Social
security measures sought for disabled
New
Delhi: Union social justice and empowerment minister
Satyanarayana Jatiya has written to finance minister
Jaswant Singh proposing the inclusion in the budget
of social security measures for persons with disabilities.
The measures are targeted both at middle-income and
lower-income group families of persons with disabilities.
These
steps, according to Jatiya, “Will have a direct, immediate
and measurable impact on at least one lakh persons with
disabilities and their families in this year itself.”
Jatiya has proposed that a Rs. 100-crore National Fund
for the Several Disabled be set up which will target
persons with disabilities coming from lower income or
below poverty line (BPL) families. The target group
will be persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental
retardation and multiple disabilities.
Described
as an “outright subsidy”, the aim is to provide financial
assistance of Rs. 100 per month to families of persons
with disabilities in each of the 586 districts of the
country. Four kinds of allowances – nutrition and medical,
education and training, disability unemployment and
disability pension – for different age-groups have been
proposed.
As for middle-income group families, the ministry has mooted
tax incentives for individuals and corporate who contribute
towards family savings or gift annuities for the benefit
of persons with disabilities, tax benefits for companies
employing the mentally challenged and raising the tax
deduction limit from the present Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 60,000
for persons with disabilities or their families.
Source: The Times of India
Date: 28th February 20003
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