Cross-Disability Early Intervention Centers for children

Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot inaugurated 14 Cross-Disability Early Intervention Centers at 7 National Institutes and 7 Composite Regional Centers (CRCs).

What is the purpose of these centers?

Centers will provide services like screening, identification, rehabilitation, counselling and therapeutic for different disabilities under one roof in a contiguous manner. It will help in identifying children with disabilities or infants who are vulnerable to develop a disability and provide them early assistance to ensure optimal development of the child.

First Phase

In the first phase, 14 cross-disability centers were launched in our institutions. By 2022, such centers will be set up in all CRCs across 25 States and Union Territories. 14 Early Intervention Centers have been started in Dehradun, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Secunderabad, Cuttack, Chennai, Surendranagar, Bhopal, Lucknow, Patna, Rajnandgaon, Nellore, and Kozhikode.

Background

Existing National Institute and CRCs have been providing rehabilitation services to differently-abled. But national institutions have been working only for specific disabilities. With the launch of cross disability Early Intervention Centers, all types of disabilities will be identified and medical & rehabilitation services will be provided under one roof.

Data on Children with disabilities

As per 2011 Census, there are 20 lakh children with disabilities in age group of 0-6 years. They belong to the categories of visually impaired, hearing impaired, locomotor disability. Thus, about 7 percent of children in this age group suffer from one or other form of disability. Numbers are expected to increase with enactment of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 as it has 21 categories in disability category instead of 7.

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2021