Differently abled persons stage dharna at Coimbatore Collectorate

The protesters claimed that the 4% reservation for differently abled persons for jobs in the government sector was not followed.

A total of 75 differently abled persons staged a dharna at the Coimbatore Collectorate here on Monday, demanding the Chief Minister and district administration to fulfill their demands.

They requested Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise V. Senthilbalaji to hold talks with the associations for the differently abled to understand their needs better.

The protesters claimed that the 4% reservation for differently abled persons for jobs in the government sector was not followed. Their demands included re-opening of the school for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) at Kattur, sanctioning of old age pensions and setting up of special facility to train paralympic sportspersons.

The president of The Coimbatore District Differently Abled Welfare Association for Women, C. Jayaprabha, said that apart from providing vehicular and monetary aids, the district must support the PwDs abandoned by their spouses or children, ensure housing allotments were disabled-friendly, give priority for setting up Aavin outlets and monitor if employment reservations were upheld.

Collector G.S Sameeran assured them that their demands would be forwarded to the concerned departments and addressed at the earliest.