Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 10 Jul: Speaking up for the rights of persons with disabilities (PwD) in the state, Thomas Tajo, a blind researcher and thinker who is based in Europe but has roots in Arunachal, convened a press conference here on Sunday to raise the grievances faced by the PwDs.
Addressing the media, Tajo highlighted various problems that the PwDs in the state are facing, and cited clauses under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
“Under this Act, the state government has to make provisions for the PwDs, so that their life goes up easier and a minimum 5 percent reservation should be there for the PwDs in jobs,” he said.
Tajo said that “4 percent reservation should be included for the PwDs applying for government jobs.”
Citing a clause of the Act that provides for appointment of a commissioner to address the issues of the PwDs, Tajo informed that the state government has no permanent state commissioner for the PwDs till date, but a temporary one.
He urged all political parties, especially those in the opposition, to raise their voices for the rights of persons with disabilities. He also appealed to the All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union and community-based student unions to raise their voices for the disabled students too.
Calling for creating more awareness in this regard, he said that the state government and the opposition parties should ensure that the rights of the PwDs are upheld.
