Latur, Dec 10 (PTI) The NDA governmentis committed to empower people with disabilities and bring them in mainstream of the society by providing aids and assistive devices, Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawarchand Gehlot said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very sensitive towards the differently abled and under his guidance, the government has taken a host of measures for their welfare, he said while speaking at an event here through video conferencing.

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The Centre has increased the reservation for the disabled in government jobs from 3 per cent to 4 per cent and in higher education from 3 per cent to 5 per cent, Gehlot said.

He was speaking from New Delhi at the inaugural function of a 'Social Empowerment Camp' organised jointly by the Union Ministry of Social Justice, ALIMCO (Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India) and the Latur district administration.

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Maharashtra's Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde presided over the function online from Mumbai.

Gehlot said his department is focused on empowerment of persons with disabilities and ALIMCO, a PSU, has sanctioned a sum of Rs 338 crore for its large-scale moderniation.

The Department of Social Justice is trying to bring every beneficiary (of welfare schemes) into the mainstream by distributing a large number of aids and assistive devices to the disabled in the country," he said.

"So far, 2,816 registration camps have been conducted across the country. Of these, 600 camps were conducted for providing aids and assistance, reaching out to 16 lakh beneficiaries," Gehlot said.

"The country has set a world record in distribution of aids and assistive devices to the disabled," the Union minister said.

Under the Disability Act 2017, the Centre has increased the reservation for persons with disabilities in government jobs from 3 per cent to 4 per cent and in higher education from 3 per cent to 5 per cent, he said.

"The Department of Social Justice is working towards issuing unique identity cards to 268 lakh disabled people. It will help them get all benefits of government schemes on a single identity card," Gehlot said.

So far, 50.33 lakh unique cards have been distributed across the country, 3 lakh of them in Maharashtra, he sai. PTI

(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)