Sufficient budgetary funds demanded

Action on Disability and Development forms a human chain in front of the National Press Club in the city yesterday demanding an increase in budgetary allocation for the persons with disabilities.Photo: STAR

Organisations working on the rights of the people with disabilities demanded sufficient allocation in the coming budget for the welfare of the disabled that accounts one percent of the country's total population.
They also called upon the government to spend 10 percent of the total allocation of the education sector to improve the education quality of the physically challenged.
Action on Disability and Development (ADD), Jatiya Trinamul Protibandhi Sangstha and Jatiya Nari Protibandhi Parishad made the demands from a human chain in front of National Press Club in the city.
The organisations' leaders also demanded Tk 500 as stipends for a disabled student in primary school level, Tk 1000 in secondary school level, Tk 1,500 in higher secondary level and Tk 2,000 in graduation and post graduation level.
The government should allocate separate funds to provide treatment to the physically challenged, provide free education materials to the disabled students and provide Braille books, talking books and computer software to all academic libraries for them.
They also urged the government to increase the allowance for the disabled from Tk 300 to Tk 500. They also called for an allocation of Tk 10 crore to provide legal aid to disabled women and Tk 50 crore to provide wheel chairs, scratches, artificial legs, white canes, spectacles and hearing machines to the physically challenged.
Jaochand Karmakar, deputy capacity building coordinator of ADD, Md Akhter Hossain, president of Jatiya Trinamul Protibandhi Sangstha, and Firoza Akhter Shima, convener of Jatiya Nari Protibandhi Parishad, participated in the human chain.