By IANS
Hyderabad : Braving the chill, hundreds of physically challenged people spent the night in an open ground here and continued their sit-in Tuesday to press for their demands including a disability pension of Rs.1,500.
Visually and physically challenged and hearing impaired people from all over the state have been sitting on the ground of the Nizam College in the heart of the city to press their demands. They have even 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 Manda Krishna Madiga, who is leading the agitation, failed to break the deadlock. Madiga has 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.
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 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.
There has been tension around the venue since Monday night as policemen stood ready to arrest the protestors. A “suicide” team of 50 protestors was formed to ward off the cops. Holding kerosene bottles and match boxes in their hands, they threatened to commit suicide if the police tried to arrest them.
The police had denied permission to the VHPS to hold the meeting and take out a rally. The organisers, however, 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.
The 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.
After the two round of talks, the ministers said they would apprise the chief minister of the demands. “The chief minister will be briefed about the demands and he will take a decision,” said minister Rajyalakshmi.
Madiga said the disabled would wait for another 24 hours for the government to meet their demands. “We will continue to sit here for another 24 hours and wait for the government’s response,” he said.
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.