Gorakhpur, September 30: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that a society's progress and true identity are not determined by its tall buildings. A society's progress lies in a system where the benefits of government schemes reach the person at the last rung of society, firmly and without discrimination. This is the first principle of good governance. The double-engine government of Uttar Pradesh is working on this principle. Chief Minister also announced that the pension amount for persons with disabilities would soon be increased again. He has also directed that District Disability Rehabilitation Centers be established in all 18 divisions.
CM Yogi was addressing an artificial limbs and assistive devices distribution ceremony organized jointly by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited at Gorakhpur Club in Civil Lines on Wednesday. On the occasion, he distributed 664 assistive devices of various types, including motorized tricycles, e-tricycles, smartphones, smart canes and Braille kits, to 509 beneficiaries.
At the program organized under the ‘Seva Sankalp Abhiyan’, being conducted to mark the completion of 25 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as head of government, CM stated that under Modi Ji’s leadership, in 12 years, benefits of government schemes have reached people at the last rung of society without discrimination. The double-engine government has never discriminated in any scheme based on person, opinion, religion, region, language, etc. There has been only one goal: 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas'.
Chief Minister said that Indian culture states, ‘Ayogyo Purusho Nasti’. That is, in our culture, no person is considered incomplete. Indian wisdom says that no person is incapable. If someone calls another person incapable, it means that there is no Yojak. When the country has a Yojak like Prime Minister Modi Ji, how can anyone remain incapable? Under his leadership, housing, toilets, cooking gas connections and pensions have been provided to those in need, while employment and jobs have been made available to the youth. The goal of double-engine government at the Center and in the state is to make every person self-reliant and bring happiness into everyone’s life.
CM Yogi, while elaborating on work undertaken for the welfare of persons with disabilities, said their pension amount would soon be increased again. Earlier, persons with disabilities received a pension of Rs. 300. Government first increased it to Rs. 500 and then to Rs. 1,000. Now, it will be increased again in the coming days.
Chief Minister said instructions have been issued to establish District Disability Rehabilitation Centers in all 18 divisions of the state. In Gorakhpur, this center has already started operating on the premises of Sitapur Eye Hospital. He mentioned
Sparsh Government Inter College for Visually Impaired Boys and Girls, Sanket Government School for Deaf and Dumb, the Center for Mental Development at BRD Medical College, and the Government Skill Development Center in Gorakhpur. He said that Shelter and Training Centers, hostels and Bachpan Day Care Centers are also operating on the Normal Campus.
CM Yogi said that in 2026-27, the target is to organize camps in every Assembly constituency and connect persons with disabilities left out of pension benefits with government schemes. The state has provided cards to more than 17 lakh persons with disabilities after strengthening their digital identification. Empowerment of persons with disabilities should begin from childhood. The government is focusing on early screening, therapy, guidance for parents, special education and technical assistance. In this direction, Bachpan Day Care Centers are being expanded for children aged three to seven years with hearing impairment, visual impairment and intellectual disabilities. He stressed connecting persons with disabilities with schemes such as CM Yuva, PM SVANidhi, ODOP, PM Vishwakarma, PM Mudra and Stand Up. He also said the state government provides up to Rs. 6 lakh for cochlear implants, along with support for speech therapy.
Chief Minister said physical challenges cannot be a barrier to talent. "Talent needs opportunity, not sympathy." With the right resources and training, talent can reach its full potential. Citing the examples of great sage Ashtavakra, Mahakavi Surdas, musician Ravindra Jain and mountaineer Arunima Sinha, along with Paralympic players Deepa Malik, Suhas LY, Sumit Antil, Devendra, Bhavina Patel, Vaibhav Gautam, Praveen Kumar, Preeti Pal and others, he said that medals are won not only with strong arms, but with strong determination. These sportspersons have proved that talent needs opportunity, not sympathy.
CM said that in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attempted to change society’s ‘perspective’ by using the word ‘Divyang’ instead of ‘Viklang’. This perspective shows that double-engine government is committed to giving rights and dignity to persons with disabilities. With this perspective, facilities such as Braille and audio information, tactile paths, accessible digital services, sign language, captions and visual alerts are being expanded.
Describing education as the biggest means of empowerment, the Chief Minister said Uttar Pradesh is the first state in the country where two universities for persons with disabilities are operating. Dr. Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University in Lucknow and Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Divyang University in Chitrakoot are functioning.
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Backward Classes Welfare and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Narendra Kashyap said at the program that under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, there has been an unprecedented change in the lives of persons with disabilities in the state over the past nine and a half years. He has demonstrated his sensitivity by providing an adequate budget for every scheme related to persons with disabilities. When Samajwadi Party, which used to make a big issue of PDA, was in power, the budget of Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities was merely Rs. 665 crore. Whereas, due to CM Yogi's generosity, this budget has increased to Rs. 2,200 crore in 2026-27. Along with improving the lives of the state’s 25 crore people, the Chief Minister has left no stone unturned to empower persons with disabilities. During the Akhilesh Yadav government, persons with disabilities received only Rs. 300 for maintenance, which CM Yogi has increased to Rs. 1,000. He has provided Rs. 60 crore for e-scooters to make travel easier for girls with disabilities. The state has 55 Bachpan Day Care Centers operating, with 28 more to be opened.
On the occasion, district’s in-charge minister and state Water Power Minister Swatantra Dev Singh, Fisheries Minister Sanjay Nishad, former Cabinet Minister of the state government Dr. Mahendra Singh, District Panchayat Administrator Sadhna Singh, Mayor Dr. Manglesh Srivastava, BJP state vice-president and MLC Dr Dharmendra Singh, MLAs Fateh Bahadur Singh, Shriram Chauhan, Rajesh Tripathi, Mahendrapal Singh, Vipin Singh, Dr. Vimlesh Paswan, Pradeep Shukla, Sarvan Nishad, State Women’s Commission Vice-Chairperson Charu Chaudhary, Managing Director of Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited SP Mohanty, Principal Secretary of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Rajesh Kumar Singh, BJP district president Janardan Tiwari and others were prominently present. BJP Mahanagar President Ramesh Pratap Gupta delivered the welcome address.
At the program, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath provided assistive devices worth approximately Rs. 1.25 crore to persons with disabilities. These included motorized tricycles for 127 persons with disabilities, e-tricycles for 25, tricycles for 70, 319 smart canes and Braille kits for 155 persons with disabilities, hearing aids for 90, smartphones for 5, a Bhagavad Gita in Braille script for 1, a Ramcharitmanas in Braille script for 1, artificial limbs for 10, benefits under the Vayoshri Yojana for 20 and textbooks for 5 persons with disabilities.
