New Delhi: Asking people to counter prejudice and apathy towards the disabled, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today (November 24) said it is imperative to open job opportunities for them so that they live with dignity.

Of the 500 million disabled people across the world, nearly 80 per cent of them live in developing nations with many of them being "victims of grinding poverty, social isolation and despair", he said while inaugurating the Sixth International Abilympics in New Delhi.

Exhorting private sector, vocational and financial institutions and banks to create job opportunities for the disabled, Vajpayee asked the scientific community to "devote more attention to genome research in order to promote early detection of congenital abnormalities and help develop appropriate interventions".

Contingents from about 33 countries, including China, Japan, US, UK, Australia and Pakistan are participating in the weeklong Abilympics, described as an "Olympic competition in vocational skills of persons with disability".

Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Satynarain Jatiya, International Abilympic Federation President Tadashi Shiya and veteran filmstar Shashi Kapoor, who is the Goodwill Ambassador for Abilympics were also present.

Urging people to counter "prejudice and apathy towards disabled", the Prime Minister said all societies have their own fine traditions of care and compassion for the needy and the marginalized. "We must preserve and further promote these traditions," he said.

PTI