Hyderabad, July 25 (NSS): Ponugoti Chokka Rao, Vice President, All India Confederation of the Blind & General Secretary, Development & Welfare Association of the Blind has said the news report about eight-year-old blind girl getting raped and assaulted by a bathroom cleaning person in Government Girls Hostel in Malakpet is very shocking to everyone. Every effort was made by the authorities in the Hostel and the police were not taking immediate action.
He said there is total negligence on the part of the persons and officials concerned who are responsible to take care of the Blind Boys and Girls Hostels. It is shocking to note that male persons were engaged for housekeeping jobs in Blind Girls Hostel. It clearly shows that there is total lack of empathy and responsibility in maintaining the Hostels of Blind students, he added.
Stating that there have been such incidents in the past in Government Blind Schools in Hyderabad, he said there is an urgent need to refurbish the entire Department of Disabled Welfare as the same staffers from top to bottom have been in the department for several years and they are not taking their responsibilities seriously. Any issue relating to blind are not being taken seriously by the Disabled Welfare Department. They are not able to manage Hostels with 50 girls in Girls Hostel and 25 Boys in Boys Hostel, he added.
Chokka Rao said all the Hostels and Schools for the disabled, including Blind should be brought under one department like Government Residential Schools so that their responsibility is fixed and their operation monitored. At present, the Schools are under School Education Department and Hostels under Disabled Welfare Department, with the result there is no proper coordination between these two departments.
“As per new Education Policy, blind students need not be put in Blind Schools and they should be accommodated in normal schools. This is also because the number of Blind Students is decreasing day by day and therefore there is no need to have a separate School and Hostels for the Blind Boys and Girls. They should be merged with normal schools and hostels so that the Blind students learn to live their life along with normal boys and girls. We urge the Government to conduct a thorough enquiry into the operation of Disabled Welfare Department and ensure that a new team is posted by replacing the entire existing team. We also recommend financial help to the extent of minimum Rs 10 Lakh and good medical treatment for the affected Blind Girl, Chokka Rao said.
