CHENNAI: In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday announced that a State Resource Centre (SRC) would be set up at Chennai to help differently-abled children. To encourage reading habits among these children, in the first phase, a separate section would be started in the Coimbatore Central library. Later, it would be extended to other parts of the State. The CM told the State Assembly that the SRC would have specialised doctors associated with Ministries of Social Welfare and Health besides experts and consultants from various fields including speech therapy and life-skills. The SRC would help identify the nature of disability in advance and offer necessary treatment. Besides, this Centre would function as a primary institution for providing equipment for the above treatment. Further, it would help the differently-abled in getting certificates, and financial assistance provided by the government. A separate section would be created in the SRC for getting information regarding various kinds of disabilities and the places where treatment is available. A guide containing information about such centres helping the differently abled would be released. This would be a boon for the parents, she said.She said that the government has been providing inclusive education to those suffering from dyslexia, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, Down’s Syndrome and autism. The government had appointed special teachers, 17 life-skills experts and 719 volunteers for serving the differently-abled children, at an expenditure of `41 crore. As many as 15,888 children with disabilities have been identified during the 601 medical camps conducted across the State and equipment needed for them have been provided at a cost of `3.49 crore Surgeries were also conducted on 27 children, she recalled.
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