Gandhinagar, March 13 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Friday distributed motorised tricycles and joystick wheelchairs worth Rs 36.7 crore to 5,676 persons with disabilities across the state, aiming to improve mobility and reduce physical strain involved in daily travel.

At a programme in Gandhinagar, the chief minister symbolically handed over the assistive devices to around 40 beneficiaries, while the remaining beneficiaries from 34 districts will receive them under the same initiative.

The distribution includes motorised tricycles for 4,000 persons with disabilities and joystick-operated wheelchairs for 1,676 beneficiaries.

The initiative has been implemented by the state’s Social Justice and Empowerment Department as part of the assistive device support programme for persons with disabilities.

In the 2025-26 state budget, Rs 60 crore was allocated for the scheme.

Interacting with beneficiaries at the event, CM Patel said the provision of motorised tricycles and joystick wheelchairs would help persons with disabilities carry out daily activities with greater independence and move more easily from one place to another.

“The devices would reduce the physical effort previously required to operate hand-driven mobility equipment,” he said.

Before the introduction of motorised tricycles and joystick-operated wheelchairs, beneficiaries under the ‘Divyang Assistive Device Assistance’ scheme were provided hand-operated tricycles and standard wheelchairs.

Officials said these required greater physical exertion and often posed difficulties for long-distance travel.

The chief minister also announced changes in financial assistance under the joystick wheelchair scheme.

To ensure ease of mobility for beneficiaries with locomotor disability, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and multiple disabilities, and to enable them to carry the wheelchair conveniently during travel, the assistance amount for folding joystick wheelchairs has been increased to Rs 1.10 lakh instead of simple joystick wheelchairs in the current year budget.

The state government has also reduced the eligibility age for receiving assistance for beneficiaries with muscular dystrophy type disability from 18 years to 10 years, allowing younger patients to access the support earlier.

Patel added that the Social Justice and Empowerment Department has been instructed to adopt a saturation approach to ensure that no eligible person with disability in the state remains deprived of assistive devices provided by the government.

–IANS

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