Finding people with disabilities people suitable lifemates

Azampura: A one-day camp for people with disabilities (PWD) people looking for 'wedding alliances' for the differently abled not only received good response from different communities, but also provided the much-needed succor to the families facing hardships in finding alliances for their loved ones.

On Sunday, parents and guardians rushed to register the names of their wards who have been waiting for good alliance – some of them for years owing to disability – at the camp named Doo-ba-Doo (face-to-face).

It was organised by Siasat for the first time in more than 5 years and this was the second of its kind. Organised in collaboration with Ideal Information Centre for Disabled (IICD), hundreds of candidates approached its office located in Azampura on Sunday.

The programme was inaugurated by the Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, managing editor, Siasat daily, and Hafez Mohammed Rashaduddin, city president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, while Ateeq-ur-Rahman, Syed Tabrez Bakshi of IICD and Syed Khalid Mohiuddin Asad, coordinator for Doo-Ba-Doo, were present.

According to organizers, they received close to 400 registrations for the marriage alliances, which included candidates from different communities, who were deaf, dumb, blind, or physical handicapped and even intellectual disability. The target for registrations was reached within an hour of opening registrations. Organisers also received around 50 registrations from non-Muslims.

"Doo-Ba-Doo for disabled was last conducted in 2014 and after 5 years the IICD and Siasat daily have come up again for helping the specially abled," said Naveedur Rahman, Treasurer, IICD. Speaking to The Hans India, Rahman said that as most of these men and women had capabilities, they were unable to find a match and most of them remained single for a long time.

Some of them were experts in their subjects and some were in government sector and qualified. This is an opportunity to have wider scope to get a match and life-partner, he explained.

In 2014, the organisers received around 250 registrations and almost all got married. Of the registrations, almost 60 per cent are from women who are deaf, blind, handicapped etc and are aged between 20 and 35.

"Anyone belonging to any community can attend and visit the programme. A separate counter has been set up for the non-Muslims with their non-Muslim staff. Janjirala Rajesh, a senior TRS leader, a resident of Banjara Hills, attended the programme for her deaf daughter Vijaya Shanti who completed her graduation recently. They registered and expressed gratitude and hoped that she would be able to find a suitable match.

Mohammed aged 45, a visually impaired, said that as soon as he got the information about the programme, he and his family attended and registered, hoping to get a life partner. The organisers informed that the database would help them in processing the applications and the services will remain available on every Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm.