Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Senior representatives from the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) and the Odisha government spoke about bolstering the state’s support networks for autistic children on World Autism Awareness Day. Development Commissioner-turned-Additional Chief Secretary Anu Garg and RCI Chairperson Dr. Sharanjit Kaur presided over the meeting, which took place at Lok Seva Bhawan.
Dr. Kaur, who earlier in the day attended a national conference in Bhubaneswar, offered her thoughts on how to improve rehabilitation services for people with autism by working with the state government on collaborative projects. She underlined the necessity of organized intervention initiatives in the fields of healthcare and education. Odisha’s initiatives to enhance rehabilitation infrastructure, including specialized training for Anganwadi workers, educators, and medical experts, were described by Development Commissioner Garg.
The lack of qualified medical professionals and the need to upskill caregivers in order to adequately serve autistic children were additional topics of debate. A multi-departmental approach to the problem was demonstrated by the presence of important authorities such as Shalini Pandit (School and Mass Education), Aswathy S. (Health and Family Welfare), and R.S. Gopalan (Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities).
