appointed General Police and Expenditure Observers the release said Personnel of Central Armed Police Forces CAPF will be deployed at each polling station and live monitoring and webcasting have been arranged by the Chief Electoral Officer CEO Assam for monitoring the voting process live on October 30 as per the ECIs direction Webcasting will be done in all the 1176 polling stations including 285 in Gossaigaon 213 in Bhabanipur 322 in Tamulpur 183 in Mariani and 173 in Thowra constituencies To motivate voters for exercising their franchise and strictly follow COVID-19 protocol in the polling stations an awareness campaign is being conducted under the ECIs Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation SVEEP programme In the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic ECI has taken precautionary measures to ensure that all polling stations strictly follow COVID-19 safety protocols for the safety of voters and election officials Each polling station will be sanitised a day ahead of polling The facility of thermal scanning hand sanitisers face masks will also be made available at the polling stations the release said A total of 796456 electors including 393078 women and four third-gender persons are eligible to exercise their franchise There are also 3165 service voters 8864 electors above 80 years of age and 4 998 fall under the People with Disability PwD category Tamulpur has the highest number of voters at 217432 while Thowra has the lowest number of voters at 115971 voters To ensure an inclusive election the option of postal ballot facility has been extended to senior citizens above the age of 80 years PwDs COVID-19 suspect or affected persons in addition to people employed in essential services Arrangements like transport facilities for elderly people assistance to PwDs and senior citizens have also been made at the polling stations For the convenience of opting for transportation by registering online a mobile app-Divyaang Sarathi Nirvachan - has been developed for the PwD voters A total of 5410 polling personnel will be engaged the release said PTI ESB MM MM

Kohima Oct 26 PTI Nagalands School Education Principal Director Shanavas C on Tuesday said inclusive education in the state is facing several challenges like unwillingness of parents of children with special needs CWSN to send their wards to schools due to societal discrimination People are also unenthusiastic about their children being identified as CWSN during surveys the senior official told a workshop here Speaking at the workshop on Inclusive Education a step into inclusion Shanavas said conducting a workshop is easier than implementing it on the ground Listing the problems being faced in the area of inclusive education in the north-eastern state the senior official said special schools are mainly concentrated in urban areas and children of rural areas remain unreached In Nagaland it is only during elections that an exercise for compiling data of people with disabilities PwDs is conducted which is also incorrect at times Shanavas said The main obstacle in implementing inclusive education in the state is lack of encouragement among the parents of CWSNs for which there should be a convergence among government departments and involvement of the stakeholders towards generating awareness to make inclusive education a success said Shanavas The principal director gave assurance that the Educational Management and Information System EMIS would be strengthened to collect proper data by encouraging motivating children and people with special needs to fight for their rights All children including those with special needs have the right to education and the Nagaland Board of School Education NBSE expects all schools to demonstrate inclusive practice while imparting education to children said its chairperson Asano Sekhose She informed that all the educational institutions registered under NBSE have been given guidelines to make education accessible for CWSN she said Teachers have been asked to give remedial teaching to CWSN if they require it and schools have been instructed to make the infrastructure and the premises disabled-friendly State Disability Commissioner Diethono Nakhro said children with disabilities are one of the most marginalised and excluded groups Although there is a severe lack of data available evidence from a few countries shows that without exception children with disabilities are more likely to be excluded from school than their peers without disabilities she said Even when they join a school children with disabilities are less likely to complete primary or secondary education and the inequality grows as the level of education advances she said One of the biggest challenges that we have with children with disabilities and persons with disabilities in general is the lack of data and in many ways they continue to be the uncounted section of society she said It is time for a change said Nakhro asserting that all departments organisations and stakeholders need to come together to make the change happen School Education is one of the major departments that the Commission is looking to work closely with particularly at this time during the implementation of the new National Education Policy with a focus on equity and inclusion she said The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 clearly states that all educational institutions funded or recognised by the state government shall provide inclusive education to children with disabilities Nakhro said PTI NBS MM MM

New Delhi [India], September 24 (ANI): Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Dr Virendra Kumar on Thursday stated that Specially-abled people are an integral part of human resources and said that to provide the PwDs maximum accessibility is the utmost priority of the Centre government.

New Delhi [India], September 21 (ANI): To assess the present accessibility policies and discuss strategies for addressing barriers to enhance participation in the electoral process for voters with disabilities, the Election Commission of India (ECI) organised a virtual national conference on 'Accessible Elections 2021' on Tuesday.