when basic furniture is made available. The persons under state care are provided five meals a day. The government has allocated Rf 900 per month for food of each person in residential care. Facilities available at the residential care home include a Dhoni used for transport services between Guraidhoo and Male’. Altogether 120 persons are employed by the Home for People with Special Needs, of whom 56 are engaged for direct care services. There is a full time doctor and two nurses to provide medical care and treatment. A senior consultant in psychiatry from Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’ supervises the medical care provided in the home and makes a home visit once every month. The approved 2010 budget of the Home for People with Special Needs is Rf 15,434,613. Of the budget for 2009, about 69 percent (Rf 9,946,887) was allocated for staff salaries while only 2 percent (Rf 345,000) was allocated for staff development and training. 7.4 Financial/income assistance A monthly financial allowance has been given to blind persons since the 1950s. This allowance was first named a “job salary” and was set at Rf22.50 per month. The allowance was increased substantially in 1979 and periodically since then. The allowance was set at Rf500 until the blind people was not adequate to meet their basic needs, the HRCM raised this issue with the National Social Protection Agency (NSPA). Consequently, the government increased the allowance to Rf1,500 and this allowance is given monthly since 01 January 2009. The allowance of Rf1,500 for blind people is given upon certification by an ophthalmologist that the person is totally blind or legally blind. Upon sending an application letter to the Medical Welfare Assistance Section of the Department of Gender and Family Protection Services of the Ministry of Health and Family, with a certificate from an ophthalmologist stating that the person is totally blind or legally blind and sight cannot be restored with treatment or surgery then the person is eligible for a monthly allowance of Rf1,500. In islands where there is no resident ophthalmologist a certificate from a General Doctor or a Health Worker together with a confirmation signature from the official in charge of the Health Center is sufficient. Total blindness is the complete lack of form and visual light perception and is clinically recorded as ACTIVITIES ADDRESSING RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 2008. In 2008, following a petition sent to the HRCM that the allowance of Rf500 given for ... 49