World Disability Day: PwDs demand welfare measures, other services
Srinagar: On the eve of World Disability Day, the specially-abled persons here on Friday demanded the government to ensure proper rights to them and said that the claims being about their welfare have not been implemented.
Javed Tak, a specially-abled person from south Kashmir, who recently bagged Padamashri said that it is unfortunate that the people with disabilities are being forced to protest on the World Disability Day to press for their rights, saying that such protests on the particular day depicts the deprival of benefits and rights to the particular community.
He said that the rights guaranteed to them under persons with disabilities Act 2016 are not being implemented.
“Despite accessible India campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendera Modi, there is no accessibility for us as under this scheme as only minor works were conducted at some places but most of the money got lapsed,” he said.
Tak said that the government should have at least issued a circular with regard to ensuring all new buildings accessible for disabled persons by providing suitable facilities like ramps, lifts and other infrastructure for them.
“In absence of these facilities, the particular community is being pushed to the wall,” he said.
“There are no special educators, no disabled friendly washrooms in schools, no teaching material. How can disabled persons go to school,” he asked, adding that four percent jobs in government sector are reserved for disabled persons but that too is not being implemented.
“At least 58 special educators were hired but they weren’t made permanent or provided salary according to their work due to which they left their jobs,” he said.
In most of the cases, the government t officials are not aware about the rights of the disabled persons, saying that the community has been exempted from exam fee but they are being asked to submit fee and even clerks don’t have any information about it.
He said that the main motive of celebrating disability day is to find their problems and solve them till next year so as to celebrate the achievements but everything here is going in reverse direction.
“We aren’t even accepted as human,” he said, adding that as per the rules, the government has to provide full assistance to the disabled person with regard to medicines and other related things.
Aaqib Ahmad, a visually impaired person also echoed similar views and said that the government must give them accessibility, recruit permanent special educators, arrange scribes, increase in monthly pensions and provide reservations to them as per the rules.
He urged the government to treat them as humans, give them accessibility, come with recruitment and educational guidelines and also increase their monthly pension.
However, Director General Social Welfare Kashmir, Bashir Ahmad Dar said that the disabled persons are getting benefited through different schemes like monthly pension, scholarships and prosthetic aids.
He said that they are getting job reservations as per the rules besides that the government has identified 14 main buildings like Civil Secretariat to make them disabled friendly and work on ramps, lifts and other things is going on.
Dar said that the main aim is to celebrate this day is to change the attitude of people towards disabled persons as they are part of the society and government is committed for the welfare of the disabled persons. (KNO)
KV News
