Special camps to distribute aid for differently abled

MADURAI

Special camps for differently abled persons to distribute aid under the Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/Fitting of Aid and Appliances (ADIP) Scheme would be held across Madurai district between February 18 and 25, said Member of Parliament from Madurai Su. Venkatesan. The differently abled would get walking sticks, wheelchairs, spectacles and hearing aid.

The MP told The Hindu on Friday that the camps would have seven officials each from Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) (Southern Division) and from Public Health department in the 13 unions of Madurai to document the needs of differently abled persons. According to the 2011 Census, there were around 45,000 people with disabilities in Madurai district, but the current estimate was around 55,000, he said.

ALIMCO, which was headquartered in Kanpur, would make these instruments within two months and the same would be distributed to those who sought assistance under the scheme later, he said.

“I wrote to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on November 18, 2019, and have been following up with it since then because such a ‘mela’ of assistive instruments had not taken place in Madurai for years. Any help is a major requirement for those from low socio-economic background,” he said.

A similar event is scheduled to take place in Allahabad in U.P. on February 29. The district officials aim to create a Guinness World Record by distributing the largest number of instruments from a single location.