By Imtiyaz Pandow
Budgam : Specially-abled persons in Budgam are being ignored and compelled to wait for years in order to receive any financial support from the Social Welfare Department.
A group of differently-abled persons while talking to The INS alleged that they are being ignored by the concerned officials from time to time for no reasons.
“My son Irtiza Hussain and my widow mother Kulsoma are surviving with their disabilities and to get their treatment and meet their needs I have applied for the financial assistance scheme in year 2016 at SWD Chadoora, and after every visit to the department I get nothing other than a new visiting date,” lamented Sajad Hussain Mir.
Mir further added that, he visited SWD Chadoora on Thursday but was shocked to get new visiting date which is 2021. “They (SWD officials) told me to visit after two years and let’s see the case at that time,” Mir rued.
Owing to his miseries Mir said, he needs to have four outside the state check-ups of his son annually and each check-up costs him at least Rupees 30,000.
“If the Social welfare department will approve assistance after two years in my favour how could I manage such huge costs and what will be the use of this assistance after two years,” Mir questioned.
In other similar case Mir Mehdi, who also have applied for the financial assistance in favour of his disabled brother Ajaz Ahmad in 2016.
“Despite of approaching umpteen times to get the assistance, authorities are turning blind eye to our cases. We are waiting since two years but are being compelled to visit again and again with no reasons and there is nothing other than a next visiting date we get from SWD Chadoora,” Mehdi said.
“These assistance schemes are meant to assist poor people like us but the callous attitude of concerned officials left us in distress, as no assistance is granted in favour of us since 2016,” Mehdi added.
The applicants have urged higher authorities to intervene in the matter and look into their pending cases so.
Akeel Ahmad Pandit, District Social Welfare Officer Budgam said: “There are more than 20,000 cases pending in district Budgam, among them nearly 5000 are from Chadoora and some of them are lying pending since 2010.’
When asked of being alleged failure of this scheme Pandit responded that there are number of cases and the funding is insufficient enough to assist all the applicants.
“Department is already paying to 40,000 applicants so the allegations regarding the failure of this scheme are not right,” he said.
“Our proposals to back the SWD with sufficient funding are lying with the government so it is impossible for us to assist these large number of cases with a limited funding,” Pandit added.
Futher he assured, he himself will look into some cases that are pending since long.
