nil Goswami, a 1978-IAS officer on Monday took over as the new Secretary of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment in the ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Mr Goswami replaces KM Acharya, who retired on 30th of last month. An official release says, Mr Goswami will also hold the additional charge of the Department of Disability Affairs in ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment till further orders.

He was Special Secretary (Foreigners) in the ministry of Home Affairs.

he Centre is in the process of formulating a new law for ‘Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation’, revising the existing Schemes for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers and Total Sanitation Campaign. It is also formulating a new scheme for conversion of insanitary latrines in urban areas. 

An official release says, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik announced this while addressing a recently held meetings on rehabilitation of manual scavengers in New Delhi. Mr Wasnik called upon the states to ensure that the twin evils of insanitary latrines and manual scavenging are completely eliminated at the earliest. He emphasized on the rehabilitation of all manual scavengers and their dependents in alternative occupations.


The Minister urged the states to prepare a time-bound action plan to ensure elimination of insanitary latrines and rehabilitation of remaining manual scavengers on priority basis. 

Mr Wasnik impressed upon them to start taking action on elimination of insanitary latrines and rehabilitating manual scavengers after identifying them, under the available programmatic interventions.

The Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Mukul Wasnik today said the centre has been very generous in providing funds for the North Eastern States.Addressing a conference of State Social Justice Ministers in Shillong, Mr Wasnik said the conference should reflect the performance of these States and take corrective measures so that central schemes reach the beneficiaries. He informed that the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme is the single largest intervention by the Government of India for educational empowerment of the Schedule Caste students.

The government today said it is committed to eradicate the scourge of manual scavenging in the country. Speaking at a function in New Delhi, Social Justice and Empowerment minister Mukul Wasnik said government is seriously working to ensure that manual scavenging is completely eradicated and no human being is employed for carrying human excreta.

He said a draft Bill on prohibition of employment as manual scavengers and rehabilitation bill 2012 will be discussed later this month. Mr Wasnik said this bill will be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament. He informed that his ministry has been implementing a pre-matric scheme for the children of manual scavengers and over seven lakh children have been benefitted in the last three years.

The World Autism Awareness Day is being observed today. Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Mukul Wasnik, has said that the Centre will formulate a new guideline for up-liftment of people with autism.

 World Autism Awareness Day at New Delhi the Minister said the guideline will be prepared jointly by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Ministry of Human Resources Development. He said the new guideline will be implemented during 12th Plan Period.

In his address, Union Commerce, Industry and Textile Minister Anand Sharma called for creation of more awareness on Autism. He suggested formation of a national corpus fund jointly by the government and corporate sectors for up-liftment of people with Autism.

Presently there are 10 million persons with autism in India.

It affects as many as one in 110 children and one in 70 boys. There is no medical cure for autism, but early diagnosis and intervention can help a person to adapt and function better.

The World Autism Awareness Day is being observed today. It aims to create awareness about autism, especially in children. Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorders affect the way the brain processes information and prevents individuals from properly understanding what they see and hear, resulting in difficulties in communication and behaviour. Autism is a developmental disability that remains with a person whole life. The first signs usually appear before a child is three . It is a kind of brain disorder that causes kids to experience the world differently from the way most other kids do. People with autism often have problems with verbal and non-verbal communication and find social interaction difficult. It makes hard for them to communicate with others and react to things going on around them in the usual ways. When someone smiles, for instance, a kid without autism knows that the smiling person is happy or being friendly. It's difficult, too, for kids with autism to link words with their meanings.  Nobody knows for sure what causes autism. Scientists are still trying to understand how and why this happens. Parents should immediately consult the doctor for unusual behaviour rather than wait for the child to grow older.