The Utkal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (UCCI) in collaboration with the International Council Education for Vision Impaired (ICEVI) began holding a two-day national-level seminar on skill development from Saturday at its premises here with about 150 visually-impaired persons from Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand participating in it.

The conference was inaugurated by Odisha MSME, Mission Shakti, W&CD and SSEPD Minister Prafulla Samal. UCCI CSR & CD Committee chairperson Geeta Padhi delivered the welcome address. Sanyasi Behera, the first visually-impaired OAS officer, also spoke on the occasion.

The broad theme of the conference is “An Inclusive Better Tomorrow” meaning inclusive education, inclusive employment and inclusive livelihood for persons with disabilities in eastern India.

The conference’s focus is on quality inclusive education aiming at placement of all children in the regular school system regardless of their disabilities. Effective use of personnel computers and other advance technologies can make them efficient to join in the mainstream employment and to perform their duty efficiently. Inclusive livelihood creates self-worth, self-esteem and self-satisfaction among the people with and without disabilities.

The aim of the conference is to integrate the initiatives of the corporates, Government organisations, international NGOs and civil society to work together for inclusive education, inclusive employment and inclusive livelihood for all irrespective of their disabilities.
Source: https://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/ucci-holds-meet-for-skill-growth-of-visually-impaired.html