Hundreds of persons with disabilities participated in a demonstration taken out to the Raj Bhavan on Monday.
The march, held under the aegis of the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled, commenced from Vellayambalam and was organised to demand that the Centre pass the Rights for Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014. The demonstration, which is part of a nationwide campaign, also called for measures to include persons with disability on the priority list for ration supply, reservation of jobs in Central government offices and other public-sector units, facility for free travel on trains, and protection for lottery agents who have suffered due to the demonetisation of high-value currency notes.
Inaugurating the demonstration, CPI(M) State secretariat member Anathalavattom Anandan accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of neglecting the welfare of labourers and marginalised sections. Several persons have lost their jobs because of the anti-labour policies of the Union government, he alleged.
CPI(M) district secretary Anavoor Nagappan spoke.
