Pratibandhi Suraksha Sanstha Assam sniffs plot against it

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, July 10: ‘Promises are made to be broken and the lies meant to be kept,’ is the phrase that rightly describes the state of affairs being faced by the differently-abled persons of the State. Over the last couple of years, the differently-abled persons have been getting promise after promise beginning from ministers to officers. However, nothing visible has been stepped up so far in order to meet their demands raised from time to time.

Sharing their grievances to the reporters in Guwahati on Tuesday, Pratibandhi Suraksha Sanstha, Assam (PSSA) general secretary Nripen Malakar said that the State Government’s assurance to recruit 4,419 backlog posts reserved for the differently-abled lying vacant in various line departments have been remaining unfulfilled. Expressing displeasure over the apathy of the State Government, he alleged that the excessive red tape of the bureaucrats has been frustrating the differently-abled and their demands. He further alleged that the host of the bureaucrats are not cooperating the minister concerned to resolve the issue. “Whenever there is a sign of progress in the recruitment process for the differently-abled, the top officials of the Social Welfare Department are transferred without a valid reason. It gives us a sense that the State Government is indulging in a conspiracy against us,” Malakar said.

Malakar revealed that on February 20 last, they submitted a memorandum to Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi requesting her to establish a special university, a blind college, a deaf and dumb college and certain schools in the model of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Assam for the differently-abled. In response to the memorandum, the Union Minister wrote three letters to the Commissioner and Secretary, Department of Elementary Education, Government of Assam. “Surprisingly none of the letters written by the Union Minister were replied till date,” he added.