TARATDAC to strike for demands of disabled on Jan 8

Members of TARATDAC said that various schemes meant for the differently-abled people were not being properly implemented and that they were not receiving the doles announced by the government. The association claims that only about 2 per cent of the differently-abled people have received disability certification given by the State government, while a large number of people have not yet received the certificates.

In 2018, TARATDAC demanded the State government to allocate a monthly allowance of Rs 1,500 per month for mentally-challenged children. However, the State government has not given its heads up for the scheme.

The members allege that regular counselling sessions that were to be conducted for the disabled people have not been conducted for more than six months and the State government has not even taken any notice of the same. Even the differently-abled beneficiaries of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme complain that they have not received their wages since August 2019 and TARATDAC has even petitioned the Chief Minister demanding the settlement of the wages.

“We are going on a nationwide strike on January 8 to also support the trade unions against the lack of accountability of the government towards the economy of the country. It has impacted the lives of the disabled people and has led to lack of employment for them and State government has not taken efforts to help us,” said S Namburajan, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled and Caregivers.

Stating the award given to TN for good governance, he said, how can a government be awarded for good governance when there are numerous issues relating to the disabled people that remain unattended by the State.