Over 12,000 members of the Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of all Types of Differently Abled and Caregivers (Taratdac) courted arrest after picketing government offices across the State on Wednesday, highlighting their long-pending demands prior to International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which falls on December 3.
In Chennai, the protests were held at three places — the District Collectorate on Rajajai Salai, Panagal Building and the Egmore Taluk office on Spurtank Road.
“Our main demand is to table the White Paper on the implementation of the backlog vacancies in State government departments as per the 2013 Supreme Court judgment. Another demand is to provide 5% jobs in the private sector as mandated by the Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act or enact a separate Act in the Legislative Assembly,” said S. Namburajan, association State general secretary. Another demand of the association was to increase in the monthly assistance/pension to minimum ₹3,000 and to ₹5,000 for the severely disabled. “In Telangana, they give ₹3,016 a month and Puducherry provides ₹3,500,” he said.
