Differently-abled fear missing out on BPL List

BHUBANESWAR: The BPL survey once again threatening to leave them out, the groups of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the State have raised their voice of concern. Going by the guidelines issued by the Government of India, the activists on Friday said a large number of PWDs will be left out of the BPL list.  Here is how. Some of the differently-abled persons have received tricycles or modified two-wheelers issued by the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and voluntary organisations but the enumerators will enlist the vehicle as a three-wheeler or two-wheeler without going into the details thereby rendering the orthopaedically handicapped persons ineligible to be counted as BPL.  Similarly, the PWDs have been issued PCOs by the BSNL to earn livelihood but that will mean that they will no longer be designated as BPL and lose support, they would have been entitled to, although their earnings from the booths are not high. According to Sanyasa Sahoo of Orissa Disabled People’s Network (ODPN), such discrimination in the guidelines is going to further compound the misery of PWDs in the State where they are already ignored. “Of the 10.5 lakh disabled in Orissa, barely 500 might have got jobs in the government. Besides, the Government pays disability pension of Rs. 200 whereas Delhi pays Rs. 1,000 and Goa pays Rs. 1,500,” Sahoo told mediapersons on Friday. In 2008, the groups took up the issue with the then chief secretary TK Mishra who put up the matter before an all secretaries meeting where it was decided that the issue of guidelines will be taken up with the Centre, State Coordinator, ODNP, K Anand Rao said. However, the decision is caught in the bureaucratic red tape. Since a large chunk of Orissa’s population come under PWDs, the activists have demanded that the Government must ensure their inclusion in the BPL list. “If the Central guidelines prohibit the State Government, it can challenge the same in the court. If the State Government can go to court for Poscos and Vedantas, why not for us,” Sahoo wondered.