Info of 1.69m persons with special skills collected: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said the government has been conducting a survey to collect information of the 'persons with special skills' who were once known as the 'persons with disability'. The word 'disabled' has been changed in the world now and the 'persons with disability' are called now as the 'persons with special skills', she said. The Prime Minister said this in the Jatiya Sangsad in reply to a tabled question from Awami League lawmaker Md Israfil Alam. She said her government launched the survey from 2012-13 fiscal year to determine the number of the persons with special skills and identify their visible and invisible disability, making their registration as well as providing identity cards and developing a database with photographs for them. 'We collected information of 16,96,559 such persons till June this year through the survey and this programme is ongoing,' she said. The Leader of the House said the correct number of the persons with special skills would be determined after the completion of the survey. Sheikh Hasina said the government is executing different programmes for the welfare and protection of the persons with special skills. The programmes, she said, include conducting a survey to identify disability, framing of The Rights and Protection of the Persons with Special Skills Law, 2013, and The Protection Trust Law for the Persons with Neuro-developmental Disorder, 2013, construction of hostels for visually-challenged children, expansion and development of 'Proyas' at Dhaka Cantonment, providing free healthcare services to at least 30 per cent poor autistic children and the persons with special skills, distribution of brail books among the visually-challenged students, giving technical education and undertaking social safety and poverty alleviation programme, according to BSS.