From correspondents in Delhi, India, 06:30 PM IST
Kiosks providing information on various disabilities such as cerebral palsy and autism to differently-abled people and their families have been set up in six hospitals in the national capital.
The pilot project is an initiative of an NGO, Media Lab Asia, with the central government's Department of Information Technology and the National Trust, a statutory body under the ministry of social justice and empowerment.
Shankarnath Goswami, the managing director of Media Lab Asia, said these kiosks are meant to provide benefits to those who deserve these the most.
'Information holds the key to knowledge, and this initiative of Media Lab Asia aims to enable and empower persons with disabilities to manage their disabilities better," Goswami said.
The kiosks provides pamphlets giving information on various disabilities, schemes for persons with such disabilities, contact numbers and addresses of associations run by parents for persons with disabilities, help-lines and NGOs working on these issue.
They also give information on user friendly speech-based interactive system, numerical key-based simple and easy customized operation and audio-based help.
The kiosks have been set up in the psychiatry department of Ram Manohar Lohia and Safdarjung hospitals, in Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (Irwin) Hospital, Institute of Human Behaviour and Applied Sciences (IHBAS) and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
Depending on their popularity, these kiosks may be set up in other hospitals as well, officials said.
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The dissemination of information on autistic and differently abled people must include, as an important means, video shows depicting what the deficiency is, how it is caused and to what extent it can be mitigated or overcome. Mere pamphlets and books won't help people, especially those who are illiterate.
Such kiosks to provide information could be set up in every major hospital in our country. Pamphlets, leaflets, information folders and such type of awareness creating literature could be displayed in temples, mosques, gurudwaras, churches and even at the counters in star hotels across the length and width of our country.
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