KASARGOD: The coldness of the system has given way to compassion at last. Sujitha’s arduous wait for the Aadhaar has finally come to a happy end.
The physically and mentally challenged 23-year-old will receive the unique identification number from District Collector Jeevan Babu K who will visit her house at Thankathaduka in Karivedakam village in Kuttikol panchayat on Thursday if the hartal doesn’t come in the way.
On March 16, Express had reported Sujitha’s plight. Paralysed waist down and with fisted hands, the deaf and mute girl was forced to make four visits to the Akshaya Centre only to be sent back each time as the machine failed to read her fingerprint.
Her mother Amalu said Sujitha has not received the paltry disability pension since last Onam as she did not have an Aadhaar.
UIDAI assistant director general and Kerala in-charge Surendra Babu had told Express the Akshaya Centre at Paduppu failed to use the provisions for physically challenged applicants.
The report touched a raw nerve with the district administration so much so Express received several calls from the State IT Mission saying it was “processing” her application.
Jose Augustine, a farmer who supports Amalu’s family, said the district officer of the IT Mission had called him to say the Aadhaar had been generated and the Collector would deliver it.
Though she is living with multiple disabilities, the government doctors gave her a certificate citing only 70 per cent disability.
Her father Balan died of kidney failure nine years ago. For years, he worked as a contractual labourer in the Plantation Corporation of Kerala’s cashew plantation in Periya where Endosulfan was sprayed indiscriminately. The couple’s eldest daughter Sumitha also had similar disabilities. The 11-year-old was gored to death by a bull 13 years ago.
Belonging to the Mavilan Scheduled Tribe, Amalu is blind in the right eye with partial sight in the other.
She wants to take her daughter to the specialist medical camp to identify endosulfan victims at Bovikkanam on April 8. “I hope she will get some benefits from the government.”