State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak while inaugurating a special computer course for specially-abled people through video conferencing at six regional centres, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Sylhet, Chattogram and Faridpur, from secretariat in the capital on Sunday said that the government would bring the specially abled people of the country under a central database.  It is, indeed, an encouraging piece of news. The government will always be by the side of those, who are fighting to defeat their disability through hard work, he added.

About 10 per cent of the total population of Bangladesh are victims of physical and mental disability somehow or other. The people suffering from disability are not burden on their families, society or the state if they are groomed up properly as productive force. The disabled people will have to be brought under the mainstream population. Through proper education and rigorous training the disabled people can be made skilled force. They can earn for themselves, for their families and can also contribute to the development of the country. They can prove that they are no more dependent on others. In this way, they can live with dignity and not as objects of pity.  

In this age of globalisation, Information Technology can do a lot for the people with disability. Armed with technological expertise, the disabled people can be self-reliant, support their families and even they can generate employment for others. The disabled people need proper infrastructural support. Government can provide it. NGOs of the country can also come forward in the aid of the disabled ones.

Disabled person can engage themselves in income-generating activities even sitting on wheel-chairs. If their brains work properly, they can conquer the disabilities by dint of sheer will power. The financial institutions of the country may come forward to fulfill their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to ensure the basic needs of the disabled people like education and health as well as prioritise disabled students for scholarships. The families of the persons with disabilities must be conscious in this regard. Proper medical care, financial, familial, social and psychological support can rejuvenate the dampening spirits of disabled persons.