G. Archana, Assistant Director of the Department for welfare of differently-abled, transgender and senior citizens, giving away hearing aids to the beneficiaries in Ongole.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Prakasam district Collector A. Tamim Ansaria has recently handed over wheelchairs and hearing aids to persons with disabilities.
Sheikh Rafiq of Ongole received the wheelchair, while Padmanabham Suresh of Marripudi mandal and Muttur Seenu of Ballikurava village recieved hearing aids.
She directed the Department for the Welfare of Differently-abled, transgender and senior citizens to issue wheelchairs and hearing aids to all the applicants.
โOver โน30.11 lakh worth of assistive aids and appliances, including battery-operated tricycles, were given to the differently-abled persons at a distribution camp organised at Markapuram in February this year. Several assessment camps have been organised in the constituency since 2020 to identify these beneficiaries and their mobility needs,โ Ms Archana told The Hindu.
โAs many as 80 retrofitted motorised three-wheeler vehicles worth โน96 lakh were distributed to the beneficiaries across eight constituencies of the district (10 vehicles to each constituency). About 990 tricycles were manufactured for free distribution to differently-abled persons. So far, 400 tricycles were supplied to Krishna, Guntur, West Godavari and Prakasam districts,โ she informed.
In 2023-24, around โน8.12 lakh worth of aids and appliances, including 42 tricyles, 15 laptops and 27 hearing aids, were distributed to the beneficiaries in Prakasam district.
In 2022-23, โน57 lakh worth of aids and appliances, including 68 battery-operated vehicles, 80 tricycles, 38 laptops, 28 smartphones and 140 hearing aids, were given to the beneficiaries in the district.
Loans under NHFDC
Speaking about the loan scheme from the National Divyangjan Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC), the official said: โOver โน60.50 lakh worth of loans were sanctioned to 22 differently-abled persons in the district under the NHDFC scheme for establishing and enhancing their livelihood units to lead decent living.โ
โAround 56 persons with disability have attended the interviews with the district screening level committee members under the chairmanship of Joint Collector. The proposals of these loan aspirants were already sent to the state government and the loan amounts will soon be disbursed to the beneficiaries as per their eligibility,โ she added.
