Aasha Kiran a Vocational Training Centre in Chandigarh

Chandigarh, June 14:- Hope has replaced despair in their lives. The disabled of yesterday have become enabled today, and, what was a liability has been turned into an asset. Their emotions, numbed by their impairment, have begun to feel the surge. And more importantly, they are no more on the sidelines of the mainstream of society and have become a part and parcel of it.      

And the agent that has brought about this change in the lives of the disabled children of Chandigarh is Aasha Kiran, a noble initiative launched by the UT Administration to rehabilitate the disabled children of City Beautiful. It has indeed started living up to its name. In barely six months of its existence, the centre has indeed emerged as a ray of hope in the lives of the 258-odd inmates, including hearing and visually impaired.

The Vocational Training Centre at Aasha Kiran provides training to the inmates in mobile repair, computer software, call centre, fancy bag and candle making, stenography, beauty culture, house keeping and coking.  Inaugurated in December last year, Aasha Kiran has started writing its success story. Forty inmates have already been trained in mobile repair and returned to the social mainstream living life with a sense of fulfillment.

"We have already provided some facilities to the disabled at the centre. A proposal has been sent to the Chandigarh Administration for providing all facilities under one roof to enable them to become an asset to the society, lead a normal life with confidence that emanates from self-reliance and save them the bother of unnecessary harassment",  Amandeep Kaur,  Director, Social Welfare Department, Chandigarh, said.

The Chandigarh Child and Women Development Corporation, the channelising arm of the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation for Welfare of Handicapped Persons, has extended financial assistance to such inmates as, after the training, opted for setting up a business.

  Twenty-five inmates at the centre have been given training in computer hardware. A self-help group has been formed and they are running their business collectively. All this in phase one of the project. Work on the second phase which will provide the inmates with boarding, lodging and medical facilities at Aasha Kiran, has already started. There is also a proposal to have a team of doctors to run a e routine check-up on the inmates.

       The administration has set up a Genetic Lab for screening of various metabolic diseases at GMCH-32 to screen children for prevention and detection of disabilities and released Rs 50.8 lakh for the purpose. The Centre regularly provides the facilities of speech therapy and physiotherapy. "The Administration promises to bring about significant change in the life of the disabled by making dedicated efforts at confidence building. It has taken practical steps to lift their status. It is an endeavor to work for improving conditions for disabled." Amandeep Kaur added.

        It is not for nothing that Chandigarh ranks first among the Union Territories in the country in implementation of the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. The Administration has contacted companies like Tata Indicom and IBM for employment avenues for centre inmates. Amandeep Kaur said,"Without education and access, one cannot even think of employment or empowerment or rehabilitation of disabled.

      Conservative estimates suggest that five to six per cent of India's population is affected by one disability or the other. In other words, the country has 60 to 70 million disabled citizens who form an invisible minority.


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By :  News Team