Large Scale Detention of Disabled Persons by TN Govt Highly Condemnable: NPRD

Chennai: Calling into question the arbitrary manner with which thousands of disabled persons proceeding to the Chennai secretariat were picked by the Tamil Nadu police on Tuesday, the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled People (NPRD) has extended solidarity and support to the disabled persons demanding “their right to a dignified life.”

The demonstration called by the Tamilnadu Association or the Rights of all types of Differently Abled & Caregivers (TARATDAC), an affiliate of NPRD, is demanding enhancement in the amount of disability pension given by the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government.

In a press release on March 22, the general secretary of NPRD, Muralidharan Vishwanath has stated that “The TARATDAC has been demanding that the amount of pension given to disabled persons in the state be raised to at least Rs. 3000/- so that it is on par with that being given in neighbouring Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It has also been demanding a revamp of the design of the scheme to include more disabled persons under its ambit.”

The release added that “Despite various representations, the DMK government sworn in last year, has been obdurate and unwilling to engage high ranking officials to initiate talks with the agitating disabled persons, who are aggrieved that no such announcement has been in the budget proposals. It has failed to even honour the commitment made in its election manifesto of increasing the pension to Rs. 1500.”

According to NPRD, police had forcibly de-boarded disabled passengers holding valid tickets from trains coming from 30 places including Virudhunagar, Tirupur, Erode, Salem, Thanjavur, Mannaarkudi etc. “Many protesters who had arrived this morning by trains at Egmore and Chennai Central stations were also taken into custody and prevented from getting out of the railway stations,” it stated.

It also maintained that the TARATDAC has been demanding that the amount of pension given to disabled persons in the state be raised to a minimum of Rs 3,000 so that it was on par with that being given in neighbouring Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

NPRD has called upon the Tamil Nadu government “to see reason and initiate immediate talks with the TARATDAC and accede their demands instead of taking recourse to a confrontationist path. It demands the immediate release of all those who have been detained in various parts of the state immediately.”

Earlier, on Monday in Madurai, over 50 members of TARATDAC on Monday protested against the denial of bank loans despite the Collector's order, during which a differently-abled youth attempted to immolate himself, The Hindu reported.