SECOND ONE DAY DISTRICT LEVEL TRAINING PROGRAM FOR EMPOWERMENT OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES at Patel Nagar, Nawada
The second one-day district-level training workshop was conducted on 14th September 2019 covering various issues related to the empowerment of persons with disabilities. The training workshop was organized, sponsored and fully supported by the National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD), Chennai in association with NIRMAN Foundation, Nawada. NIEPMD comes under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India and serves as a national resource center for the empowerment of persons with Multiple Disabilities. 100 people participated in the training workshop conducted at Sumangalam Hall, Patel Nagar, Nawada. The training workshop especially focused on the welfare and empowerment of persons with disabilities belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
Participants of the Second District Level Workshop
As mentioned earlier, more than 100 people participated in the training workshop. The participants belonged to various different backgrounds. Many of the participants were the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) who have been hired as the frontline Community Health Workers under the National Health 1 Mission (NHM) of India to serve as a link between communities and public health facilities. They are appointed for every 1000 population under the program and are especially entrusted to work with newborns, pregnant and lactating women other than surveying the health needs of their community. Many of the participants were also Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) who run the Anganwadi Centers under the Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) program. These were those Anganwadi Workers from Nawada Sadar who could not participate in the first district-level training workshop. The third group of participants were members of the local communities and some of them were also parents or caregivers of persons with disabilities. In addition to these, few social workers and local women leaders also participated in the training program. The workshop had a fair representation of participants belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
Topics Covered in the Workshop Like the other three workshops, this workshop was also divided into three sessions. The first session, conducted by Ms Raajita Kumari, focused on explaining the 21 types of disabilities as specified under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. The participants were informed in detail about each of the types and their characteristics. Many participants observed that awareness about these will help them motivate parents to avail proper treatment and benefits under various government programs. The second session, conducted by Mr. Gautam Anand, focused on various central and state-sponsored government programs for the welfare of persons with disabilities. It is often found that persons with disabilities themselves are not aware of many of the government programs for their welfare. In many cases, even if they know about the programs, they are not aware of the processes involved in availing the benefits. The participants were glad to learn about these programs. Gautam also highlighted some of the desirable social practices emphasizing that community members must not treat persons with disabilities with disrespect. Rather they should be supported and encouraged by everyone in the community to lead a respectable life like anyone else.
The third session, conducted by Ms Upma Rani, focused on services available for persons with disabilities at the Saksham Kendra at Hisua, Nawada. State Society for Ultra Poor and Social Welfare- SSUPSW (‘SAKSHAM’) is a society led by the Department of Social Welfare, Government of Bihar, registered under Societies Registration Act 1860. The vision of Saksham includes ‘to protect and promote the rights of persons with disabilities (PwDs) by ensuring their care, protection, development, socio-economic and cultural empowerment through enabling policies and programs.’ Saksham has established a centre in each sub-division of the State, including in Hisua, Nawada with various facilities for treatment, physiotherapy, exercises for persons with disabilities. In the training workshop, participants were informed about the services available at their centre and encouraged the participants to avail these services. The workshop saw active participation from all those present. Participants and resource persons were engaged in a healthy discussion on various issues related to definitions, services, and processes of availing government programs for the welfare of persons with disabilities.