More than 200 persons with disabilities protest against TMC over setting up stalls

Over 200 persons with disabilities held a ‘mock funeral’ protest outside the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) seeking assurances on various demands, including setting up food stalls to earn a living. The protesters claimed that the TMC had removed their stalls nine months ago. The demands of the protesters include a change in the location of the stalls, a grant of ₹5 lakh, and a pension of ₹5,000 for those who are completely disabled. The hunger strike was called off after an assurance from the TMC that the demands will be considered.

Thane: Over 200 persons with disabilities held a ‘mock funeral’ protest outside the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) on Monday seeking assurances on various demands, including setting up food stalls to earn a living for themselves. Around 50 persons tonsured their heads as part of the protest. Nine months ago, the civic body had removed several stalls selling food items set up by disabled persons to support their families.

Thane, India - October,02, 2023: Over 200 distressed disabled people staged a protest in front of the TMC on Monday, demanding that they be allowed to set their stalls up at prime locations where they can actually earn a substantial amount.,in Thane, in Mumbai, India, on, Sunday, October , 02, 2023. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo )

Mohammed Yusuf Khan, national secretary of the Divyang Atyachar Nirmulan Samiti, which led the protest, said, “There is nothing illegal that we were selling, not even cigarettes, and yet our stalls are being destroyed. TMC first allotted us a place under the Smart City initiative and then destroyed our stalls for beautification under the same initiative.”

Khan added that around 68 applications demanding a change in the location of the stalls are pending before the TMC. “The TMC commissioner is dead to us; hence we have shaved our heads,” he said.

Another functionary of the samiti said the TMC was not looking into their demands despite submitting several memorandums. “Persons with disabilities are not being allowed to set up stalls at places of their choice. The government must provide a grant of ₹5 lakh to them as well as a pension of ₹5,000 to those who are completely disabled,” he said.

Suwarna Panchade, a blind woman suffering from a brain tumour, who along with her husband and two teens participated in the protest, said, “We are anyway dying due to shortage of food. We might as well die here, in front of everyone, fighting for what is ours.”

Panchade further added, “Nine months ago, TMC officials undertook a drive and destroyed my stall saying that it was illegal to set it up here. We have submitted a report to the commissioner four times but no action has been taken. How are we supposed to survive with no income and huge expenses like my tumour surgery?”

According to the list of demands that the Samiti submitted to the TMC, their stalls have been set up in deserted places like Mumbra Reti Bunder Circle instead of prime locations like a bus depot or near a railway station. Khan further claimed that ₹63 crore have been lapsed and not been used by the corporation from the funds allotted to the handicapped from 2010.

“The corporation is only building disability-friendly washrooms, which aren’t even useful to us. It has spent around ₹24 lakh to build washrooms which could’ve been done in ₹2-3 lakh. Moreover, only 190 handicapped people have received free homes in 2019 under some social welfare scheme for the disabled, leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves,” added Khan.

The Samiti further suggested that in order to make specially-abled people truly independent, Educational Training Centres (ETC) can be built across the city and the pension for people with 80-100% disability can be increased from ₹2,000 to ₹10,000.

The hunger strike was called off after a meeting where Additional Commissioner Prashant Rode assured that the demands will be considered and appropriate action will be taken.

Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar told HT that the demands put forth by the protesters intervene at various levels and hence, action will be taken depending upon the nature of the request and on the ones that fall within the corporation’s purview.

“We are positive and will definitely do something about the problems faced by these people. We are considering building ETCs too. However, the allocation of places is purely lottery-based. There are limited prime locations where stalls can be set and while the problem of the location is a policy-level issue and would be handled better through the general body, we are ensuring that distance is considered during this process so a person living in Thane is not allotted a place in Majiwada,” said Bangar.

Bangar has also assured that while the TMC is positive about the allocation of 5 % of the budget for the handicapped, it is also considering a 3-5% of quota for the handicapped under the Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP), which is a sub-component of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).