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.
The former Commissioner, K.S. Rajanna, was removed from the post in June upon the direction of the High Court. A non-governmental organisation had challenged Mr. Rajanna’s appointment stating that he was not eligible and qualified to discharge duties of a quasi-judicial body. Following this, the court asked the State government to frame the eligible criteria for the post.
Sudeendra K.N., a visually-impaired person who has made multiple trips to the Commissioner’s office, said there has been a delay in getting grievances addressed. “The Commissioner issues notices and directions to Heads of other departments. This has been affected over the last few months, and there is a need to ensure that the post is filled at the earliest,” he said.
Although the Director of Empowerment for Differently-abled and Senior Citizens has been given the additional charge of the post, sources in the department point out that appointment must be completed soon.
To be eligible for the post, a person needs to be a graduate, apart from having a postgraduate degree or diploma in social work, law, human rights, management, rehabilitation, or education of disabled persons and humanities. The candidate also needs to have 25 years of experience in social work and in charge of disability and other activities in the organisation.
Though the government has received close to 80 applications a month ago, it is yet to finalise a candidate. Sources pointed out that many applications did not fulfil the criteria specified.
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