Nethrodaya complains against T.N. govt. officials for ‘brutally insensitive’ remarks on employees with visual impairment

Nethrodaya, a social service institution based in Chennai, has lodged a complaint with the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) in New Delhi over the “highly insulting and brutally insensitive” remarks purportedly made by the Commissioner of Stationery and Printing and the Director of Differently Abled Welfare Department, Tamil Nadu, against employees with visual impairment in government services.

Nethrodaya, a social service institution based in Chennai, has lodged a complaint with the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) in New Delhi over the “highly insulting and brutally insensitive” remarks purportedly made by the Commissioner of Stationery and Printing and the Director of Differently Abled Welfare Department, Tamil Nadu, against employees with visual impairment in government services.

The institution’s founder C. Govindakrishnan urged the CCPD to initiate legal action against the Commissioner and the Director under Section 92(a) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016. The Section provides for imprisonment between six months and five years to those who intentionally insult or intimidate persons with disability in public view with the intent of humiliating them.

Introducing itself as an institution approved by the Rehabilitation Council of India and recognised by the State government, Nethordaya said it had been conferred with a prestigious national award by the President of India and had also been a recipient of the best institution award from the State government for offering quality services to students with disabilities, free of cost.

It had recently come across a Government Order (G.O.) issued by the Tamil Nadu government’s Department for the Welfare of the Differently Abled Persons on September 20, 2024, which discontinued a free book binding course offered by the government to school dropouts with visual impairment, since 1982, on the basis of letters written by the Commissioner and the Director to the government.

In the letters, the contents of which had been extracted in the G.O., the two officials had cited various difficulties in employing candidates with visual impairment to the posts of book binders and book binding assistants. While doing so, “the two officials, holding vital bureaucratic positions, have made highly insulting and brutally insensitive remarks against the visually impaired community,” Nethrodaya complained.

Pointing out that the two officials had branded the employees as “non performers, non productive, quarrelsome” and as those who create an unpleasant working environment, Nethrodaya said: “The above derogatory remarks from the top bureaucrats go against the very principle of social justice being championed by the Dravidian model of government.”

Further, “by generalising individual instances of exceptional nature to the entire differently abled population, the officials have committed offences under Section 92(a) of the RPWD Act which warrants punitive measures against the erring officials hurting the sentiments of persons with disabilities,” the complaint lodged through the CCPD’s portal, along with a copy of the G.O., read.