President presents national awards on International Day of Persons with Disabilities; stresses on need to create healthy atmosphere for Divyangjan
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday conferred the National Awards for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities for the year 2021 and 2022 on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities at a function in New Delhi. National Awards for 2021 were given to 25 Individuals, Institutions and Organizations while for 2022, Awards were presented to 29 Individuals, Institutions and Organisations for their outstanding achievements and work done towards empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. These awards were given in various categories including Sarvshresth Divyangjan, Shresth Divyangjan, Shresth Divyang Bal and Balika, Sarvshrestha Vyakti working towards the empowerment of Divyangjan and Sarvshrestha Rehabilitation Professional worker. Speaking on the occasion, President Droupadi Murmu said, the objective of International Day of Persons with Disabilities is to promote awareness about the issues concerning disabilities. She stressed on the need to create a healthy atmosphere for Divyangjans so that they can live a dignified life and also participate in political, social, economic, cultural and sports activities without any discrimination.
The President said, the government is taking several steps for the empowerment of Divyangjan. She said, according to her, inculcating self-confidence in Divyangjan is very important to empower them. She added that People with disabilities have talents and abilities just like normal people, and sometimes more than them. She urged all sections of the society to motivate the Divyangjan to become self-reliant and move ahead in life. The President said that education is the key to the empowerment of every individual, including persons with disabilities. She stressed for the maximum use of technology in order to remove language-related barriers in education and to make education more accessible to children with disabilities. She said that the National Education Policy 2020 also underlines the importance of enabling arrangements for providing equal opportunities for quality education to children with disabilities.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar said, Central government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working to ensure all-round development so that Divyanjans can become self-reliant and also contribute towards making the country self-reliant. He said, there is a provision of four per cent reservation in government jobs for Divyangjans and recently provision has also been made for reservation in promotion.
Union Ministers of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale and Pratima Bhoumik were also present on the occasion.