Local bodies told to protect rights of the differently abled

Child rights panel for granting scholarships on a single application

July 24, 2017 01:14 am | Updated 08:07 am IST

KOCHI: The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has directed all local self-government institutions to keep details of differently-abled persons and ensure that scholarships are disbursed to them in time.

The commission also ordered that the practice of submitting scholarship applications every year be done away with and asked local bodies to make arrangements for granting scholarships on the basis of a single application.

It also directed them to ensure that all differently-abled beneficiaries in a particular ward figured in the final list before it is published.

The directives were issued on a petition filed by Jose Augustin of Thodupuzha. According to him, his youngest son with autism had been refused scholarship for the year 2016-17. Though his son, a student of a special school at Thodupuzha, had participated in the Grama Sabha held at the Government Boys’ School, Thodupuzha, along with his caretaker, his name did not figure in the final list of differently-abled beneficiaries. Though the petitioner had taken up the issue with the secretary of the Thodupuzha municipality, he was told that scholarship could not be granted, as his autistic son had failed to attend the Grama Sabha.

‘Cruel act’

Mr. Augustin pointed out that the details of his family were available with the ICDS officer concerned. “It was cruel to insist that an autistic child attend the Grama Sabha and apply for scholarship every year,” he said.

The commission had earlier directed the Idukki District Child Welfare Officer to inquire into the complaint. In his report, the officer had said that the petitioner’s son had been denied scholarship as the local body did not receive his application in time.

The secretary of the local body also told the officer that as the name of the child did not figure in the list of beneficiaries, it was not possible to grant him scholarship. The commission also directed the municipality to examine the preparation of the beneficiary list for 2017-18 and find out whether the name of the petitioner’s son had been included in the list.

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