PANAJI
The Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG) has raised seven major demands related to various matters plaguing the disabled in the State and has warned it will protest at the upcoming 'Purple Fest' if the authorities do not take cognisance.
"The government spends crores of rupees to celebrate Purple Fest, but in the last 2 years, the festival itself has not done little for the disabled at the grassroots level," DRAG president Avelino De Sa said at a press conference..
"We have seven demands before the governments and if these are not met before the start of the Purple Fest, we will stage an agitation," De Sa said, adding that there was no point spending public funds to celebrate Purple Fest if no benefits are being provided to the disabled at the grassroots level.
He said, the State government has failed to increase the monthly benefits under the Dayanand Social Security Scheme and over 12,000 disabled beneficiaries are languishing.
"It is not possible to live on the Rs 2,000 per month," De Sa said, adding that the Disability Commissioner had recommended increasing the monthly dole to Rs 6,000 about four years ago.
Another demand De Sa voiced was employment for the intellectually disabled even as he said that DRAG welcomes the government's decision to issue Class IX and XII certificates to disabled persons who have undergone vocational training.
De Sa nonetheless faulted the government for its failure to provide jobs despite the statutory 4 per cent reservation for persons with disabilities and 1 per cent for the intellectually disabled in the government sector.
De Sa also lamented that Sanjay School which had been shut because the building was dangerous two years ago is yet to reopen. More than 100 children are sitting at home as these Sanjay School centres are closed, he added.
A State policy for the disabled was another demand raised by De Sa who lamented that more than nine years after the Disability Rights Act came into force in 2016 the State still does not have a policy for the disabled.
He also demanded that reservation for disabled persons should also be implemented at the panchayat and municipal levels even as he pointed out that most village panchayats are inaccessible to the disabled.
Another demand De Sa said was the immediate sanction of funds to special schools which are pending for over two years from the Education Department.
He also said that special education teachers who have been working on a contract basis for over 3-4 years must be regularised.
