New Delhi, April 20 (Inditop.com) Braving the scorching heat Tuesday, thousands of disabled people protested the government’s failure to provide them with social security and free healthcare and demanded a separate ministry to look after their needs.
Led by Marxist leader Brinda Karat, the gathering also presented a charter of demands to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The rally was staged near the parliament building here and was organised by the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled, an umbrella of various organisations working for the disabled across the country.
Some of the protesters were in wheelchairs and others used sign language to communicate. The atmosphere was charged as they raised slogans demanding equality.
“We are here to demand our rights from the government, it is becoming harder and harder to survive. I feel discriminated everywhere,” said Sarik Mansa, a disabled person from West Bengal participating in the protest.
Their demands include a comprehensive social security system for all people with disabilities and their families, free healthcare for all disabled in all hospitals, an amendment to the Right to Education Act to include disability, immediate identification of jobs for the disabled, concessions in local trains and setting up of a separate ministry for disability affairs.
Earlier in the day, a delegation from the gathering met the prime minister to discuss these issues.
Addressing the protesters, Karat said: “In the growth of the country is the growth of the disabled and in the growth of disabled is the growth of India.”
Karat added that the prime minister had assured her during the meeting that his government would do everything to fulfil the demands in the charter.
