Abhijit Nath, NET Correspondent, Tripura

Pratima Bhoumik, union minister of state for Social Justice and Empowerment and MP from 1-West Tripura parliamentary constituency informed that the government has taken initiative to distribute UDID cards among 84,000 ‘Divangyanjans’ across the state.

She was speaking at a state-level programme on felicitation of children of homes who succeeded in Madhyamik Exam-2021 organised by the Directorate of Social Welfare and Social Education. UDID certificates and helping aids were also distributed to ‘Divangyanjans’ at the program held at Agartala Town Hall.

Addressing the gathering, Bhoumik said “After being sworn in as the union minister of state for Social Justice and Empowerment, I am here in my motherland and attending first central government’s programme is in Tripura outside New Delhi. It is a pride for me”.

“There are several schemes for the welfare of ‘Divangyanjans’ in India and most were initiated under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At present, there are four DDRC in Tripura. I am asking the government of Tripura to place a proposal for setting up four more DDRCs in this state and the Ministry will immediately give a green signal for setting these centres for ‘Divangyanjans’. It would be wise if the centers are constructed near to hospitals”, she said.

She said “In the last 7 years, the central government has provided 21 types of aids including treadmills, tricycles, hearing aids to 20 lakh ‘Divangyanjans’ of the country with humanity and sincerity. The central government has spent Rs 1,235 crore for this”.

Union minister of state said “Old age homes in eight districts could be set up for senior citizens and those are to be regulated by NGOs. The government will make complete funding. Not only this, Day Care Centres for senior citizens can also be set up in every district and sub-division and central government to provide complete funding where they can stay from dawn to dusk, eat, enjoy and willing people can make crafts using their skills. These centres will also have facilities for physiotherapy and other preliminary treatment for senior citizens”.

“In Tripura, there are 84,000 ‘Divangyanjans’. The central government has selected one state ‘Madhya Pradesh’ for providing UDID cards. I requested our Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji to enroll the name of Tripura and provide 100 percent UDID card among the ‘Divangyanjans’. It will help them to get facilities throughout the country. The target can be achieved through mission-mode by organizing camps in every sub-division of the state”, Bhoumik told the gathering.

She also asked the DMs of Dhalai, North Tripura, Gomati, and West Tripura districts to make an assessment and list out the names of ‘Divangyanjans’ who need different aids and instruments for support.

In her address, union minister of state Bhoumik appreciated the role of the mothers and sisters of ASHA and Anganwadi centers for their untiring efforts to vaccinate the entire state and helped Tripura to achieve the top position with over 93 percent vaccination to date.

In this programme, Tripura SW&SE minister Santana Chakma, SW&SE department’s secretary JK Sinha, Paschim Tripura Zilla Parishad Sabadhipati Antara Deb Sarkar, Tripura Commission for Women chairperson Barnali Goswami and Tripura Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson Nilima Ghosh and department’s Director Dr. Siddarth Shiv Jaiswal was present.