Disabled people in India demand inclusion

From The Times of India:

BHUBANESWAR, India -- People with disabilities on April 4 accused successive governments and political parties of neglecting them over the years.

"The politicians refuse to take up our issues. They are blind towards our cause," they complained.

"Despite our repeated requests and proposals before the major political parties, none have taken initiative to even make a false promise of jobs for the disabled in their manifesto," claimed general secretary of Orissa Association for the Blind Sanyasi Behera.

"In their vision document, BJP has mentioned a few schemes for the people, but Congress has maintained an absolute silence. This has disheartened people with disabilities, who comprise about 10 per cent of the population,"she added.

"We know every vote counts. The disabled people have the right to vote. What we want is our civil rights, including education, health services, nutrition and employment," Behera said, adding, "We will not remain silent bystanders anymore. We want our demands addressed. We want them included in their electoral manifestoes and their common minimum programme."

A group of disabled persons' organizations and civil services organizations on April 4 visited some of the political party offices and submitted a charter of demands for the disabled persons.

"People with disabilities will vote only for parties that recognize and address their grievances" this was the clear message conveyed at a recent convention of the handicapped.

"Our politics is disability-based and we will vote for only those who accept our demands," said an activist of Aina, an NGO working for the disabled.

The demands raised by representatives for inclusion in the manifesto of political parties include a separate department for the welfare of handicapped persons, their inclusion in the 100-day rural employment project, reservation in local bodies, Assemblies and Parliament, ensuring job opportunities in areas reserved for the handicapped through special recruitment, barrier-free access in all buildings, setting up of a helpline to make the handicapped aware of their rights, reservation in housing projects, providing them with free bus passes irrespective of the nature of disability and distance, allocating five per cent of the annual budget for their welfare and making polling booths disabled-friendly.