Date:03/12/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/12/03/stories/2006120318580300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

KRAO to observe `black day' today

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: The Karnataka Rajya Angavikalara Okkuta (KRAO) and other organisations working for persons with disability will observe a "black day" on December 3 to register their protest against the Government.

Persons with disability will form a human chain and march to the Raj Bhavan.

Home Minister M.P. Prakash, when he was Deputy Chief Minister, had called a meeting in December last year and held out several promises and also assured that the needs of the disabled would be addressed within three months. But nothing concrete had emerged so far, according to KRAO.

Representatives of KRAO said that no purpose would be served by merely observing the World Disability Day by serving buns and juice to the disabled. The Government should come out with an action plan. "This horrible attitude of government officials and people's representatives is condemnable," they said. The Directorate of Welfare of Disabled and Senior Citizens, Bangalore, maintained that the director had announced schemes in the pipeline, including programmes for vocational training and placements.

Members of the Karnataka Helen Keler Handicapped Association have decided to observe the World Disabilities Day as a "black day" on Sunday.

P.S. Sankan Gowdar told presspersons here on Saturday that the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, had not been implemented properly. There had been instances when the disabled had been ill-treated and yet there had been no response from the Government. "The World Disability Day is being observed for the past 10 years. The Government should realise that we are also citizens whose rights have to be protected," he said.