DIMAPUR, July 31 - There are around 29,631 persons with disabilities in Nagaland, according to the 2011 Census. However, this number is believed to be an underestimation.
This was disclosed by Maongnungsang Jamir, assistant director of Prodigals Home, Dimapur, an NGO working on key issues of aged and elderly people, children, differently abled, HIV/AIDS, rural development and poverty alleviation, vocational training and women�s development and empowerment, at a two-day orientation camp on disability rehabilitation, Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/Fitting of Aids and Appliances (ADIP) scheme and Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, at the Dimapur District Hospital.
Jamir said that poverty is the main cause behind disability, coupled with dangerous work and living conditions, malnutrition, poor hygiene, limited access to health care, lack of awareness, limited excess to livelihood, education and services. He stressed that poverty and disability are closely linked and need to be addressed together.
Jamir said though the Persons with Disabilities Act and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act were introduced in India in 1995 and 2016 respectively, they are yet to be implemented in Nagaland as the State draft has been pending with the State Cabinet.
Jamir also highlighted the various facilities available to registered persons with disabilities, which include disability pensions from the Social Welfare Department.
Resource person of the programme, Dr Imlitemsu Ozukum, senior medical officer in-charge, Dimapur District Hospital, spoke on the topic, �Disability and handicap�, the 21 types of disabilities and how to identify them, rehabilitation intervention of different types of disabilities, early identification and intervention, and their importance.
Besides the disability assessment camp, an awareness programme for grassroot-level workers of the Health and Family Welfare Department, Social Welfare Department and Education Department was also held on Tuesday. The Health and Family Welfare Department was represented by ASHA workers, the Social Welfare Department by Anganwadi workers and the Education Department by special teachers.
In the second session on Tuesday, an official from the National Institute of Locomotor Disabilities, Kolkata, Aratatran Patra, spoke on the ADIP scheme and the Rights to Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. Another official from the institute, Bulbul Hussain, stressed the need for prosthesis interventions. A total of 230 persons with disabilities from across the State attended the programme.
