Stadium for Specially Challenged

Visakhapatnam: The Minister for Women Empowerment and Child Welfare, Peetala Sujatha, said the State government has been doing its best for the betterment of the visually-challenged. Participating as the chief guest at the Louis Braille 207th birth anniversary at Andhra University Assembly Hall here on Monday, the Minister said as per the statistics, the State has 2.03 lakh visually challenged persons and out of 114 vacancies in the DSC (teacher posts) for them13 have been filled and the remaining would be filled shortly.

Those who were pursuing higher education were being given laptops, walking sticks, Braille textbooks, voice recorders and other useful gadgets for which an amount of Rs 1.71 crore has been sanctioned. The government has increased pensions from Rs 500 to Rs 1,500 last year. The blind schools in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Hindupur are running successfully and more infrastructure would be added soon. There are about 20 hostels in the State with all the basic facilities.

Paying rich tributes to Sir Louis Braille, the HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao said a special stadium was being built for challenged persons with an estimated budget of Rs 50 crore that would facilitate organizing of special games and sporting events. The organisers from foreign and India would be organising international games after the stadium is completed. Ramp and lifts for specially challenged persons are being set up in King George Hospital and Collectorate soon, the Minister said.