New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) Only 55-60 District Disability Rehabilitation Centres have been made functional in the country till now as against the target of 269, according to a parliamentary standing committee report.

The report on social justice and empowerment, tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday, asked the government to expedite the process and set up the centres in every designated district of the country at the earliest.

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"The committee has been stressing the need for accelerating the pace by the department in setting up of DDRCs in all 269 designated districts in the country as only 55-60 District Disability Rehabilitation Centres (DDRCs) are functional till now," it said.

The panel also expressed disappointment that even after the lapse of more than six years, no dedicated sports training facilities for the disabled have been made fully functional by the Department of Persons of Disabilities.

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"While the committee was anticipating that the centre at Gwalior would finally see fruition, yet from the action-taken replies, it appears that the project is yet again delayed. Moreover, as informed by the department, construction of no other sports training facility for PwDs is in consideration at the moment," it said.

The committee said it deplores the present situation.

"Especially since the finance minister had made an announcement of establishing five such centres in the Budget speech of 2014-15. The committee, therefore, once again impressed upon the department to leverage their monitoring and execution mechanism to ensure that the centre at Gwalior is completed expeditiously," it said.

Another issue raised by the committee is the meagre pension given to people with disabilities who are below the poverty line.

"The committee would like to call attention to the absurdity of granting a meagre pension amounting to only Rs 300, which given the current state of inflation, appears farcical.

"Hence, the committee reiterates its earlier recommendation and exhorts the department to renew their efforts earnestly so that the pension amount can be raised to a reasonable level and be of actual use to the beneficiaries," it said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)