As the world observes World Disability Day on Tuesday, there are a few among the physically challenged who despite their handicap not only make a decent living but also toil hard for the uplift of the physically-challenged.
Naser Manayil is one such person. Never did his partially paralysed body deter him from undertaking any Samaritan act that could give a new lease of life for the physically-challenged. The Commission for the Physically-Challenged were forced to lend their ears to to the woes of physically challenged when the Kerala Vikalanga Samyukta Samara Samiti under Naser Manayil, the general secretary of the organisation, vehemently protested in front of the commissioner’s office in Thiruvananthapuram.
“It was blind to our woes for the past 17 years. Not a single step was taken against any complaint registered by us. Things have changed a bit after the protest. They have begun to respond. They have replied promptly to the three complaints I registered recently,” he said.
Naser is more than 80 per cent handicapped. But he was annoyed when many started exploiting the certificates issued to the differently-abled. The Kerala Vikalanga Samyukta Samara Samiti under him protested and was able to put an end to this trend to some extent. “Many with small percentage of handicap would secure the certificate illegally. This prevented us from getting our due - three per cent reservation. There was no other way than to stage a protest,” Naser says.
The proper implementation of Persons with Disabilities Act 1995 is yet another headache, he points out. “It covers many clauses which are beneficial to us. Unfortunately, the much-touted Act is yet to implemented in its full spirit. We have been fighting for it for a long time,” he said.
Another difficult task lying before him is to bring about a change in policy wherein a disabled person would be appointed commissioner of the Commission for Physically-Challenged and chairman of the Welfare Board of the Physically-Challenged. “Only a physically-challenged person can understand our woes,” he said.
Though life offers a series of challenges, Naser is always at ease. “I have no qualms over life. I make a living by selling books. I have a small and content family - my wife and two children. I will fight till my last breath for the rights of the physically challenged. I have two ambitions. One is to own a house and the other is to go for ‘Umrah’.