Centre to invest Rs 1,700 cr for NISH: Union Minister

Centre will invest Rs 1,700 crore in phases to transform National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) as the National University for Rehabilitation Sciences and Disability Studies to benefit differently-abled people, Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot said.

“It is provisioned to spend Rs 390 crore for the first five years of expansion of the University which will have infrastructure as well as operational components,” he said during his brief visit to the NISH here, yesterday.

“The rest of the amount will be granted in the next phases which will span another five years,” the Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment said.

Gehlot, in his address, praised the state government’s initiative to build an institute as NISH which provides high quality services for the population with disabilities.

The minister, who made a round of the NISH campus, was accompanied by officials from the Department for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, including its Secretary Luv Varma and Joint Secretary Awanish K Awasthi.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked us to implement different policies for the differently-abled people and we are working on these strategies. We are planning to set up an institution for the sign language and the hearing impaired people which will be registered in March,” he said.