Visually challenged seek jobs, threaten to go on fast

Members of the Punjab Netarheen Yuvak Association have given a charter of their demands to the Chief Minister Office, seeking filling of 1,754 posts for the physically challenged at the earliest, failing which they will take to hunger strike.

Over 15 visually challenged members of the association gathered in Jalandhar, sharing various problems being faced by them due to joblessness or lowly wages in private offices and NGOs. The members said Rs 1,500 being doled out to them as monthly pension was very low. They said  536 promotions of the government staff in the physically challenged category were overdue.

Several members of the association said they were qualified for jobs but no chance was given to them. Suresh Kumar said, "I hold degrees of MA in political science with B.Ed and M.Ed but I am still to get a job." Lakhvir Singh said, "I have done a five-year diploma in computer sciences and another in music. But I am doing a lowly job with an NGO as a teacher in Ludhiana." Armed with a graduation degree, Gurpreet Singh of Ludhiana said, "I perform kirtan in a gurdwara at Samrala but my wages are too little for me to meet my daily needs".

Gurpinder Kaur, who is married in Ludhiana, had come along with her toddler son. "My husband is a music teacher but I am jobless. There are 332 vacancies in the Local Bodies Department for the physically challenged which remained unfilled", the general secretary of the association said.

Chairman of the association Brinder Thaplial and president Kuldeep Singh said, "We have given the state government time till February 15 to open jobs for our category. If they fail to act, we will start a hunger strike in front of the office of the Department of Welfare in the Punjab Secretariat in Chandigarh".