Stating that principles of natural justice have not been followed by the management of the Odisha Association for the Blind (OAB) while terminating the membership of several blind persons and evicting a few of them from the association’s building, where they had taken shelter in January last, the Khordha district Collector on Friday directed the association general secretary to convene a meeting within a month to sort out the issue.
Notably, acting on a petition of the blind persons who were evicted from the association building, the High Court on March 25 last had directed the Collector to enquire into the matter and take necessary action.
The Collector directed the association that the two petitioners, Prakash Mohapatra and Nilakantha Kalesi, who had been staying in the OAB on a long term basis, would continue to receive shelter there as before and the other petitioners who had been receiving vocational support and other facilities would also continue to avail the benefit till a final decision was taken.
Meanwhile, Odisha Disable People’s Network State coordinator (Administration) Sannyas Kumar Behera welcomed the order of the Collector.