Odisha to provide assistive devices, wheelchairs to differently abled students in colleges

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government will distribute aids and appliances to 'divyang' students in higher educational institutions across the state, officials said on Wednesday. As part of the initiative, each institution will be provided with three wheelchairs, they said.

The state government has designated regional directors and deputy directors of education as district nodal officers to oversee the implementation of the scheme. The nodal officers will coordinate with higher educational institutions and district social security officers (DSSOs) to ensure the effective distribution of assistive devices among eligible students, the officials said.

The district nodal officers will collect data on the persons with disabilities from institutions and share it with the DSSOs. After verification of the data, assistive devices will be distributed to the beneficiaries. The entire process will be jointly monitored by the higher education and social security, and empowerment of persons with disabilities departments.