10 years on, family fails to get disability pension

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, April 24

A mentally challenged family has been running from pillar to post for the past 10 years to avail disability pension given by the state government. Their plight has failed to move the officials concerned and the family has failed to get disability pension because of official apathy.

Ishar, his wife Chhakni and four children Sito, Teki, Lekh Raj and Bheesh Kumar are all mentally challenged since birth. They live in a remote Kunga village of Bhagaigarh panchayat in Churaha tehsil of Chamba district. They are not in a condition to move out of their house and appear before the medical board in Chamba to show their disability.

Local panchayat pradhan Shukantla Devi has raised their problem before state authorities and the district administration time and again but to no avail. She even took the family to ‘khula darbar’, a popular programme of the previous government for addressing public grievances. She also met the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Chamba and other authorities in this regard.

Devi said the government should send a team of doctors to village for medical examination of Ishar and his family. She also has appealed to CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu to intervene.

The family is living in a mud house which is on the verge of collapse. The panchayat helped the family in getting Aadhaar cards made. Though with the panchayat’s help, Ishar’s name has been included in the list of BPL beneficiaries, he is yet to get a grant for the construction of house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.