Govt to set up 100 centres to provide affordable assistive devices to PwDs

NEW DELHI: About 100 centres will be set up by June for providing affordable assistive devices to people with disabilities and senior citizens, a senior official said.

From 10 Pradhan Mantri Divyasha Kendra (PMDK), there are 45 such centres which have been established in all states and Union territories, Disabilities Affairs Department Secretary Rajesh Aggarwalsaid.

“We plan to further scale up these centres and establish 100 such centres by June this year,” he said.

PMDK is an initiative of the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India and it offers services, including prosthesis and orthosis fitment, audiometry assessments, and after-sales support.

“Through these centres, we are trying to offer more choices to people. Also, devices being provided are custom made so it would earlier take longer time for people with disabilities to get the device but now we are trying to solve the problem by establishing more centres,” he said.

A senior ALIMCO official said the initiative provides complimentary fitting, user training, and service for assistive devices for individuals with disabilities and senior citizens. He said with more centres and distribution, the production capacity of ALIMCO has also increased by 2.5 times in the past five years.

The official said there are also talks with other countries to establish auxiliary production centres in other countries like Egypt.