D. Napoleon gives away National Trust Annual Awards-2009

Shri D. Napoleon, Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment called upon people to realize the abilities and talents of the Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). He urged the agencies working for the welfare of disabled to create more awareness and make people understand that disabled can do many things, if given opportunities. “Each one of you has a duty”, this was stated by the minister while giving away the National Trust Annual Awards-2009, here today. The National Trust is a statutory body under the Ministry of social justice & empowerment set up for the welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities.

Highlighting the various activities of the National trust like creating platform for ensuring skill development and capacity building of people with developmental disabilities, the minister stated that the slogan of the trust- “Discover Ability”, is very appropriate and is reflected in all the schemes of the trust. He expressed hope that with these efforts the National Trust will really make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities and ensure that they are treated as equal citizens.

Shri Napoleon mentioned that the National Trust Act tries to answer, some difficult questions, especially “What happens to my child when I am no more?”, “this requires us to develop many support systems” added the minister. He further said the work of the Local Level Committees (LLCs), is the most important one, among such support systems. Expressing happiness over the work of some of the best LLCs, the minister impressed upon the trust to try out several methods of training and awareness creation to ensure effective functioning of the LLCs.

The Awards were given in six categories: Best Individual, Best Innovative Design , Best Sheltered Workshop, Best Local Level Committee, Best Employer, Best Organisation. In the Best Individual Category, Persons with disabilities Award was given to Mr. Prathmesh Yashwant Date from Kolhapur, Maharashtra. In the sub category of Parent of Person with Disability the Award went to Nurul Islam, Shri Shiva Kumar Srivastava, Shri Hemant Bhai Goel. In the sub category of Best Professional Individual the Award was conferred on Ms Arundhati Kulkarni, Mr. P Narayanan and Ms Fulrani Kinalekar.

Disha, Sirsa, Haryana bagged the Best Sheltered Workshop Award. Best Local Level Committee Award in the North East Zone, South Zone, Central Zone, North Zone and West Zone were given to East Sikkim, Sikkim, Kavaratti, Lakshadweep, Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh, Mau, Uttar Pradesh and Latur, Maharashtra respectively. In the Best Employer category Sakthi Masala (P) Ltd. Erode, Tamilnadu received the award. In the Best Organization category Award for Best NGO was given to Deepshika, Ranchi and Sanjiwani, Tezpur, Assam.

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TFK/AP
(Release ID :52542)