The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has ordered the Local Administration Department to ask the Thiruvananthapuram city Corporation to distribute laptops with speech software, scanners and printers free of cost to those who are short of hearing and those who have speech defects.
A press note issued here said the order was on the basis of a complaint filed by S. Sajeev Kumar whose daughter was totally deaf. She had completed her diploma in computer engineering. The Kozhikode and Kochi Corporations and the Thiruvananthapuram district panchayat were already distributing laptops to those who had speech and hearing defects. Thiruvananthapuram city Corporation informed the Commission that under the 12th Plan, there was provision to give laptops to those who were visually challenged.