Ongole: Differently abled people rue delays, negligence

Ongole: The welfare of the differently-abled people has been partially handicapped in the state for the last few years, complain the visually impaired, deaf and dumb, mentally and physically-challenged people. They are demanding the government to implement the welfare programmes for all people and provide the aids and tools when they are really required. They are urging the government to announce an action plan for the implementation of the welfare programmes to the differently-abled, at least in the events marking the 'International Day of Persons with Disabilities' which falls on Friday.

According to the data with the department of empowerment of persons with disabilities, Government of India, there are more than 2.50 crore challenged people in the country, while their population is 11.04 lakh and 10.47 lakh in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2017. The Andhra Pradesh government has established the Andhra Pradesh Differently Abled and Senior Citizens Assistance Corporation (APDASCAC) to implement various welfare schemes along with the welfare programmes by the department concerned.

Under the available welfare schemes and programmes, the differently-abled students in the state may apply for scholarships, laptops, Daisy players, tricycles, three-wheelers, touch phones, adult sticks, spectacles, crutches, callipers and artificial limbs, while other disabled people may receive marriage incentives and appointment under backlog vacancies, along with others.

An orthopaedically handicapped student said that she applied for a three-wheeler to go to college about three years ago, but still, there is no response from the government. She said that some people who applied very long ago, received the three-wheelers in 2018 and the government didn't approve any application since then and removed the scheme from the list of schemes barring new requests. The National Federation of the Blind of India, Amaravati sub-branch leader Ch Srinivasa Reddy said that though there are a lot of welfare programmes and schemes on the list, the applications for help are not being approved in time.

He said that the beneficiaries have to wait for years to receive any help from the government. He explained that the department is giving walking sticks, tricycles, spectacles, etc., He said that the government is not processing any applications for loans, marriage incentives but limiting the distribution of low-cost aids and tools.

Srinivasa Reddy demanded the government to help the needy disabled people without considering the budget, as it helps them to survive on their own. He demanded the government should not discriminate the disabled people and wanted touch mobile phones along with laptops for blind people, as it spends about Rs 1 lakh to give a three-wheeler to the orthopedically challenged beneficiary for free.

G Archana, assistant director and district manager of the APDASCAC in Ongole, said that there is a total of 65,313 differently-abled persons in the district. She said that the government is implementing many welfare schemes for the differently-abled, but there is an unexpected delay for a few days in processing and approving them. She advised the disabled people who require tools and aids to apply through the corporation website. She said that the government is also planning to clear the applications of loans and incentives soon.