Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai inaugurated a recreation and therapy centre for challenged children within the Mahatma Phule Garden in Belagavi on Sunday.

He said that physically and mentally disabled children deserved equal opportunity to learn and succeed in life and that such facilities will help them. He congratulated MLA Abhay Patil and consultant Suhas Mohire for the concept.

However, the children and their parents had to wait in the morning sun as the Chief Minister’s programme was delayed for over two hours. The Chief Minister arrived at around 12.20 p.m., for the event that was scheduled at 10.15 a.m.

Mr. Patil said that it was the only such facilities in the country with outdoor and indoor facilities for recreation and therapy. A portion of the Phule Garden was developed at a cost of ₹1 crore by Belagavi Smart City engineers.

It includes a hall with various items where 55 children can play at a time. It has a soft floor, balancing beams, slides, stationary bikes, swings, among other eqipment. The gazebo and the entertainment corner can be used for singing and dancing, apart from story telling and organising painting exhibitions. The centre will have a therapist and two women assistants. It will have restricted entry system. “We will allow children with one parent,” the MLA told journalists.

Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated Ravindra Koushik e-library near the Shivaji Garden in the Old City. He observed that material in five languages were available in the library and urged the people to make use of it. He said that the government will set up such libraries in all towns and cities, if the Belagavi experiment proved to be successful.

In an indirect reference to the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, the Chief Minister said that the people of Belagavi were multi-lingual and had defeated narrow-minded leaders in the recent City Corporation elections.