HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar was addressing the students at the convocation ceremony of Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University at Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh. In his speech, he said that the government is planning on increasing the number of scholarships that are being awarded to differently-abled students. This was his first event of this sort after taking oath as the HRD Minister.

Decisions made during the event

The education sector is one of the vital sectors of a developing country. It is also necessary to provide education to all sections of the society. Javadekar said that differently-abled people constitute over 3 percent of our entire population. He also mentioned that Narendra Modi’s government has taken the initiative to provide education to all parts of the society, which include the minorities and financially poor citizens. He also discussed a few other issues affecting the education sector.

The minister commented that, at present, over 2,500 scholarships are available to differently-abled students and the ministry is taking steps to increase this number. Strategies are also being planned as to how differently-abled students can actively benefit from these programs.

Jagadguru Rambhadracharya himself is the University Chancellor at Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University. Mr Prakash appreciated his efforts for successfully running the university for several years now although he is differently abled himself. He also said that he had received invitations for convocation ceremonies from various institutes but he decided to attend this one first as it is a unique varsity. Mr Rambhadracharya appealed to the government to make Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University a central university.

Prakash Javadekar and BJP MP Prabhat Jha awarded the degree certificates to the students. The university conferred both of them with D.Litt degrees.

Government’s agendas for the differently-abled

• An Indian sign language research and training centre will be set up at Indira Gandhi National Open University.
• Currently, universities in the country have around 128 Equal Opportunity Cells. These cells take initiatives to provide equal opportunity to the differently-abled and other disadvantaged groups.
• Javadekar also promised that more Equal Opportunity Cells would be set up in the various universities in the country, and these universities would receive a one-time grant of Rs. 2 lakhs.