Poll promises for persons with disabilities and some concerns

Different political parties, in their manifestos for the Assembly election, have come up with a variety of promises for persons with disabilities, from increased welfare assistance to employment opportunities. But activists have flagged certain gaps and concerns.

Namburajan, working president of the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD), said most of the promises were a repetition of those from the previous election manifestos. Though some of the promises, like a dedicated cell at every government medical college hospital to allow all speciality doctors to examine patients with disabilities, were truly assuring, they often failed to go beyond the conceptual stage owing to lack of budgetary allocation and administrative willpower, he said.