Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Handicapped Association (JKHA) once again urged Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to fulfill their long pending demands, including reservation in government and private jobs, subsided loans and technical training.
Under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir Handicapped Association, a large number of handicapped persons, some of them on wheel chairs, hit the streets at Press Enclave near here on International Day of Persons with Disabilities, demanding immediate fulfillment of their long pending demands.
However, when they proceeding towards Gantaghar, Lal Chowk, the nerve centre of the city, police swung into action and stopped them.
But as the protestors didn’t back down, over a dozen differently-abled persons were taken into preventive custody. All the arrested persons were later released.
Urging Ms Mufti to form a committee to monitor functioning of NGOs, the JKHA said it should check if the grants provided by the Centre and the state under various schemes are spent on the welfare of differently-abled people
“Like there are reservations for various casts, including Schedule Castes (SCs) and Schedule Tribes (STs), there should be reservations for differently-abled people. Differently-abled people should also be given training in technical and professional courses so that they can compete with the rest of the world,” JKHA president Abdul Rashid urged the Chief Minister in a memorandum submitted to her here today.
The JKHA president also urged the Chief Minister to ensure that differently-abled government employees be post within 5 km radius of his or her residence.
Rashid said as they transport sector in J&K is not equipped to address to special need of differently-abled people, three wheeler scooters, Motorcycle and Electrical Wheel chairs should be provided to them so that they came commute easily.
He said special committees should be constituted at district level to facilitate recruitment of differently-abled people, adding it could also help in procuring financial assistance and loans on low interest rates.
“There are many people who have disabilities that do not permit them to work, so they should be given monthly assistance amounting to at least Rs 6000 so that they can live and feed their family in dignity,” he said.
Meanwhile, taking about lack of facilities to cater to the need to differently-abled people in the state, he said a complex should not be given permission for construction until and unless arrangements are not made to assist differently-abled people.
“Legal aid and counseling should be provided to differently-abled people free of cost,” he added.
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