Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Oct 20: The Jammu and Kashmir Handicapped Association (JKHA) today staged a protest alleging discrimination by the Government while criticising the administration for the new recruitment rules which have rendered several persons with disabilities ineligible.
Under the banner of the ‘United forum of Persons with Disabilities J&K,’ scores of people appeared in the Press Enclave and were raising slogans in favour of their demands.
The persons with severe disabilities were protesting against the Social Welfare Department and General Administration Department for what they called wrong policies regarding the empowerment of persons with disabilities. Click here to watch video
“Recently the Government of J&K has notified rules in which there was confusion for class 4th posts. Thus JKSSB failed to notify the selection list of the aspirants with disabilities. The case was referred to GAD by JKSSB for proper job identification which was transferred to the Social Welfare Department for rectification of mistake,” said one of the protestors.
He said that without consulting representatives of all types of benchmark disabilities, Social Welfare Department identified 9 types of disabilities suitable for jobs, dropping blind, two-leg disabilities, two-arm disabilities dwarfism, acid attack victims, leprosy, cerebral palsy affected and those with neurological conditions.
The protestors demanded the implementation of the Central Government’s job identification order in J&K’s. They also demanded that all types of benchmark disabled persons as defined by the Indian Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 should be identified for class 4th jobs.
“The Government has resorted to discrimination and pasting labels of suspicion on the severely disabled persons. We are not getting opportunities to perform, how are we going to prove our abilities,” they said.
The person with disabilities said that the Government doesn’t have a clear policy for the education, employment and accessibility for the persons with disabilities in J&K. “The Advisor to LG holding the charge of Social Welfare Department has failed to serve the disability sector,” they said.
Follow our WhatsApp channel