High-tech wheelchairs distributed by Kerala government

In a move towards making Kerala disabled-friendly, 10 high-tech wheelchairs, developed by the Kerala State Science and Technology Museum, were distributed to people with disabilities during the launch of the Shubhayatra project.

The government believes that the Shubhayatra project is a major step in the welfare of the disabled.

The project aims at the early detection of and support in problems faced by people with disabilities, and to integrate them with the mainstream. A number of schemes had been formulated with this aim.

Funds had been set aside for setting up early intervention centres in all district hospitals. Twenty-five mobile units for detection of autism and cerebral palsy in children in rural areas and providing them physiotherapy and other treatment will be launched in August.

Camps for distributing assistive devices would be held in all districts using central government funds. The cost of development and building the motorised wheelchair is Rs 43,000. Some changes can be made to the wheelchair, so that it could be controlled by people with speech impairments.