Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 1: Jammu Kashmir Handicapped Association today staged a protest in Jammu, pressing the Government to fulfill their long-pending demands related to social security, financial assistance and legal safeguards for persons with disabilities.
The protestors assembled at the Press Club Jammu, carrying placards and banners and raising slogans to highlight what they described as continued neglect, discrimination and apathy towards the disabled community. The demonstrators urged the administration to take immediate steps to address their grievances, stating that people with disabilities were among the most vulnerable sections of society and required focused policy attention.
Speaking to reporters during the protest, Javed Ahmed Tak, one of the protestors, strongly criticized the existing pension amount being provided to disabled persons, terming it grossly inadequate in the present economic scenario. “Our monthly pension is only Rs 1,250, which is nothing in this era of rising inflation. It is impossible to manage basic needs like food, medicines and transport with such a meagre amount. We demand that the pension should be enhanced to at least Rs 3,000 per month,” he said.
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Tak further pointed out that under the provisions of the Food Security Act, persons with disabilities are entitled to Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) ration cards and exemptions from water and electricity bills. However, he alleged that successive Governments had failed to implement these provisions in letter and spirit, causing immense hardship to the disabled community.
Another protestor said that the Association had repeatedly written to the Chief Minister and the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, seeking redressal of their demands, but received no response.
The protestors warned that if their demands were not addressed and no concrete announcement was made in the Budget to be presented by the Lieutenant Governor tomorrow, the Association would be left with no option but to launch a hunger strike to press for justice.
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