UP Govt's gift for the handicapped

LUCKNOW: Come December 3, a suprise gift awaits physiaclly handicapped persons when chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav launches a special self-employment scheme gifting them away a ''Mobile PCO-cum-grocery store'' on World Disability Day.
Drafted on the pattern of Delhi government, the UP government has cleared a scheme under which physically disabled persons would be gifted a specially-designed covertible tricycle equipped with WLL phone and racks for selling bread, butter, eggs and other daily use household items.
In addition to offering cheaper loans for self-employment, the state government has already taken a policy decision to dovetail funds from other departments for the welafre and rehabilitation of the handicapped. The government has issued a GO making it mandatory for backward, minority and SC/ST welfare departments to earmark five per cent of their total funds for the disabled . About Rs 30 crore would be made available for various welfare schemes for disabled through this.
Besides this, the state government has also decided to set-up a three-member techno advisory committee for disabled (TACD). The committee would update the government on latest gadgets, software, medical facilities available world over for physically handicapped, mentally retarded, blind and deaf and dumb students.
The handicapped and welfare department is seeking help from experts to redesign the tricycle distributed by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in Delhi on late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi''s birthday. "Mobile PCO alone is not a viable business proposition. We are redesigning the tricycle in such a way that it could windowdress items for a small grocery shop to boost the income of the owner," reasons out Rohit Nandan, secretary of the department.
He claimed that initially the self-employment scheme would be launched in Lucknow on World Disability Day on December 3 for 100 physically handicapped persons and later extended to other districts covering all unemployed disabled persons. Due to political constraints, the department is hesitating in approaching the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Instead, help from big corporate houses are being sought for making all handicapped unemployed persons self-reliant in Uttar Pradesh.
Talks are on with Reliance Infocomm, Tata Indicomm and other corporate houses for financial and technical support. "Reliance would be too happy to be associated with this unqiue scheme. Although their proposal is yet to come, we assure a concessional package to help these special persons stand on their feet," said Reliance Infocomm CEO, VV Singh.