Disability need not be an obstacle to success” Stephen Hawking wrote in the first ever world disability report back in 2011. As one of the most influential scientists of modern times, the physicist using wheelchair is certainly a proof of that!
National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (Divyangjan), NIEPMD’s mission is to generate new knowledge and to promote its effective use to improve the abilities of individuals with disabilities to perform activities of their choice in the community, and to expand society’s capacity to provide full opportunities and accommodations for its citizens with disabilities.
As a national resource centre for empowerment of persons with multiple disabilities under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India; NIEPMD achieves this mission by providing research, demonstration, training, technical assistance and related activities to maximize the full inclusion and integration into society, employment, independent living, family support, and economic & social self-sufficiency of individuals with disabilities of all ages.
The institute annually caters to over 2.5 lakh individuals and families with disabilities across the country through its vast variety of services specifically designed to meet the needs of the individuals with multiple disabilities, autism, cerebral palsy, deafblindess, intellectual disabilities, mental illness, locomotor disability, dwarfism, muscular dystrophy, chronic neurological conditions, specific learning disabilities, multiple sclerosis, speech and language disabilities, leprosy cured persons etc. No stone is left unturned to ensure that the best opportunities and services are made available to the Divyangjan to help them attain their maximal potential.
Visiting here one can only fathom the services designed here for all possible needs of a person with her/his unique abilities, for example- sensory integration for persons who are struggling to orient themselves to their immediate environments; schooling for educational intervention owing to their individualised needs and age appropriate curriculum, vocational training to ensure livelihood and sense of purpose to the individual; independent living training through systematic training procedures and programs; among other clinical services. The institute also offers similar services through its Composite Regional Centres for Skill Development, Rehabilitation and Empowerment for persons with disabilities at Kozhikode, Nagpur, Gorakhpur and Sikkim.
Apart from offering lifecycle need based multi-speciality services namely physical medicine, medical services, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, sensory integration, early intervention services, prosthetics and orthotic services, psychological intervention, inclusive preparatory and special school services, skill development programs, speech and hearing interventions, etc; to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities and their families, NIEPMD also extensively engages in human resource development, parent empowerment programs, mobile services, distribution of aids and appliances, community based rehabilitation programs and research activities.
Through its long-term and short-term training programs ranging from Certificate course to Diploma, UG and PG and M.Phil. level; they offer training in special education for different disabilities like multiple disability, autism, cerebral palsy and intellectual disability; and also offer training programmes in allied services like physiotherapy; occupational therapy; audiology, speech and language pathology; clinical psychology etc. The professionals trained at the institute are provided excellent job offers and patronized by renowned organizations across the country; as they are trained in the state of the art facility in rehabilitation research that allows them to gather their expertise in case handling, child care, teaching and mentoring to individuals with special needs. The candidates gain proficiency in assessment, case recording, administering intervention and reporting.
In addition to conducting training programs nationally, the institute also conducts examinations for the various levels of programs at a national level through the National Board of Examination in Rehabilitation (NBER), a statutory body under the Rehabilitation Council of India. Further, the institute offers various short-term training programs across the nation to strengthen the expertise and experience of the professionals to render the best possible services. The current advancements in the sector, modified methodologies, techniques for handling the challenging issues are the prioritized components of these programs. Many of these programs are part of Continued Rehabilitation Education (CRE) and are accredited by RCI (Govt of India) and implemented through Public-Private Partnership mode across the nation. Moreover, many parents and siblings can be witnessed at the premise of the institute, taking the periodical training program to strengthen their capacity to cater to the growth needs of their wards and facilitate a better understanding of intervention needs and methods. The institute is known to conduct over 250 short-term training programs for parents and professionals annually at national level.
The institute has specialized services, programs and facilities for populace from the SC, ST categories and the North-East of India. Apart from offering long-term and short-term training programs, they also conduct various sports, cultural, creative arts, exhibition, awareness programmes, seminars, conferences, workshops etc throughout the year with an aim to provide knowledge in disability prevention, early detection of disabilities, disability rehabilitation and improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities and their families.
The essence of the institution is to create, integrate and disseminate better understanding of the World around with persons having disability being in it as contributing citizens rather than a service availing population. Keeping this in mind a nation pool of case studies and reference material is being created and maintained through numerous projects, workshops and conferences. The commitment in maintained to be constantly in touch with the think tanks and academicians which a research mind to invoke the finest literature and documentation to charter the progress in research based knowledge in the field of disability rehabilitation.
Research and Development is one of the important aims and objectives of the institute, with a primary focus to conduct both qualitative and quantitative research; for which it has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with various national and international educational institutes for the purpose of research, faculty exchange programs and human resource development. A testimony of the institute’s commitment to research is their convergence with Ministry of Ayush and Central Council of Research in Homeopathy; along with many national and international Universities and Institutes of high-repute for undertaking disability studies. The organisation aims to be self-sustained and creative environment so as to generate new knowledge and flourish in its out-reach to various organisation and individuals who can contribute to the knowledge source of the organisation. The new researches are documented and resource persons sought to train the aspiring persons to gather such rich information as per the national scenario and professional temper like- technology as a modality, rights based inclusion, rights based living, legal presence and sense of responsibility, human value based intervention modalities etc.
The institute nationally implements various schemes of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (Govt. of India); for instance, under the Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase and Fittings of Aids and Appliances (ADIP) scheme, the institute organises identification, assessment and distribution camps to provide learning kits for Intellectual Disability, Multiple Disability, Autism, Cerebral Palsy and Deafblind apart from Hearing Aid, Prosthetic and Orthotic Aids and Appliances. Under the Scheme for Implementation of Persons with Disabilities Act (SIPDA), the institute provides Financial Assistance for Skill Training of Persons with Disabilities and actively engages in Skilling of Persons with Disabilities in order to equip them for better employment opportunities.
The Accessible India Campaign to ensure access to built environment, transportation system and Information & Communication, and creating an accessible Eco-system; is endorsed by the institute throughout country. NIEPMD has received the National Award for Best Accessible Website for persons with Disabilities in the year 2011. The disability-friendly building of the institute got it the National Award for Creation of Barrier Free Environment for Persons with Disabilities in the Year 2012. Another credibility of the institute can be seen through its NAAC accreditation by UGC in the year 2018 and ISO – 9001 :2015 in the year 2019. Further, the institute offers accessible transport facility to its beneficiaries for availing services at the campus. The institute provides its expertise for attaining accessibility in Electoral process for persons with disabilities, Accessibility Assessment of Buildings and Infrastructure, Unique Disability Identity Card (UDID) and various other programs and schemes of Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt. of India.
For a larger outreach and impact, the institute observes various days of significance and events like International Day of Persons with Disabilities, World Autism Awareness Day, World Multiple Sclerosis Day, International Yoga Day, Hellen Keller’s Birthday, Teacher’s Day, World Physiotherapy Day, World Cerebral Palsy Day, World Mental Health Day among many others, apart from national days and festivals of eminence including Independence Day, Republic Day, Hindi Diwas, Gandhi Jayanti, Constitution Day etc. Various activities like rallies, inter-college competitions, inclusive fun-games, sports events, cultural events, quiz contests, slogan/essay/poetry writing, debate competition, workshops and numerous other innovative events are commonly witnessed at the institute.
Through its various activities it can be seen that across the NIEPMD’s agenda, the central focus is on the whole person with disability, whose ability function and quality of life are dependent on the complex interactions among personal, societal and environmental factors. The institute addresses a wide range of
disabilities and impairments across populations of all ages; and plays a unique and significant role and invests in rehabilitation research that is tied more closely to the longer-term outcomes such as independence, community participation and employment.
