Day for Persons with Disabilities: One day of sensitising society, 364 of negligence & inaccessibility

One day throughout the year is celebrated for sensitising society for the differently abled but what awaits them the rest of the year is negligence, lengthy procedures, delays in payouts and inaccessibility to several grants.
What they truly want is not just a day but a society – a well sensitised society, easy procedures to get their dues and accessibility to government policies.
The family of 17-year-old Munmun, who suffered brain damage, has been running pillar to post for the last few weeks to get her disability certificate issued.
“We had been getting treatment at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) for about eight years. Some time back we were informed that they had done the best they could and if we wish we can get the treatment done elsewhere. We began Ayurvedic treatment for Munmun which also helped but at the same time is not accepted while getting a certificate made. We have been running for more than two weeks to get the documents made. The process should be eased so that anybody can get the documents issued with ease,” said her sister, Sampada Jaiswal.
This is not just the case with the creation of documents, several differently abled people testified that the pensions for the persons with disabilities are mostly delayed.
Amit Kumar, 25, said that it has been more than six months, and he has not received his pension. “My father, who was a farmer, is old, and my mother is a heart patient, to complete my education I had to take loans from friends and relatives. I complained about not receiving the pensions on time and I was told that my Aadhar card was not verified by the department, but it has been more than two months since I have submitted the required documents for verification, but I am still waiting for the amount,” said Kumar.
Ramvijay Gupta, 28, a research scholar said that the campus of all educational institutions should be made inclusive in terms of infrastructure. “At Lucknow University, a student with a disability cannot access the auditoriums, or even the door beyond the ramp at Tagore Library, which remains mostly closed. As per the government scheme we get pensions only once in three months which gets delayed to sometimes four or even five months. I believe we should instead get the amount every month,” said Gupta.
Swati Sharma, director of Rainbow Society for Differently Abled, said that many of her students face problems at the time they file their life-certificate. “Once they fill out the certificate, their pensions are usually delayed. Central government grants for institutions running for children should be increased to a lifetime instead of a certain chronological age as many with intellectual disabilities require support for all their life,” said Sharma.
Mamta Shah Dhami, secretary, UP Parents’ Association for Mentally Challenged Citizens, which runs Asha Jyoti School for differently abled children said that like other states like – Madhya Pradesh and Telangana which offer pensions for differently-abled kids between 2,000-6,000 the state government must begin thinking about it.
“Pensions for differently abled people should be given regardless of their family income and at the same time, it is required to increase it to a certain extent that they can sustain on it. The provision to provide family pension to them should also be made smooth,” said Dhami.