Malappuram lifts State Disability Award for unique initiatives

The Malappuram district administration has won the State Disability Award 2025 for its outstanding and varied initiatives in the disability sector. The district secured six State awards, including the best district administration award, which carries a cash prize of ₹1 lakh and a citation.

District Collector V.R. Vinod, District Social Justice Officer Sameer Machingal, Social Justice department assistant director Sheeba Mumtaz, Social Security Mission district coordinator Abdul Azeez, and Social Initiative on Disabilities (SID) coordinators Jinsha and K.C. Aboobacker received the awards from Minister for Higher Education and Social Justice R. Bindu in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.

The award for the best government employee in the State in the disability category was presented to Riyasuddeen, a lab assistant at a school at Vengara. Shabna Ponnad received the literary award in the disability sector.

The Ability Foundation, Pulikkal, was honoured as a disability-friendly organisation while its officials, Fousiya and Anilkumar, received the award for the best private sector employees in the State.

This was the first time Malappuram district received the State award from the Social Justice department. The district also achieved the unique distinction of issuing the highest number of legal guardianships in the country and implementing the largest number of Social Justice department schemes for persons with disabilities.

Some of the distinctive initiatives implemented in Malappuram included special PSC coaching in sign language for the differently abled; tea-vending cafés run by the differently abled at the Collectorate and RTO office; support for persons with disabilities and senior citizens through CARE volunteers and barrier-free offices at the Civil Station; 74 Buds schools and rehabilitation centres; the Sahajeevanam pilot project aimed at the comprehensive development of the differently abled; sign language training for differently abled job seekers; and dedicated complaint redressal officers in government offices to assist persons with disabilities.