Uttarakhand Government’s ‘lucrative schemes’ and ‘false promises’ have discouraged the people with disabilities in Uttarakhand to a considerable extent. On the occasion of the International Day of People with Disability, handicapped persons expressed their discontent and anguish at the apathetic behaviour of the State Government towards them and said that they had always been discriminated against by the Government.
Expressing his distress, State President of Nanda Devi Nirdhan Viklang Kalyan Association (NDNVKA), Vasant Kumar Thapliyal said that there is no such law meant especially for the
people with disability which has been introduced by the State Government and no assistance is provided to them either. The association members staged a protest at Gandhi Park against Government apathy.He said, “We the members of the association have been fighting for our rights since 2007 but our demands are being consistently ignored by the government.” He stated that association members have also presented the list of their demands to several ministers but to no avail.
The Government has successfully introduced several schemes for the disabled people but nothing has been executed effectively yet. Thapliyal said that currently there are more than two lakh disabled people in the State but Government has no proper schemes for ensuring their welfare. He added that the educated people with disability should be given Government jobs in Government bodies like SIIDCUl and UPNl among others.
Secretary of the association, Subodh Chand, said that the disabled people are getting only `600 pension in the form of government assistance apart from which no other help is provided to them. The pension is also often delayed by up to six months, he added. Chand said that other states have much better schemes and are also providing good sum as pension to the disabled people. He added that the Delhi government provides `1,000 as pension while in Haryana it is around `1,500. Meanwhile, the International Day of People with Disability was observed by several organisations and institution in the state capital. A block level awareness rally was organised by the Setu Foundation to spread awareness on the rights of disabled people. The rally passed through several localities including Telliwalla, Bajawala, Niyamwala and other places.The members of the Muskan, a school meant for special children also took out an awareness rally near Gandhi Park and participated actively in the signature campaign organised on this occasion.