the premier organisation of and for the sightless in West Bengal
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Blind Persons' Association the premier organisation of and for the sightless in West Bengal |
Blind Persons' Association organised a rally at Salt Lake in Kolkata on June 30, 2010 protesting against denial of reservation in the recruitment process of primary teachers by Shri Partha De, the Education Minister of West Bengal. About a hundred sightless persons from various districts including the remote Coochbihar marched from Karunamayee to the Ministry's office at Bikash Bhawan shouting their demands. The Minister did not meet the delegation in spite of prior intimation.
Shri Partha De, the Education Minister, recently said to the press that there is no provision of reservation for totally sightless persons in the posts of primary teachers. It is not clear how he came to this absolutely unjustified and unfounded conclusion. Section 33(I) of the Persons With Disability Act, 1995 states in unequivocal terms, “Every appropriate Government shall appoint in every establishment such percentage of vacancies not less than three per cent. For persons or class of persons with disability of which one per cent each shall be reserved for persons suffering from Blindness or low vision;" etc. The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment recommends in one of its notification the post of primary teacher as a suitable job for both blind and low vision persons on the basis of a survey by an expert committee. Visually handicapped candidates are allowed 1% reservation in the posts of all teachers including primary teachers by Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. There are instances of visually handicapped teachers serving in primary schools in West Bengal.
The Education Ministry of the state ignored the legal provision right from the very beginning. The initial advertisement published in the Anandabazar Patrika, dated August 30, 2009 did not mention anything as regards reservation of 1% posts for visually handicapped persons. The Association wrote to West Bengal Board of Primary Education in October, 2009 demanding reservation of posts as per law. As a result visually handicapped candidates were allowed to appear at the examinations held for recruitment of primary teachers in some districts. Many visually handicapped candidates passed these examinations.
In consequence of the Ministry's ignoring this legal provision, many district Boards of Primary Education have refused appointment to 100% visually handicapped candidates in spite of their fulfilling requisite qualification. Nadia District Board of Primary Education has gone an extra step forward. They refused to issue admit cards to any visually handicapped candidate in defiance of all rules and conventions. When the worried candidates went BarnaParichay Bhawan at Krishnanagar to ask for their bona fide admit cards on June 24, 2010, the last date of issuing admit cards, Shri Manik Maitra, the Chairman, drove them out of the office with the help of police.
Neither the Board officials nor the police (both instruments of a democratic government) spared the helpless visually handicapped examinees. Some of them were women. The police used abusive and insulting words. They manhandled them so roughly that some of them fell on the road. Their only crime was that they asked for admit cards.
It is evident from the Minister's comments in the aforesaid news that he came to learn of the entire incident. Yet he did not take any measure to make arrangements for issuing admit cards to the visually handicapped candidates. The examination for recruiting primary teachers for Nadia was held as per schedule on 27.06.2010 without the hapless visually handicapped examinees.
The rally demanded that Shri Partha De, the Education Minister, must withdraw his statement (published in the Anandabazar Patrika of June 25, 2010) that “there is no provision of reservation for totally sightless persons in the posts of primary teachers”. A copy of the Minister’s statement was burned during the demonstration as a form of protest. They demanded 1% reservation of posts for visually handicapped applicants in the recruitment of primary teachers. Shri Buddhadev Sikdar, General Secretary of Blind Persons' Association, in his address to the gathering announced that they would launch a protest movement to achieve their rights.
Blind Persons’ Association organised a rally in Kolkata on June 23, 2010 demanding adequate compensation for the victims of the notorious Bhopal gas tragedy and exemplary punishment of the responsible officials of the Union Carbide India Ltd. A four-point charter of demands was submitted to the Prime Minister (through the Governor of West Bengal).
It is obvious from various reports that the interests of the persons who have suffered disability in the outcome of the Bhopal gas tragedy are being overlooked. It is a matter of shame that the accident could have been prevented if sufficient precautionary measures were adopted. It is evident from recent news that the authorities were warned of potential danger shortly before the mishap. Responsible officials should have been tried in the court on charges of crime. Instead perpetrators of the crime have emerged almost unscathed after the twenty-six year trial. Their irresponsible act has killed thousands of people and inflicted permanent disability on many more. But they have received negligible punishment on account of light charge brought by the then authorities.
We also note that victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy have not received adequate medical treatment. Many of them have become permanently disabled. Children born of those victims are also disabled in many instances. Their would-be offsprings may not escape this curse as well. The site of the gas accident is still carrying lethal effects of the toxic chemicals.
The meager compensation meted out to those disabled is being paid out of the public exchequer. The compensation should have been exacted from the responsible company, M/s Union Carbide India Ltd, as punitive damages. Exemplary physical punishment and compensation could have warned the companies against industrial hazards.
The government has done little to prevent disability in course of sixty years of independence except a few sonorous announcements. S25 in the Persons With Disabilities act, 1995 provides for steps to be taken by appropriate governments for prevention of disabilities. If factories are allowed license indiscriminately without any regard to safety system, number of disabled persons will go on increasing.
The call of the protest rally was loud and clear; if people unite in support of the victims, the government will take care of the victims and punish the perpetrators. The demands of the organisation include:
Members, volunteers and innumerable well-wishers of Blind Persons’ Association paid their heart-felt homage to the memory of late Dipankar Roy who breathed his last on December 6, 2009 after a short period of illness. The meeting was solemnized at the premises of the Braille press complex of Lal Bihari Shah Braille Academia in Kolkata. A photo exhibition was displayed presenting different incidents of his little-recorded life.
Shri Kinkar Ghosh, President of the organisation, presided over the meeting. Smt. Sudha Roy, mother of late Dipankar Roy, told the gathering how Dipankar Roy possessed a soft corner for the sick and the helpless even as a child. She recalled the profound impact on Dipankar's upbringing of late Shibabrata Sengupta, a noted teacher and a pioneer in the social movement of the sightless. Dr. Anupam Basu of Kharagpur IIT described his personal experience with him when he was pushed into developing assistive technology for the sightless. Shri Narayan Ganguli related how he was influenced by his guidance and how he showed signs of leadership from his childhood.
Shri Sukanti Majumdar in his keynote address explained the circumstances in which Shri Dipankar Roy developed the Braille press project. It was his home for last fourteen years since 1995 when the plot was purchased along with a worn-out house for the ongoing Braille press and library project. He settled here with some members of the organisation to build it up as a centre. In course of a few years the Braille press of his dream was set up and the project became an exemplary institution in the field of education in India. The objective behind his permanent residence here was to develop a spirit of community living among the members and volunteers. He taught us to participate in social activities, to fight for the social causes in order that the society in turn would accept us as their brethren. He believed that if a sightless person has to wipe out the image of a beggar, he must set before the society an exemplary character. The image of a knowledgeable sightless person with lofty moral values can expect honour and dignity from the society. Shri Majumdar urged others to devote their strength to fulfilling Dipankar Roy’s dream of developing the project as an advanced center of learning.
The All Bengal Aquatic Meet for the Sightless organised every year by Blind Persons' Association and Life Saving Society was held on August 1, 2009 at the swimming pool of Anderson Club at Rabindra Sarobar in Kolkata. 110 participants from different districts of the state attended the competition. There were freestyle and backstroke events for sightless boys and girls of three age groups. As expected, the competition was dominated by the students of Blind Boys' Academy of Ramakrishna Mission of Narendrapur. Among the special guests was Shri Arun Lal, former India cricketer and commentator.
Blind Persons’ Association organized a seminar on “Helen Keller, Her Life and Struggle” on her 129th birth anniversary on June 27, 2009 at H.L. Roy Memorial Hall, Indian Institute of Chemical Engineering in Kolkata. The seminar was inaugurated by Shri Shyamal Sen, former Governor of West Bengal and renowned jurist. He also released in Braille Helen Keller’s autobiographical work “Midstream” and Santosh Mukhopadhyay’s “Helen Keller”, a biography of the great woman in Bengali Braille. Smt. Anuradha Banerjee, Vice-Principal, Sri Shikshayatan College, Kolkata presided over the inaugural session. Dr. N. Ratnasree, Director, Nehru Planetarium, New Delhi was among the special invitees of the programme.
Dr. Smt. Debjani Sengupta of the IndraPrastha College of New Delhi presented her paper on “Helen Keller, a Journey from Darkness to Light” in the first session of the seminar. She explained how Anne Sullivan instilled into the deaf-mute-blind child a profound love for knowledge and a strong yearning for communication. Though she was not capable of using most of her senses, she learned and mastered the skill for grasping and expressing all that she perceived. In the absence of Professor Smt. Sumita Naskar, this session was presided over by Dr. Sonali Chakraborty of the department of Education of Shibnath Shastri College, Kolkata.
Dr. Alok Datta of Political Science department of Chandannagar Govt. College was the president of the final session as Dr. Debjani Sengupta, Head of the Education department of Kolkata University could not attend the seminar. Dr. Sudeshna Chakraborty, Head Mistress, Jadavpur Sammilita Balika Vidyalay spoke on “Helen Keller, an Eloquent Voice of the Suffering”. She enumerated her activities for the welfare of the sightless and the people at large. Shri Buddhadev Sikdar, General Secretary of Blind Persons’ Association in his paper "The Role of Helen Keller in the Emancipation of the Sightless” laid emphasis on the impact she created on the society through her selfless and undaunted struggle against all kinds of exploitation, poverty and warfare. He said that the association of the word “blind” with the words like “ignorant” can only be wiped out if the sightless follow the example set by this great woman.