Bhubaneswar: Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, Development Commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena along with Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, Secretaries and senior officers of different departments observed World Autism Day today in Lokseba Bhawan.
They put on the Cap of the Autism Day for creating awareness about the children with autism, and their care. A high level meeting was also held to frame the road map for providing care to the children with autism.
Discussion in the meeting showed, Odisha has set up two facilities last year for diagnosis and therapy of children with autism. While, one is in Bhubaneswar, the other one is in Sundergarh.
Secretary, Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD), Bhaskar Jyoti Sharma appraised that two more facilities- one at Jajpur and the other at Berhampur would be operationalised within a month.
The State also conducted a survey to identify children with disability last year in which around 40,000 children were identified. The figure remains dynamic as each day around 70 to 80 autistic children take birth.
Also, it was decided that year wise survey would be conducted for identification and care of children with autism