Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 2: In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by NGO Golden Heartz through its Director Parimoksh Seth, Division Bench of the State High Court comprising First Puisne Judge Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar and Justice B S Walia today issued notice to the respondents with the direction to file status report about infrastructure provided to the School for Blind at Roop Nagar before October 3, 2016.
“The status report may also disclose the future course of action taken for establishing appropriate blind schools based on number of such children who are seeking placements”, the DB further directed.
Earlier, Senior Advocate Sunil Sethi with Advocates Ankesh Chandel and Deewakar Sharma appearing for the petitioner submitted, “unfortunately in the State of Jammu and Kashmir there are large number of cases of child blindness because of environmental and medical reasons”, adding “ironically there is only one school for blinds in Jammu where education is provided to the blind students only up to the level of 5th Standard”.
“The students who are studying in the school are living in a hostel in a very pitiable condition as meagre assistance of Rs 65 per student per day is being provided by the Social Welfare Department”, Advocate Sethi said, adding “as the students who are staying in the hostel also includes the persons who are pursuing their studies in the higher classes in some private schools also, so they have to pay higher fee which gets proportionately deducted from the amount which is being released per child. Due to this very less money is left for the upkeep and bringing up of the students”.
“Neither there are concerted efforts by the respondents for providing medical and health care facilities to the persons suffering from blindness in J&K nor the State Government is in a position to provide support of specialized medicare facility for eradication or cure of the blindness”, the counsel for the petitioner said, adding “because of denial of such medical specialized treatment these children/persons are made to live the life of total darkness either because of there being no facilities available for their treatment or because of no financial help to them to have the medicare which is available but is costly and beyond their reach”.
Senior Advocate Sunil Sethi sought directions to respondents to provide two schools for blinds in all the districts of the State with facilities of boarding and lodging to cater to the needs of children suffering from blindness and make provision for providing education to them by special training at least up to the 12th standard.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel