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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

They’re out on a limb in a heartless system -Deepa Kurup
-The Hindu

Bangalore: Many persons with disabilities are jobless and unable to get or denied their paltry pension

Seven-year-old Sadiya lies awake as her parents and siblings, who have just returned from an overnight trip to a dargah, catch up on their sleep. Lying on her back, no taller than an average toddler, she wails when she spots strangers at her door. Sadiya shares the tin-roofed 10 ft by 10 ft space in Devarjeevanahalli with two siblings as her mother, Ahila, expects her fourth. Ms. Ahila and her carpenter husband can ill afford the thousands they spend on medicines every month. Just last month, they spent close to Rs. 12,000 for scans and tests at the Bowring Hospital when little Sadiya came down with severe fits.

Fruitless chase

It has been four years since they applied for disability pension or welfare. The process has been so futile they stopped following up. But holding her child close to her chest, Ms. Ahila says that her deepest regret is that her second-born can’t go to school. With no financial assistance, the anguished mother can’t even begin to imagine arranging for a special school.

Sadly, Sadiya has little to look forward to. For, in her neighbourhood, the thickly populated and predominantly lower socio-economic area of Periyarnagar, scores of persons with disabilities live in abject poverty, with no social cover or State support. Worse, a large number of them, in a cruel welfare cut enforced by the State government, have been denied their social security pensions.

Paltry pension goes

In a bid to detect bogus beneficiaries of the disability pensions scheme — where a paltry Rs. 400 is paid to those certified with less than 75 per cent disability, and Rs. 1,000 for the others — names of over 1.6 lakh of the 6 lakh beneficiaries were deleted from the list in the drive that commenced in February 2011.

Devapriyam’s is one such case. Wheelchair-bound since he lost both limbs to polio, the 26-year-old is dependent on his aging parents, and sometimes sells plastic toys near his house for a living. The Rs. 1,000 he got every month was his sole steady income, which just about covered his medical expenses. Despite repeated applications, the Directorate of Social Security and Pensions has failed to respond to his pleas to reinstate the pension.

Bureaucratic maze

Just down the lane, there is a similar case. The pension of Kusuma (35) was stopped four months ago. She lives with her brother Velu, a tile worker, who says he will take care of her. He adds that the Rs. 400 was a “welcome help” in these tough economic times. With both limbs crippled and mostly immobile, Ms. Kusuma’s disability has been classified as under 75 per cent. Many others The Hindu spoke with complained of erratic disbursal of pensions, applications that have been pending for years and unscientific or unfair medical certifications.

Officials at the Directorate of Disabled confirmed that there was a “mix-up” in pensions for the disabled in the State. Every day, the directorate receives at least 20 genuine complaints where the beneficiaries have been denied their due.

In Bangalore Urban district, as of September, 10,579 persons with disabilities receive Rs. 400 a month, while 9,130 get Rs. 1,000. Most of the deletions from the list were in the second category. Further, the Union government announced a hike of Rs. 100 in pensions in the 2012 Budget, but till date no hike has been enforced in the State, officials confirmed.

Disability rights activists have for long argued that welfare pensions for persons with disabilities must be a universal scheme, rather than a targeted one only for those identified as living Below the Poverty Line (BPL).

What about jobs?

The government’s track record on all the other schemes or legal provisions made under the People With Disabilities Act (1995) is poor. For instance, the committee set up to identify government jobs for persons with disabilities had not met for nine years, points out State Commissioner for Disabilities K.V. Rajanna. After it was issued a notice, the Department of Women and Child has restarted the exercise to identify jobs.

No records

Meanwhile, no records exist on the number of persons with disabilities working in government service. Under the Act, three per cent of public sector jobs must be reserved for disabled persons in the A and B categories (senior officials), and 5 per cent in C and D categories. There is no political or bureaucratic will in the government to comply with this simple requirement, says G.N. Nagaraj, president of the Karnataka State Disabled and Care Givers Federation. “The public sector alone can give a boost to the disability sector, and will encourage young disabled persons to get an education,” he says. A new Bill that seeks to replace the 1995 Act envisages 5 per cent reservation in the public sector and incentivises private employers to hire persons with disabilities.