Write Comment     |     E-Mail To a Friend     |     Facebook     |     Twitter     |     Print

Dubai : A Blind girl student singing welcome song behalf of Union Minister for Human Resource Development Shri Prakash Javadekar’s welcome at Kamala Mehata Blind School, Dadar in Mumbai on September 17, 2016.Shri Rajkumar Bodole, Minister for Social Justice (Govt. of Maharastra) also present at visit.Union Minister for Human Resource Development Shri Prakash Javadekar chit chat with the blind girl student at Kamala Mehata Blind School, Dadar in Mumbai on September 17, 2016.

Shri Rajkumar Bodole, Minister for Social Justice (Govt. of Maharastra) also present at visit. Union Minister for Human Resource Development Shri Prakash Javadekar seen typing work by a blind girl student. Smt Pritam Munde, MP also present. 

Union Minister for Human Resource Development  Prakash Javadekar today visited the 116 year old Kamala Mehta Dadar School for the Blind in Mumbai, where he reiterated Government’s commitment for inclusive growth and welfare of the disabled . The minister specifically insisted on calling them differently abled or Divyaang as suggested by the Prime Minister.

After interacting with students of the school and witnessing their varied talents, Shri Javadekar said “the visit to this 116 year old institution has given me new energy to work for inclusive development”.  He said the Government at the Centre is committed to the uplift of dalit, poor, downtrodden and marginalized people as part of its ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ motto. 

 The Minister said ‘accessible education’  or ‘sugamya shiksha’ is an integral part of the New Education Policy to help disabled empower themselves.  Under the Sugamya Shiksha scheme, the schools will be provided with ramps to facilitate easy access and movement,  customized toilets,  necessary teaching aids and financial support to appoint special teachers.
Shri Javadekar said 46,000 differently abled children are enrolled in schools in Maharashtra, and remarked that all the remaining children should be mapped and brought into the schooling system. “The confidence which you get through education works as a spring board for success in life” he added. The Minister complemented the efforts put in by special teachers of the school for imparting multiple skills like painting, singing, embroidery, stitching and even computer programming to the students.

The Union HRD Minister’s visit to the School for the Blind was an attempt to familiarize with the ground realities and challenges in promoting inclusive education. On an earlier occasion, Shri Javadekar had paid a visit to a night school, also in Dadar with a similar mission.

About Kamala Mehta Dadar School for the Blind  
Set up originally by the American Marathi Mission to serve the children blinded by the Sholapur famine at the turn of the 19th Century, it has since been catering specifically to visually challenged girls, and, is the only one of its kind in Mumbai and its environs. The school is noted for high level of proficiency of its students who can answer all the exam papers in Marathi on a computer. The school authorities are confident, if the SSC Board (Secondary School Board) permits, its students can take the Class X Board examination on PCs without the aid of writer.