SHILLONG: In a proud moment for Meghalaya, Celina Lawai Shillong was conferred with the National Award for Best Employee for the year 2019 under the Category Locomotor Disabilities by the Vice President, M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday at a function to celebrate “International Day of Persons with Disabilities”
The 30-year-old Celina is having para-paresis in both lower limbs since birth constituting 90% locomotor disability. She is a Graduate. She has conducted awareness programmes and trainings for persons with disabilities. She is working as a data entry operator in the Block Development Office.
The Vice President of India M. Venkiah Naidu conferred the National Awards on Individuals, Institutions and Organizations for their outstanding achievements and work done towards empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
Addressing on the occasion, the Vice President said that India is one of those countries which have very high number of people with disabilities.
According to the Census of India 2011, there are 2.68 crore persons with Disabilities in the country, which constitutes 2.21% of the population. This number may still be higher as many persons especially because those with mental health issues often hide them due to social stigma attached to these ailments.
The Vice President emphasised that there was a need to study and analyse various dimensions of disability comprehensively and need to identify the causes of disability and find ways to deal with them so that each individual was empowered to live a life of dignity.