Centre will invest Rs 1,700 crore in phases to transform NISH (National Institute of Speech and Hearing) in Thiruvanandhapuram as the National University for Rehabilitation Sciences and Disability Studies to benefit differently-abled people, Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot said.

“It is provisioned to spend Rs 390 crore for the first five years of expansion of the University which will have infrastructure as well as operational components,” he said during his brief visit to the National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) here, yesterday.

The Centre’s aim is to have a country with people with no disabilities and if at all there are such people, government will provide necessary support and education to them and equip them with instruments, devices and other facilities to help them fully integrate themselves in mainstream life, he said.

The government would also provide support for the visually challenged with Braille language books and equipment and would provide help to perform cochlear implantations for children below six years who are having hearing and speech impairment.

“We will provide Rs six lakh for each cochlear implant; we have already done this implantation for 300 children, after which they were given the necessary therapy so that they could hear and speak gradually,” he said.