By IANS
Hyderabad : Hundreds of disabled people, who were staging a sit-in here since Monday, withdrew their protest Tuesday following an assurance by the state government to look into their demands.
After two rounds of talks with the protest leaders, the government agreed to call an all party meeting Dec 2 to look into their demands including a disability pension of Rs.1,500.
Manda Krishna Madiga, who is leading the agitation, announced the decision to call off the protest after officials informed him that an all-party meeting would be held on the issue.
The protest, called Vikalangula Mahagarajna (roar of the disabled) began Monday under the aegis of the Vikalangula Hakkula Porata Samiti (VHPS), a group working to secure the rights of the disabled.
VHPS is demanding that the government increase the disability pension from the current Rs.200 to Rs.1,500 per month. It is also seeking enhanced allocation in the budget for the welfare of disabled, increase in reservation for disabled to seven percent, appointment of a disabled officer as commissioner for the welfare of disabled and free travel for all physically challenged.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy agreed to call the meeting. He said his government was committed to the welfare of disabled but found fault with the way the demands were taken up.
He said though the high court had permitted only the rally, the organisers staged sit-in and carrying bottles of kerosene threatened to commit suicide if their demands were not met.
Earlier, braving the chill, hundreds of physically challenged people spent the night in an open ground.
Visually and physically challenged and hearing impaired people from all over the state sat for nearly 24 hours on the ground of the Nizam College in the heart of the city to press their demands.
They had threatened to commit suicide if police arrest them or disrupt their protest.
Two rounds of talks held since last night between two state ministers and Madiga failed to break the deadlock. Madiga had given the government a fresh deadline of 24 hours from about 10 a.m. Tuesday and announced that the protest would continue till all the demands were met.
VHPS first held a public meeting, which was also addressed by leaders of opposition parties who extended their support to the demands of the disabled. Then about 3,000 disabled people began the vigil at the statue of Jagjivan Ram.
The police had denied permission to the VHPS to hold the meeting and take out a rally. The organisers then approached the high court and got permission to hold the meeting.
However, the meeting continued beyond 6 p.m., the deadline stipulated by the court, and the protestors then began the overnight vigil and sit-in, taking the police by surprise.
Madiga said the government should allocate at least Rs.3 billion for the welfare of disabled. He said successive governments failed to address the problems of physically challenged.
“The government is spending millions of rupees for building irrigation projects and providing loans to farmers. Why can’t it allocate more funds for the disabled,” he asked.
Two years ago, Madiga had led a procession of children suffering from congenital heart diseases. Though the government came forward to provide financial assistance for the treatment of such children, Madiga came under criticism when one of the children died during the protest.