The 716 million forint (EUR 2.3 million) renovation of the State Institute for the Blind has begun, Minister of State for Social and Family Affairs Miklós Soltész announced at a press conference on Tuesday. He said the complete external-internal renovation will also include the modernisation of the heating system, the replacement of doors and windows and new furniture.

Out of the total cost, 650 million forints (EUR 2.1 million) will be borne by the state with an additional 66 million forints (EUR 200,000) coming from EU funding. Mr. Soltész said another nearby building of the Institute will also be renovated at a cost of 300 million forints (EUR 965,000) and a new rehabilitation centre for the blind will be built in Tata, western Hungary at a cost of 1.3 billion forints (EUR 4.2 million).

Deputy State Secretary for Family and Equal Opportunities Attila Fülöp said that within the New Széchenyi Economic Development Plan 2.5 billion forints (EUR 8.06 million) have been dedicated to the visually impaired, of which 120 million (EUR 387,000) will go towards supporting seven regional rehabilitation centres. He also said that since the Government had added other categories of disabilities besides those with motor disabilities to the scheme of partial funding for cars, many visually impaired people have also made use of this opportunity.

(Ministry of Human Resources)