‘’It has been thirty years that we are living here relying on
government’s pension. Sometimes, this also runs out,’’ said Shivan, an
inhabitant of the colony for physically challenged, is sixty years of
age now. Both his legs are paralysed and he cannot even sit up without
help.
Shivan, an inhabitant of the ‘colony for physically challenged’ at
Kamaleshwaram, whose legs are paralysed being helped by his wife
Shivan is not alone. The members of the twenty-eight
families, who were rehabilitated here thirty years back, are living a
life of misery here. Ninety-six-year-old Sarasu is still collecting and
selling scrap metal for a living and 86-year-old Thankamma still has to
go out with a begging bowl to eke out a living. There are three blind
persons in the colony.
The colony at Kamaleshwaram which is only 7
km away from the Secretariat, was allocated to 28 families of
physically challenged people thirty years back. The city Corporation had
given five acres for the colony. However, no effort was made to
monitor the living conditions of the inhabitants and currently, most of
them are surviving on Rs 525 they get from Kerala Government’s pension
scheme for disabled people.
The physically challenged people who
were relocated here three decades ago were mostly beggars. They were
allotted this land near the sewage farm by the Kerala State Handicapped
Persons Welfare Corporation. It is alleged that they were abandoned in
the place in order to get rid of them.
It has been years since the
houses have been rethached or any maintenance work done. Most of the
houses have only one or two rooms and they are situated below the level
of the road. When it rains, water flows into the houses from the road
making life even more wretched. Epidemics also are frequent.
‘’No
association is functioning there actively for the welfare of these
people. The people are not united. As people belonging to different
religions reside here, religious groups also had taken no interest in
working for their betterment,’’ said Gopakumar, a member of Federation
of Residents Associations Thiruvananthapuram (FRAT). The inhabitants
have demanded a habitable place of land. Once they are allotted the
land, they can apply for programmes like the EMS housing scheme.
Associations like FRAT, conducts programmes for the welfare of the
inhabitants of the colony.
A memorandum has been given to the Chief Minister by them demanding land be allotted to physically challenged in the colony.
Source : The New Indian Express , 3rd May 2013
‘’It has been thirty years that we are living here relying on
government’s pension. Sometimes, this also runs out,’’ said Shivan, an
inhabitant of the colony for physically challenged, is sixty years of
age now. Both his legs are paralysed and he cannot even sit up without
help.
Shivan, an inhabitant of the ‘colony for physically challenged’ at
Kamaleshwaram, whose legs are paralysed being helped by his wife
Shivan is not alone. The members of the twenty-eight
families, who were rehabilitated here thirty years back, are living a
life of misery here. Ninety-six-year-old Sarasu is still collecting and
selling scrap metal for a living and 86-year-old Thankamma still has to
go out with a begging bowl to eke out a living. There are three blind
persons in the colony.
The colony at Kamaleshwaram which is only 7
km away from the Secretariat, was allocated to 28 families of
physically challenged people thirty years back. The city Corporation had
given five acres for the colony. However, no effort was made to
monitor the living conditions of the inhabitants and currently, most of
them are surviving on Rs 525 they get from Kerala Government’s pension
scheme for disabled people.
The physically challenged people who
were relocated here three decades ago were mostly beggars. They were
allotted this land near the sewage farm by the Kerala State Handicapped
Persons Welfare Corporation. It is alleged that they were abandoned in
the place in order to get rid of them.
It has been years since the
houses have been rethached or any maintenance work done. Most of the
houses have only one or two rooms and they are situated below the level
of the road. When it rains, water flows into the houses from the road
making life even more wretched. Epidemics also are frequent.
‘’No
association is functioning there actively for the welfare of these
people. The people are not united. As people belonging to different
religions reside here, religious groups also had taken no interest in
working for their betterment,’’ said Gopakumar, a member of Federation
of Residents Associations Thiruvananthapuram (FRAT). The inhabitants
have demanded a habitable place of land. Once they are allotted the
land, they can apply for programmes like the EMS housing scheme.
Associations like FRAT, conducts programmes for the welfare of the
inhabitants of the colony.
A memorandum has been given to the Chief Minister by them demanding land be allotted to physically challenged in the colony.
Source : The New Indian Express , 3rd May 2013
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