National Programme to mark Disabled Day

The International Day of Disabled Persons falls today. The National ceremony organised by the Social Services and Social Welfare Ministry will be held today at 9.00 am at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI), Colombo 7.

Social Services and Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda, Education Minister Susil Premajayantha and Social Services and Social Welfare Deputy Minister Lionel Premasiri and several others will take part .

Cultural items presented by disabled persons and several other events are included in the national ceremony. Arrangements were made to provide various relief and services for the disabled persons under Mahinda Chinthanaya. Under this programme a monthly payment of Rs. 3,000 is provided to every disabled person's family since last year.

Last year was designated as the Year of Accessibility and the implementation of the regulations prepared under the Protection of the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities Act No. 28 of 1996 was to be effected from 2007 to 2009. Accordingly the Social Services and Social Welfare Ministry took steps to provide accessibility to build environment, public places, Information Technology including removing barriers in road and rail transport.

It is estimated that there are about 200,000 disabled persons in Sri Lanka.