India emerges as leading manufacturing hub for assistive devices: The Centre

New Delhi: India is emerging as a major manufacturing hub for developing assistive devices, Rajesh Aggarwal, secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, said on Tuesday.

Addressing the 6th ASSOCHAM Conference on Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, he spoke on three issues affecting persons with disabilities — availability of infrastructure, employment opportunities and education for persons with disabilities.

“Don’t help disabled people for charity purposes, but include them in specific job profiles, not in quotas,” Rajesh said.

Citing examples of “devices such as Braille displays, speech-to-text software and adapted educational tools to facilitate learning”, he called for improving their education.

“Necessary workplace amenities such as ergonomic chairs, specialist keyboards and software solutions that support productivity should be provided,” he added.

He noted that the conference is in line with the vision of “Viksit Bharat” which aims to “make India a global hub for enabling technologies”.

“With competitive production costs and support from government policies like Make in India, India can become a key player in the global market,” said the DEPwD Secretary.

At the event, Anil Rajput, Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council for Corporate Social Responsibility, “appealed to the Indian automobile manufacturers to introduce latest technologies in disabled vehicles that are being used in different parts of the world to bring about a transformation in the lives of disabled people in India.”

“Mobility is a key factor in the lives of people with disabilities,” he added.

He also cited data from the World Health Organization (WHO) showing that 16 percent of the world’s population, or more than a billion people, suffer from some form of disability, and 80 percent of them live in developing countries.

(IANS)