Disability department gets new name

NEW DELHI: The Department of Disability Affairs (Nishaktata Karya Vibhag) functioning under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has been renamed as the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Viklangjan Sashaktikaran Vibhag).

The Gazette notification in this regard has been issued by the Government of India, a statement here today said.

Carved out as separate department and christened as the Department of Disability Affairs in 2012 to act as the nodal Department for matters pertaining to disability and Persons with Disabilities, the department deals with a variety of issues associated with disabilities.

This apart, seven national institutes including institutes for physically handicapped, orthopaedically handicapped, visually handicapped, mentally handicapped, hearing handicapped, and Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities are functioning under the department.