The North Eastern Council has sanctioned an amount Rs. 450 lakhs for setting up of an Artificial Limb Fitting Center at the Ramakrishna Mission Hospital at Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh. This forms a part of the North Eastern Councils’ programme to extend its help towards the rehabilitation of physically handicapped persons in the North-Eastern Region.
Similar Rehabilitation Centres have been set up by the North Eastern Council at Agartala, Aizawl and Shillong. The Centre at Shillong was approved in August last year at an estimated cost of Rs. 10.60 lakhs of which the North Eastern Council is to provide an amount of Rs. 9.63 lakhs. The balance amount was provided by the Talents Club Shillong. The approved outlay for the current year for the Rehabilitation Centre at Shillong is Rs. 6.07 lakhs.
It may be mentioned here that the total lack of rehabilitation services for the physically handicapped persons in the North Eastern Region was brought to focus during the International Year for the Disabled Persons.
Excepting Assam where a Centre was already functioning, none of the other Units had such facilities. Accordingly the North Eastern Council came forward with a scheme for helping the Constituent Units by setting up Rehabilitation Centres for the Orthopedically handicapped persona t the capital towns excepting Assam at a total estimated cost of Rs. 81.26 lakhs.