Y.S. RANA :
CHANDIGARH—If there are people who consider disability as ‘mistake’ of God, there are some in the society who consider disability as the ‘power’ of God also and who tirelessly work to rectify the things which God could not do so. Two Para Legal Volunteers (PLVs) came to the rescue to Jitender Das who is 100 percent disabled and confine to wheel-chair. He has a family of four children to take care of. The family lives in a ‘Jhugi’ in Sector 48.
Jitender said when Monsoon in the city has its own flavor and romance for many that touched all our senses but for him it was a test for his small ‘Jhugi.’ What is alarming is the lockdown for the past one month that has completely stopped our ‘alms’ he used to collect at Sector 48 traffic light. On the other, fear of summer also haunted him.
While talking to him, he said that he was a rickshaw puller in Bihar and earned sufficient to take care of the family. In 2015, the world dashed to the ground when he met an accident there and shifted to Chandigarh for further treatment at PGI. But he could not revive sensation in his legs and could not stand on his feet again. A doctor has provided him a tricycle and a belt. He started begging along with his small two children in his lap bearing the brunt of the weather.
His wife has to standby him all the time to move the wheelchair from one side to the other side of the light points with hope of some coins. One day Mohind Kour Kataria (PLV) came across him. She inquired about him. He told her about his tale vow, “I am totally dependent on alms which I get during the day. I approach a number of offices for consideration of my case but always put me off,” he said. Always stand for a person in distress she has decided to help the family.
Kataria took his case and visited all the offices concerned including the social welfare department. She completed his documents and forwarded his case for a disability pension. A smile came on the face of Jitender when he was told that a pension of Rs 2000 per month has been sanctioned and he was debited three months pension to his bank account. Thankfully things have now improved to some extend for the family but now his ‘extra’ income has been stopped due to pandemic.
Kataria stated that she had also taken up the case of admission of his two children in government schools near his ‘residence.’ In absence of a date of the birth certificate of his sons, the matter could not pursue further. After lockdown, she will get prepared an affidavit from the SDM and hoped his would get admission done. She further said that there were scores of disabled persons living in areas where they did not receive the benefits needed to make them unable to overcome their limitations. The individual who becomes permanently physically disabled today finds himself in a bewildering world alone and a new different world. It is the society that is disabling not the people who are disabled, says Kataria.