raipur chhattisgarhs first divyang mahavidyalaya located in mana camp of raipur has become a centre for persons with disabilities to study arts and sharpen their skillsthe state government has formulated schemes for its citizens with disabilities which includes the divyang mahavidyalaya offering graduatelevel courses becoming the first college to offer degrees to persons with disability the college teaches various cocurricular skill as wellthe governmentrun divyang mahavidyalaya principal shikha verma told toi that the degree courses offered here include bachelor of performing arts bpa and bachelor of fine arts bfa in this the bpa has a theme of hindustani singing and tabla playing which is suitable for children with disabilities who are visually impaired while the bfa has a theme of painting which is suitable for children with speech and hearing disabilities those with locomotors disability and who are educable mentally impaired can take admissions in both the courses she added the college was established by the social welfare department in the year 2016 and is affiliated with indira kala sangeet vishwavidyalaya khairagarhin the department the students are taught singing playing instruments and everything related to its syllabus besides they are also given basic knowledge of computer science yoga personality development among others the college also provides facilities for sportsrelated activities for their entertainment which makes them happy and keeps them physically fit verma said that a group of visually impaired children also have a band that performs on various occasions at state and national level and has won several awards their singing has been praised by the minister of social welfare department anila bhediachildren here are taught about the visual arts painting by the department of painting lessons on various genres including still life graphics portraiture mural and craft are provided the motive is to train the students professionally and make their studies enjoyable paintings and artifacts of these children have also been sent for exhibitions at state and indialevel they have also been praised by the government children from almost all the districts of chhattisgarh including those from the interiors of tribal bastar are studying here there is also a child from jabalpur madhya pradeshthese children are provided education completely free of cost by the government and hostel facilities with free accommodation food clothing and bedding they are also provided state and national level scholarships reading allowance is also provided to visually impaired childrenvisually imparied children are taught through audio and braille script children with hearing impairment are taught through sign language computers and the internet verma added