Hyderabad: Physically challenged cry for pension release, stage dharna

Hyderabad: Several persons with disabilities, under the banner of National Policy for Rare Diseases (NPRD), staged a dharna in front of the Hyderabad collector’s office here on Monday demanding release of pending pension amounts, among other demands.

Addressing the protestors, Adivayya, state secretary of National Forum for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (NFRPD) said “if the Aasara pensions are not released within 15 days, we will besiege Pragati Bhavan. We demand introduction of the minimum employment guarantee scheme for the disabled in rural and urban natural forests and freedom to the beneficiaries to build double bedroom houses”.

The union’s state secretary A. Adivayya and Hyderabad secretary R. Venkatesh said “Around 3.51 lakh support pensions have not been released in three years. We urge the government to release pensions by fifth of every month and earmark five per cent of double bedroom houses to the disabled.

Allotment of 25 per cent of rental shops in government-built shopping complexes, special training centres that can subsequently generate employment, free accommodation and universal identity cards and curbing
sexual harassment of women are our other major demands.”

They later submitted a memorandum to Sharman, the Hyderabad district collector, who assured to convene a joint meeting with government officials to resolve their problems.