BMC overlooking disabled?

Mumbai: Prahar, a political party, has alleged that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has not spent enough from the three per cent of its budget that is reserved for the welfare of disabled citizens. Independent MLA Bacchu Kadu, founder of Prahar, met additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Mukherjee and demanded that the funds allotted for the welfare of the disabled be spent adequately.

The MLA also issued a deadline of August 20 for a plan on the same to be chalked out.

According to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, the civic body is required to set aside three per cent of its budget for differently abled citizens. Prahar alleges that the civic body has spent very little for the disabled while the rest of the funds were diverted to other departments like roads and repairs. Responding to Mr Kadu’s demands, Mr Mukherjee assured the former that the funds would be utilised properly.

“We suggested that the counting of differently abled citizens should be done at the ward level, so that the civic body will get an idea as to how many of them are there and where funds must be spent from the budget,” Manoj Kekade, a Prahar spokesperson, told The Asian Age.  

Another demand made by the group is to increase the skill development opportunities for such citizens.  

Responding to their demands Mukherjee said that registrations would soon be conducted, the advertisements for which would be released shortly.

The civic body has also assured that proposals in favour of increasing facilities for differently abled citizens would also be made and put up before the committees for approval.

Other concerns raised by the group include adequate spending of funds in special schools of the civic body, introducing facilities in public transport like Brihanmumbai Electri-city Supply and Transport buses and hostel facilities for mentally challenged children.

Explaining the group’s course of action should the civic body fail to come up with a plan by August 20, Mr Kekade said, “If they fail to comply with our demands, then we will go on a protest against BMC.”

The civic body released a budget worth Rs 25,141.51 crore for the financial year 2017-2018 in the month of March.