Hi All,
The below post is related to a topic which was part of the Conference / Workshop organized by Vasantham. Below are the details of the session:
Conference – Workshop cum conference on Best Practices in the rehabilitation of individuals with special needs
Date – 17th March 2023 16:30
Mode of Presentation – Offline Venue – Sengai Meenakshi Mahal, Mogappair, Chennai – 37
Topic – Benefits from the government: What, where and how to access ?
Speaker – Smt.Sheeba Anand – Speech Therapist – Department for the welfare of Differently Abled state resource training Centre
Below are the points shared in the presentation:
1) Every one should be aware about the government offerings due to two reasons:
a) As a parent, we should be aware of all ways the Government is offering benefits to us
b) As a teacher, for the children studying under them, they should be aware of all the benefits that the teacher should get for those children.
2) For a government to give a benefit, there is a process which is governed by Statutory regulations and laws. For Differently abled people we have “Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016”. This is a parent act, each section of this act covers people of different disabilities. Government offers benefits/schemes/ subsidies based on this act only. Before this act, we only had 7 disabilities for which the benefits are provided like certificates, job opportunities, higher education, etc. After this act, the scope has extended to 21 disabilities. The key highlights of this act are
a) Person with Benchmark Disability (40% and above)
b) Person with Disability (5%, 10% etc)
c) Person requiring High Support i.e. Severe Disability.
3) In every district, the government has an office called “Welfare of Differently abled Persons”. A child or an adult with disability shall be assessed and certified by a medical professional. That certificate alone is not enough to claim the benefits from the government. In addition to that you have a blue book which we use to register with the government. This is an extremely important process, which is to let the government know how many people with disabilities exist. This helps the government to plan for budgets for the upcoming year to allocate funds for the benefits of differently abled people. A survey or an accurate representation of our strength needs to be up to date with the government.
4) If there are only 10 people who are registered for a particular disability, the government will not give importance to that disability. As a special educator, your role is to ensure that every differently abled person known to you gets themselves registered.
Only based on the registered data, policy making happens at the Government.
5) Whoever has the ID card from the government, they alone can avail the benefits from the government, that too for people with 40% or above disability. Till date the benefits are not given to people with less than 40% disability, because not many have come forward for registration from that category.
6) Government of India is now started giving UDID i.e. Unique Disability ID to eligible persons. It is an important step in digitization.
7) There are 47 schemes available through “Welfare of Differently abled Persons”.
a) If the child is younger (0-6 yrs), they can get early intervention programs from Primary level training centres. Grant for the teacher who is working there and for the children who are travelling to and fro can get a bus pass free of cost. You will see special educators available here.
b) If the children (above 6 years) are taking up an inclusive school or special school or regular school. Certain severe disabilities like muscular dystrophy, severe intellectual disability, etc. have a day care center.
c) At a higher age, residential home or care for severely intellectual disabled persons are provided by government
d) 24 types of Aids and assistive devices are provided by the government. like hearing aids, magnifiers, for 100% visually impaired people mobile phones with speech enablement apps, etc..
e) Social security schemes offer monetary benefits or financial assistance.
8) After the introduction of the disabilities act in 2016, there is an increase in the employment opportunities in the government sector. There is a 4% reservation (4% reservation in Government Departments and Government Institutions for differently abled persons in employment)
The 4 % reservation is allocated as: 1% for Hearing Impairment, 1% for Locomotor Disability, 1% for Visual Impairment, 1% for Intellectual disability,ASD, Multiple disability, Mental illness
If for a particular job posting, we do not have candidates for that particular type of disability, it cannot be filled or carried over to other available disabilities, the position has to be kept vacant.
If the reservation given to a particular disability is not being utilized for a few years, then that benefit offered would be stopped by the government. It is called a communal roaster.
9) Government has 4 categories.
A and B require more skills , the placement happens according to the disability and the skill.
C and D is reserved for all types of disabilities.
10) Inclusion is not only limited to education, it should be extended to social skills, life skills as well.
11) I used to complain about everything that the government does or does not do. But after knowing in depth, there are so many opportunities that are made available by the government to the special needs and disabled community.
12) Creating a barrier free environment is very important. If you have visited any government offices recently you should have seen lifts, wheel chairs placed, on buses we have led lights for people with low vision, buses that can facilitate people with locomotor disability are also planning to come. When a government gives license to school or marriage hall, they ensure that all the facilities are accessible by differently abled people or not, else the license is not given,
13) Places that are very interior where the school or therapy facilities are unavailable, mobile therapy units are available in every district. The mobile therapy unit is capable of providing therapy at doorstep for such people, the unit is equipped with necessary equipment for providing occupational therapy, physiotherapy and hearing aid for assessments.
14) We have a Court for disabled persons. The State Commissioner has the Judiciary power, they are equivalent to the Judge. Every Tuesday, for a person with a disability can address their grievances like a child not getting admitted to the school, child is excluded from the regular activities of the school, child is segregated from other children, concession for the child is not given etc.. It is like a court. The state commissioner is at the Rank of I.A.S official.
15) In the corporation hospitals in the city, within 45 days of every child born a hearing test is carried out as part of the newborn screening scheme.
16) Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme is equally important as well. You get special education, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech therapy packages in that insurance scheme. The private clinic or therapy center or school where you are currently availing therapy has the necessary infrastructure and all the therapists are RCI certified , one can claim 40,000 rs per year.
In general there is an income ceiling for availing this scheme, however for this scheme there is no income ceiling restriction. But the disabled person should have a ration card with his name on it. All the people whose names are present in the ration card can avail benefits up to 4 lac rupees per year through this scheme.
17) Home based early intervention center . In Tirunelveli, we have amar seva sangam, they have an e-tab with them which is mainly used by special educators. The tab is programmed with the age appropriate milestones, skills, activities to improve a respective skill, etc.. are tailor made for the children. This can be monitored from anywhere. This is a pilot study project at present.
18) We have State Resource cum Training Centre (SRTC) in KK Nagar chennai and Trichy. We have early intervention, early identification, any information that is required for a disabled individual can be obtained from them through toll free number i.e. 1800 4250 111 which is being monitored.
19) To avail any benefits , there are respective forms to avail each benefit like wheelchair, sewing machine etc, so you fill up the form with all required details, you submit the form to the Differently abled persons department under the District collectorate office, which is available in all districts. When you submit, ensure that you have provided a copy of your aadhar card, disability certificate, UDID and the blue book which is mandatory.
20) Another important aspect is Guardianship. Until 18 years of age parents are the guardian, after 18 years there are no guardians normally, but for children with severe disabilities or multiple disabilities they need a guardian above 18 years of age as well. There are two types of guardianship ,
a) Full Guardianship from National Trust
b) Limited Guardianship from PWD act .
21) Our state commissioner and Director for chennai location is Jacintha Lazarus I.A.S. They would receive all your complaints.
22) We also have a choice based system. As per the eligibility, the disabled person would receive a hearing aid free of cost which is of a basic model, if he wants to avail an advanced model, he can make additional payment for the incremental cost alone. Similarly for a wheelchair which you get free of cost, you prefer to have some modifications done like Backrest, foot rest, etc.. you can pay the incremental cost for making those changes and avail the wheelchair as per your need.
Q and A
Q – Do all government schools take our children, do they have necessary aids and adaptations required ?
A – Inspite of having the Right to education act, the reason why it is not being widely implemented is due to the hesitation from the parents. We should fight for our rights. Government will support the education department called SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan). This is divided by zones. When you approach a government school for a child, who does not have a disability certificate , in which case they will not be given additional support. The problem is the parents are not getting the disability certificates for their children.
Q – Kalaignar Kapitu Thittam currently offers 5000 rs for Occupational therapy. This is directly reaching the therapy center. The benefit is available only in limited centers. But if the parent avails the same therapy from a separate private clinic, that benefit cannot be utilized. Why is that so ?
A – There is a legal case in the court on this as well. Most of the therapy centers have untrained or unqualified staff who are handling the children, we have so many cases filed by parents against them. As we receive more such complaints, to streamline and reduce such incidents from happening, these benefits are available only in centers that have proper registration, infrastructure, floor space for therapy, RCI certified professionals, etc..
Only centers who submit these documentations to the government are reviewed and provided license to conduct such programs. So many centers have not yet submitted documents in full, many are incomplete.
Regards,
Saranya and Karthik
Autism Spectrum Disorder - Personal Experiences (Chennai Family) 