At the age of 14, a congenital degenerative eye condition saw darkness envelope the world of Mohith B.P. A special school in Chikkamagaluru district, 25-km from his hometown of Handi, offered the opportunity to finish his schooling.

On the wall of his room, which he shares with elder brother Omkar, Aryan Bhalchandra Joshi pastes sheets of papers with his daily schedule for the week—one for each day. Each hectic day is broken neatly into compartments, for the number of things he must do need to be documented carefully.

For persons with disabilities, it has been a matter of making multiple trips to various departments to have their grievances heard in the last few weeks, as the State government is yet to appoint a State Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities.

Braving incessant rains, hundreds of visually-impaired people on Thursday hit the streets here decrying the State Government’s apathy in fulfiling their 15-point charter of demands. The protestors under the banner of the Odisha Students’ Union of Visually Impaired staged a demonstration at the Lower PMG highlighting their grievances.

Persons with disabilities are financially excluded as they are unbanked. Hence, mainstreaming persons with disability with skills and employment is critical. In the last few years, it has been well-known that disability is not only a cross-cutting human rights issue but also a developmental issue. A person with disability will need to bank his income, provided he has an income.