Parliament Question: Funds to DDRS

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE & EMPOWERMENT DEPARTMENT OF EMPOWRERMENT OF PERSONS WITH DISABILTIES (DIVYANGJAN) LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1404 TO BE ANSWERED ON- 28/07/2026 FUNDS TO DDRS 1404. Smt. Sanjna Jatav: Shri Chavda Vinod Lakhamshi: Shri Tapir Gao: Smt. Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah: Shri Chintamani Maharaj: Dr. Rajesh Mishra: Shri Ananta Nayak: Shri Jagdambika Pal: Shri Jyotirmay Singh Mahato: Shri Bhojraj Nag: Ms. Bansuri Swaraj: Will the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment be pleased to state: (a) the total number of residential and non-residential special schools established for physically and mentally challenged children during the last years, State and district-wise including Rajasthan, Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Palghar district, Surguja Lok Sabha Constituency and Keonjhar Lok Sabha Constituency; (b) the funds released and utilized under the Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS), State and district-wise including Rajasthan, Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Palghar district, Surguja Lok Sabha Constituency and Keonjhar Lok Sabha Constituency; (c) whether the Government proposes to implement any special scheme to expand education, rehabilitation and skill development facilities in tribal and remote areas like surguja and if so, the details thereof; (d) the extent to which revised institutional guidelines have been deployed to scale up the integration of self-learning Braille devices for visually impaired students State and district- wise including Rajasthan, Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Palghar district, Surguja Lok Sabha Constituency and Keonjhar Lok Sabha Constituency; and (e) the details of the total number of residential and non-residential specialised schools established for physically and mentally challenged children in tribal dominated areas in the country, State and district-wise including Palghar district in Maharashtra? 1ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT (SHRI B. L. VERMA) (a): The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) has not established any residential or non-residential special schools for physically and mentally challenged children. (b): Under the Deendayal Divyangjan Rehabilitation Scheme (DDRS), financial assistance is provided to voluntary organisations for providing rehabilitation services to persons with disabilities, including early intervention, development of daily living skills, education and training with a view to facilitating their inclusion in the mainstream of society. The State/UT-wise details of funds released under the DDRS, including Rajasthan, Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh are given in the Annexure enclosed. The details of funds released during the last 03 years under DDRS in respect of Palghar, Surguja and Keonjhar districts are given below:- District 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 (Amount in Rs.) (Amount in Rs.) (Amount in Rs.) Keonjhar 53,00,235 18,28,446 - Sarguja - 74,14,799 96,79,781 Palghar - - - (c): No such proposal is under consideration at present. (d): National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities has recently constituted the 'Technical Advisory Council for Education and Rehabilitation of Persons with Visual Impairment (TAC-ERPVI)' to explore and recommend appropriate measures for the integration of Braille development, self-learning Braille devices, refreshable Braille displays and other emerging assistive technologies for persons with visual impairment. It also provides technical guidance for promoting innovation, enhancing accessibility, and improving the quality of educational and rehabilitation services through research, standardization and capacity building. (e): The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) has not established any residential or non-residential special schools for physically and mentally challenged children. ***** 2Annexure Details of fund released under DDRS during last 3 years 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 S.No. Name of the State Amount Amount Amount (Rs. in lakh) (Rs. in lakh) (Rs. in lakh) 1 Andhra Pradesh 2851.56 2728.45 2777.56 2 Arunachal Pradesh 0 0 0 3 Assam 136.87 238.3 106.82 4 Bihar 68.65 61.28 77.7 5 Chhattisgarh 0 74.15 96.79 6 Delhi 166.89 220.25 208.38 7 Goa 0 0 0 8 Gujarat 95.19 120.09 24.27 9 Haryana 174.61 155.19 228.95 10 Himachal Pradesh 84.13 103.98 69.69 11 Jammu & Kashmir 0 0 0 12 Jharkhand 0 0 0 13 Karnataka 73.73 94.88 45.49 14 Kerala 455.2 1737.41 1517.06 15 Ladakh 0.44 0 0 16 Madhya Pradesh 484.55 327.12 377.17 17 Maharashtra 311.19 111.29 107.82 18 Manipur 946.48 1162.44 825.25 19 Meghalaya 87.86 202.68 112.89 20 Mizoram 17.26 41.29 30.41 21 Nagaland 46.83 38.28 13.37 22 Odisha 1382.09 1293.27 1661.93 23 Puducherry 80.65 82.75 52.13 324 Punjab 211.68 304.1 407.66 25 Rajasthan 320.06 418.05 378.24 26 Sikkim 0 0 0 27 Tamil Nadu 312.15 267.91 211.13 28 Tripura 51.67 0 0 29 Uttar Pradesh 1653.52 2168 1173.24 30 Uttrakhand 80.48 165.38 13.8 31 West Bengal 782.79 675.73 798.13 32 Telangana 2121.26 1781.44 1629.33 33 Andman and Nicobar 0 0 0 34 Chandigarh 0 0 0 35 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu 0 0 0 36 Lakshadweep 0 0 0 ***** 4