By Our Correspondent
SAMBALPUR:With the aim of providing modern medical facilities to the differently-abled people of Sambalpur and surrounding areas, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the ‘Advanced Rehabilitation Center’ (ARC) built at a cost of about Rs 23 crore at Sambalpur Balibandha on the occasion of the holy Nuakhai on Thursday.
In this program organized by the Social Security and Empowerment of the Disabled Department of the Government of Odisha and the Sambalpur District Administration, Shri Pradhan said that the ‘Modern Rehabilitation Center’ inaugurated on the occasion of Nuakhai will meet the artificial limb needs of the Orthopedics and Disabled people of Sambalpur and the surrounding areas. The Union Minister thanked the Social Security and Empowerment of the Disabled Department of the Government of Odisha and the District Administration for establishing this center.
On this occasion, the Education Minister distributed various assistive devices to the disabled and pensioners under the social security scheme of the Odisha Government and gave many useful suggestions to the district administration. He said that this rehabilitation center has many modern machines or high-quality equipment. Doctors should be trained to operate these machines. A workshop should be organized on this.
He added that the double engine government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making continuous efforts to include the differently-abled in the mainstream of society. In the coming days, a list of all differently-abled people should be prepared in Sambalpur. Equipment should be distributed to the differently-abled at the block level every month and arrangements should be made for tuition for differently-abled students. Shri Pradhan advised the district administration to take the responsibility of training the differently-abled children of the society to make them self-reliant, especially by planning how differently-abled students can participate in various competitions, study and become IAS officers.
It is noteworthy that the inaugurated rehabilitation center has two main units namely – Robotic Physiotherapy Unit and Advanced Prosthetic or Orthotic Unit. A total expenditure of more than Rs. 23 crores has been spent on the center established here, out of which about Rs. 19 crores have been spent on the Robotic Physiotherapy Unit and about Rs. 4.27 crores on the Advanced Prosthetic or Orthotic Unit. With the establishment of this center, our disabled brothers and sisters of Sambalpur and its neighboring districts will be particularly benefited.
Ravi Naik, Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water, Government of Odisha, and local MLA Jai Narayan Mishra were prominent present at the event.
