Handicapped by apathy

Although ‘World Handicapped Day’ is being observed annually on December 3 to promote understanding of disability issues and to mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities, the handicapped continue to get a raw deal.

The World Handicapped Day is being observed since 1992 under the aegis of UNO with varying degrees of success around the planet.

There are over 16 lakh handicapped persons in Maharashtra alone, including 1.30 lakh in Mumbai, 85 per cent of who are unemployed. Due to the impracticable conditions imposed by the state government, they find it difficult to get ‘income certificates’ to claim the benefits of different Government welfare schemes.

For instance, they can be eligible for welfare schemes only if their income is less than Rs.20,000 per annum. But while issuing the income certificates, the income of their close relatives (father, brother) is also taken into account! “Thanks to this, very few can get the income certificates from the Social Welfare Department,” Sriram Patankar, President of the Brihanmaharashtra Apang Vikas Sanghtana (BAVS), told the ADC.

Based on the instruction of the Central Government, the State Government had taken a decision on December 27, 1995, stipulating that local-self bodies should reserve funds to the extent of 3 to 5 per cent of their annual budget for welfare of the handicapped, but this is not being implemented in totality.

As a matter of fact, the local-self governing bodies delayed the implementation to as late as the year 2007, and began earmarking only meager amounts as per their convenience. For example, the BMC reserves Rs.10 crore, Solapur, Nashik and Thane Municipal Corporations each reserve Rs.2 crore per year, whereas the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation reserves merely Rs.65 lakh a year.

Again, there is no direct benefit to the handicapped persons since this amount is said to be given to different hospitals by local-self governing bodies, for purchasing aids like wheelchairs, walking sticks, lifting platforms, etc.

Also the State Government is yet to stand guarantor to the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation’s (NHFDC) loan scheme under which loans ranging from Rs.50,000 to Rs.15 lakh are given to encourage self-employment among the handicapped. In fact, the NHFDC has cleared nearly 4,700 applications from Maharashtra in the last two years, but in the absence of a guarantee, the applications are lying in cold storage.

The percentage of houses to be reserved for handicapped by MHADA is also not clear. MHADA had reduced the quota to two per cent to match with the over all 49 per cent reservation for different categories like SC/ ST/VJNT. As such in May last, the Bombay High Court directed the MHADA to reserve one per cent of the 4,034 affordable houses offered for sale under its lottery scheme.

The above directions were given in response to a public interest litigation (PIL). The court also directed the state government to take a decision on increasing the reservation of flats meant for the disabled from the existing 2 per cent to 3 per cent. The decision is still pending.

The issue of allotment of Mahananda Dairy’s milk booths is also gathering dust. In 1985, Mahananda had allotted (through state urban development department) 124 milk vending booths (8x5 sq.ft. in size) in different parts of Mumbai and adjoining areas, on a nominal rent of Rs.70 per month with Rs.5,000 deposit.

However, during the 1992-1993 communal riots, they were closed down and now the scheme has been scrapped altogether. The BAVS, which has been spearheading the cause of the handicapped, has urged Mahananda to collect the rent for the period 1993 to 2012 and rejuvenate the scheme, but to no avail.

In yet another example of apathy towards the handicapped, the BMC has not relocated 43 handicapped families who were dishoused in the July 26, 2005 torrential rains in Mumbai. Initially, they were accommodated in two buildings constructed under the Rajiv Gandhi PM project at Dhobi Talao in South Mumbai at the behest of former Congress MLA Lalit Kapadia. However, they were evicted by the BMC on October 22, 2008 to accommodate its own staff.

Commenting on the woes of the handicapped persons, Maharashtra Social Welfare Minister Shivajirao Moghe candidly admitted that there has been a lapse in the implementation of various welfare schemes for the handicapped due to the involvement of multiple Government departments. “I have instructed the heads of different departments, including revenue, urban development and finance, to take up the issue seriously so that handicapped persons do not have to lead a pitiable life,” he added.

Meanwhile, BAVS has also urged Shivajirao Deshmukh, Chairman of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, to provide at least a pathway in the Vidhan Bhavan, so that handicapped persons using wheelchairs can reach there during the sessions of the state legislature, to express their grievances.