At least 100 applications for pension under the physically challenged category of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have been rejected by the North Municipal Corporation (NMC) in Old Delhi's Matia Mahal constituency alone. These people have been getting the Rs 1,000 pension for several years. The rejection was due to an "erroneous" order issued by the civic body, which defined "disabled" as those with with infirmity of "50 per cent or more". By Geeta Gupta http://www.indianexpress.com/news/disabled-denied-pension-due-to-north-corporation-s--erroneous--notice/1102989/0 In all government institutions across the country, 40 per cent disability is the norm for defining "handicapped" under any policy. However, according an NMC circular issued on December 17, 2012, with regard to Old Age Stipend, the list of beneficiaries includes those disabled (deaf, dumb, physically handicapped having infirmity of permanent nature) "50 per cent or more".
"Old Delhi has a large number of people who are permanently disabled, and the pension has been the only source of money for many of them. These people, whose applications have suddenly been rejected after all these years, do not know where to go now," Saleem Hasan, a social worker, said . Till last year, MCD paid the monthly pension on a quarterly basis. However, after the trifurcation of the civic body last year, no pensions were paid the whole year. Mahendra Nagpal, Leader of the House, North corporation, said the former chief of the Community Services department had issued the circular stating that the percentage of disability be increased to 50 per cent from the existing 40 per cent. "But when the councillors discovered this, the circular was withdrawn. The House has unanimously approved of the percentage of disability to remain 40 per cent and we are now disbursing pensions and stipends as per the earlier policy," Nagpal said. -- Avinash Shahi MPhil Research Scholar Centre for the Study of Law and Governance Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi India Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
