The All Kerala Wheelchair Rights Federation (AKWRF) has called for creating wheelchair-friendly facilities across the State to enable easy access for the differently abled.
The organisation undertook a rally to the Secretariat in connection with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Saturday to press for their demands and submit memorandums to the members of the Cabinet.
According to AKWRF coordinator S. Rajesh, government offices, educational institutions, public places, shopping centres, theatres, recreational areas, and tourist destinations were not accessible to wheelchair-bound persons. The federation also demanded that buses and trains also be equipped to enable easy access for the wheelchair-bound. “Despite several representations, the authorities continued to turn a blind eye towards our welfare. The absence of ramps and other facilities have always prevented us from moving as freely as the others,” he said.
They also urged the government to increase the disability pension from Rs.1,100 to Rs.5,000 for those with more than 80 per cent disability. The federation has also proposed setting up of two rehabilitation centres on the lines of that functioning at Christian Medical College, Vellore, for the wheelchair-bound and those with spinal injuries.
The other demands included initiating schemes to enhance employability of the differently abled; creating reserved posts in government institutions; and instituting lottery with proceeds utilised for the welfare of the differently abled.
Multiple demonstrations
The Secretariat witnessed demonstrations undertaken by many collectives of persons with disabilities. The Kerala Lottery Agents and Sellers Union of the Sightless took out a rally demanding that they be exempted from the purview of service tax.
They also called for BPL ration cards for visually challenged lottery sellers; extension of the ESI scheme for lottery agents; permission for lottery business at secure locations such as civil stations, airports, railway stations, and Corporation, municipality and panchayat offices. Aswathy Nair, founder of the NGO ‘Jwala,’ inaugurated the demonstration.
The All Kerala Federation of the Deaf also organised a demonstration to demand separate reservations in employment for the aurally challenged; identity cards for the differently abled; and prevention of issuance of certificates by medical boards for persons with below 60 per cent disabilities.
Meanwhile, the Ananthapuri Hospitals donated ten specially designed wheelchairs to the Central Railway station. Railway senior divisional commercial manager V.C. Sudheesh received the wheelchairs from Ananthapuri Hospitals chairman A. Marthanda Pillai.
