Rs 1,500 pension for lepers with 80 pc disability

Kakinada: District Joint Collector A Mallikarujuna, on Monday ordered the Disabled and Senior Citizen Welfare Department officials and other district officials of Medical and Health to take necessary measures to finalise the disability of the leprosy patients as their fingers were prone to damaged by the disease day by day.

The JC received memoranda from the members of the district leprosy association while conducting the Mee-Kosam meeting at the Collectorate here. Speaking on this occasion, the leprosy association members and the leprosy patients urged the JC to increase their monthly pension from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 as they were unable to do any work because of lack of fingers. The patients further urged the JC that they should be given the necessary tri-cycles, crutches, hand sticks and artificial limbs directly from the Disabled Welfare Department. They informed the JC that the officials were saying that the patients have to register their names and necessities through an online system.

Responding to their petitions, the JC ordered the district officials to conduct medical tests to all the leprosy patients and take immediate measures to sanction a pension of Rs 1,500 to those whose disability crossed 80 percent.

The JC also ordered the revenue officials to sanction ration for those leprosy patients who cannot use their fingers due to the disease. He further directed them to take the iris scan for the leprosy patients and give the ration, if the iris system failed to work.