Unfulfilled dreams of physically disabled people in Mandi, Poonch

Late Fatima Begum died waiting for her a house of her own. When she was alive, Fatima, who was physically disabled, lived in a dilapidated room in Sawajian panchayat in Mandi block in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir without any state assistance. Although she had some support when her husband was alive, but after his death in 2017, she had nowhere to go. Despite struggling hard, she wasn’t able to make her ends meet. She received no benefit from schemes meant for people with disabilities.
While commenting on Fatima’s situation, Shahraz Gilami, 37, a local from the village, highlighted the flawed and biased panchayat system that exists in the region. “Soon after winning the election, the sarpanch relocated away from the village; unbothered about the situation of the people here. The information about different government schemes that should be circulated through the Panchayat, never reaches the needy people in our village,” he rued.
Like Fatima, Abdul Ahad Mir, Ahmed Din Mir, and Ghulam Rasool Daar alias Lassa, all above 70 years of age, are deprived of benefiting from pension schemes for people with disability.
Mohammed Azam, the Welfare Officer, Department of Social Welfare, Mandi, also stressed the loophole in the functioning of the local authority. “The Sarpanch has given me in writing that there are no elderly, disabled, or anyone eligible for various pension schemes in his village. But when I had visited the village in the past to enquire about the the situation, I was disappointed when I had come across Fatima and others who were in need of our assistance.”
He further added, “We never received any files or information regarding the elderly, disabled people. The sarpanch and the ward panch are responsible for not conducting the official procedure and keeping the eligible people from receiving the benefits of the social welfare schemes.”
“Information regarding these schemes come to the sarpanch who does not live here. Regarding the disability pension, eligible applicants are required to file applications on their own; there is nothing we can help them with other than guidance.”
Village representatives have a primary role in implementing the schemes at the ground level. Although there are a plethora of government schemes, the gaps in implementation makes it harder for the beneficiaries to avail them. Furthermore, accurate data collection should be undertaken more diligently as it sets the base for the effective execution of these well-thought schemes.
Muralidharan Vishwanath, the General Secretary of the National Platform for the Rights of Disabled (NPRD), highlighted in a report how the absence of official data on inadequate housing and shelters, water and sanitation services, health and environmental challenges, and poverty among people with disabilities leads to making their plight invisible. Such gaps in the social welfare framework, especially in rural, hilly areas tend to exclude persons with disability from the development ambit of any country. There is a need to be extra sensitive while planning and executing the schemes meant for them.
The writer is a student of Class 12 from Mandi, Poonch.
(By special arrangement with Charkha Features)