New schemes to provide livelihood and assistive devices for persons with disabilities

The Union Government is preparing to launch two new schemes for persons with disabilities, aimed at training them for “dignified livelihood opportunities” and providing them with “timely access” to assistive devices by setting up “modern retail-style” Assistive Technology Marts across the country.

Even as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the two new schemes — the Divyangjan Kaushal Yojana and Divyang Sahara Yojana — as part of the government’s push for empowering persons with disabilities, rights organisation National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) has said the Budget “continues the exclusionary trajectory of the Modi government in its third term”, saying that it “violates disability rights and entrenches inequality”.