Through the ‘Niramaya’ scheme, launched in 10 districts in the country as a pilot project, persons with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities could avail medical facilities up to Rs 1 lakh.
The Labour Ministry has also recently launched a health insurance scheme for the BPL families, but the nodal ministry for the scheme for the disabled would be the Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment.
Given the speculation of early general elections, the selection of some of the districts for the insurance scheme for the disabled assumes importance as the district chosen in Uttar Pradesh is Rai Bareli, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s constituency and the one picked up in Bihar is Kaimur, which is Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Meira Kumar’s political stronghold.
The other districts are Ernakulam in Kerala, Erode in Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, Agartala in Tripura, Bageshwar in Uttarakhand and Central Delhi.
The scheme would be extended to other parts of the country soon, Ms Kumar said after announcing the scheme here.