By  Bhupen Goswami

Guwahati : The issue of Disability needs to be present in mass media to bring about a paradigm shift in the perception of Disability. Media can play a very important role in changing public perception towards persons with disabilities- In view on this, a one day Seminaron “Media And Disability” for Journalism professionals wasorganized by National Institute for LocomotorDisabilities (Divyangjan),Kolkata under the Department of Empowerment of PwDs, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment,today in NEDFi, Guwahati. Inaugurating the Seminar, the Chief Guest Shri K.S. Dhatwaliya, Director General, North East Zone, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India said in his address that in the recent times Divyangjan has taken a way towards a positive direction.Highlighting the various initiatives for Divyangjan taken by the Central Government, he said thatboth the central and State Governments are committed to give all facilities to the Divyangjan. Adding that these people with disabilities are blessed with special merits in their lives and there is a need to highlight that they have better quality in various way, he requested the media persons to highlight all positive thing related to Divyangjans. Explaining about the Legislative provisions for Persons with Disabilities and its implementation in the North East Region, Dr.DebajitKhanikar, Deputy Secretary to the Government of Assam, Social Welfare Department, as one of the speaker said that persons with Disabilities were once discriminated by the society. Time has come to provide them proper environment and facilities. Focusing on the Role of media in understanding disability, another speaker of the seminar, Dr. A.M. Farooqi, Head of Regional Outreach Bureau, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Guwahati said that the mindset of people towards Disabled person needs to be changed and stereotypes should be avoided . He emphasised on treating persons with disability as any other normal human being rather than showing pity for them. To bring changes in the thought process of society he urged media to come forward with more representation and increased amount of coverage on Divyangjan. According to the National censuses and reports, around 26.8 million persons with disabilities were identified in India. Out of 44.31 million total population of the North Eastern region, based on the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, we can expect a total of 6.6 million persons with disabilities. Out of them we can expect about 970,000 persons (2.2%) with significant functional limitations who require some rehabilitation services- This statistics was highlighted by another speaker of the day Sri Mintu Bhattacharya, Assistant Professor, Department of Disabilities Studies, Gauhati University. Prior to this as the Guest of Honour Shri R. R. Gharphaliya, the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Government of Assam addressed the participants and said that Media can play greater role in bringing changes in the mind set towards persons with Disability .ShriPankajBajpai, Deputy Director, Administration, NILD, Kolkata conveyed his regards to all the Dignitaries and participants from Media in his welcome address.