Reiterating their demand to increase the monthly financial assistance given to persons with disabilities (PwDs), members of the Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of all Types of Differently Abled & Caregivers (TARATDAC) staged protests on Tuesday.
The association has, for a while now, demanded that the monthly financial assistance, given to over 3 lakh PwDs, be increased to a minimum of ₹3,000. “In places like Telangana, the assistance is ₹3,016 and in Puducherry, it is ₹ 3,800 for persons with 40% disabilities respectively. We have been asking the Tamil Nadu government to increase the assistance to a minimum of ₹3,000 and disburse a minimum monthly assistance of ₹5,000 for those with severe disabilities,” said S. Namburajan, General Secretary, TARATDAC.
Several members who were to travel from various districts for the protests in Chennai were prevented from doing so, TARATDAC alleged. The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD), in a statement, condemned arbitrary detention of many disabled persons while they were proceeding to Chennai from across the State.
TARATDAC office-bearers were invited for talks with the Minister for Social Welfare and Women Empowerment and the Commissionerate for the Welfare of Persons with Disabilities. Speaking on the sidelines, Minister Geetha Jeevan said the Chief Minister was aware of their demands and told them that they would work towards implementing them. “We will address the demand to increase the monthly financial assistance step by step. The members here have said they would like to be a part of a meeting ahead of the Budget session to put forth their concerns and we will convene a stakeholders meeting with representatives from groups working for disability welfare as well,” she said.
The TARATDAC office-bearers also raised concerns about their members being prevented from boarding trains and buses to participate in the protest, and informed the Minister about the same.
