Members of the Joint Action Committee of the Association for the Disabled said they succeeded in their protest staged on Wednesday morning, as M. Rajendran, Commissioner Tamil Nadu State Co-operative Societies Election Commission, expressed regret over his actions and issued fresh orders with regard to the upcoming elections to cooperative societies.
Nearly 100 people participated in the protest. The new order to district cooperative election officers states that the nominations of persons with disabilities should not be rejected on the grounds of the disability and that basic amenities for the disabled have to be put in place, said S. Nambu Rajan, a disability rights activist
The issue began a few days ago when Mr. Rajendran allegedly ridiculed and hurt the sentiments of two visually impaired persons, who had approached his office with a petition. The petition was with regard to elections to cooperative societies. In 2013, both the petitioners had applied for the posts of directors of cooperative societies in Chennai and Dharmapuri, but their applications had been rejected. Following the incident on March 16, a complaint was lodged with the Teynampet police. However, no action was taken.
A letter had been submitted to Mr. Rajendran by the Joint Action Committee, pointing out that the law prohibited discrimination on the basis of disability, said T.M.N. Deepak, a disability rights activist. Until now, said Mr. Nambu Rajan, the rules with regard to cooperative society elections had been interpreted so as to prevent visually impaired persons from contesting.
