Bill seeking to ensure rights of disabled to land in next JS session
Dhaka, Aug 12 (UNB) - Social Welfare Minister Enamul Hoque Mostofa Shaheed on Sunday said a bill will be placed in the next session of parliament to ensure the rights of people with disabilities and bring them into the mainstream of education and development.
“The draft of the bill is at the final stage. It’ll be placed in the next session of parliament after the Cabinet’s approval,” he said.
The minister came up with the disclosure while handing over the Cochlear Implant allotment papers among 18 guardians of children with hearing impairment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
Cochlear Implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf. Each of the devices costs Tk 9 lakh to Tk 18 lakh depending on their models.
Under a Tk 10-crore three-year project, funded by the government under the Social Welfare Ministry, a total of 48 cochlear implant devices would be given free of cost.
Addressing the programme, Enamul Hoque said the present government is working sincerely to bring the persons with disabilities into the mainstream of education and development to give them chance to make contributions to the country’s development.
The physically-challenged people can significantly contribute to the country’s development if they are given proper social support, the minister said adding that a national survey to identify the disabled people is almost complete.
About the Cochlear Implant programme, the minister said he will try his best to continue the programme for the benefit of hearing-impaired people.
Through the ‘Development of Cochlear Implant Programme at
BSMMU’, 36 patients have got the sanction of cochlear implant device and 17 of them have been implanted successfully in inner ear through surgeries.
The programme also plans to give Cochlear Implant to another 12 more patients in phases.
Information Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamun, BSMMU Vice-chancellor Prof Pran Gopal Datta, Director of Cochlear Implant Program Prof Abul Hasnat Joarder and the programme coordinator Dr Zahurul Huq Sachchu, among others, addressed the programme.
