IAS training centre for differently-abled

MADURAI: Armed with a post graduate degree in Public Administration, Ganesh Kumar, is a 29-year-old disabled youth  from Madurai district whose long standing dream is to become a Collector. He wanted to pursue IAS, but lack of a training institute for people like him hindered his dreams. However,  his dream is not far away, thanks to Madurai Collector U Sagayam for inaugurating an IAS training centre  specially catering to the differently-abled people here on Saturday.On the occasion, the Collector said, this is a great beginning for the differently abled who are facing a bright future. At least, five disabled people from the district should become IAS officers in every two years.He told that the most important requirement of a differently abled person is to be self-confident. One should develop self-confidence, only then there is future..“In a first of its kind in the State, this training centre has been started in Madurai. We will also seek the state government’s assistance to run this centre”, he added.“Dismiss the thought that only people with good English knowledge can succeed in government exams. Face the exams confidently in Tamil only then you can succeed,” said Sagayam.“Today, I feel proud to say that I hail from Madurai because of  Collector Sagayam and I thank him for his efforts to start a training centre for differently abled people like me”, said Ganesh.The government quota for the differently abled is 3 per cent, but not even one per cent is filled owing to lack of proper facilities. Unlike Chennai, Madurai did not have an IAS training centre for differently abled.Around 54 differently abled students have enrolled for the training and 29 professors, including retired teachers, have volunteered to offer training free of cost. Classes will be held from 10 am to 1 pm and 2 to 5 pm at the east panchayat union office.  Free textbooks and study materials were distributed to the candidates at the  function, which was attended by Differently abled Welfare Officer K M Kanagaraj, former Madurai Law College principal R Alagarsamy and Arulmathi, IAS 2008 batch.