Giving voice to disabled
GUJARAT: Mehul Dhirjlal Budheliya was born in a poor family in Bhavnagar of Gujarat’s Saurashtra province. Only brother to five sisters, he was pampered and protected. One day, he was taken for polio vaccination. According to the National Institutes of Health of the US, approximately 1 in 1 million vaccinations with attenuated virus lead to paralytic disease. Mehul’s was one such unfortunate case. He became a disabled person. His parents were grief-stricken. But Mehul did not give up hope.
He gradually became determined to fight this adversity. He started attending school. His two sisters assisted him, picking him up and dropping him at school. He, however, could not continue his studies after passing 12th standard as the financial situation at home was not good. He chose to become a data entry operator. He did many small and large works as he wanted to improve the financial condition at home.
“My father’s financial position did not allow him to educate my five sisters and me, and now my medicine and hospital expenditures have contributed to our poverty. My father used to drive in the government’s mining department. So, he would leave in the morning and never know when he would return, my mother was busy with housework all day, so there was no one to take care of me, but my two elder sisters understood this situation and decided not to study and started taking care of me,” Mehul said.
As he underwent hardships, Mehul realised there are scores of disabled persons like him. “I thought I should do something for them, even if it means having fewer meals at my place,” he said. It was with this idea in that Mehul established Parth Yuva Mandal (Charitable Trust) in 2005. Today, more than 3,000 people with disabilities have benefited from the trust. It provides may aids in cities such as Bhavnagar, such as sewing machines for the self-reliance of disabled women, wheelchairs, and Tri-Cycle for those who are unable to walk.
The trust also provides monthly food kits to poor disabled people. They also provide monthly food kits to needy disabled persons. Mehul’s Parth Yuva Mandal also provides battery-powered bicycles and takes care of children with impairments, from fees to school clothing and books.
This trust has assisted numerous disadvantaged persons not only in Bhavnagar but also throughout Saurashtra. Paresh Giri, who lives in Gariadhar near Bhavnagar, is one of the beneficiaries. Paresh Giri was disabled, but he wanted to work on his own. He approached Mehul for help, and Mehul provided him with a computer so he could work from home and a bicycle with a battery so he could go elsewhere for his business. Because of Mehul, Pareshgiri is now self-dependent.
Bharat Bhai from Palitana in Bhavnagar wanted to start a ‘peanuts business, but he didn’t have a bicycle or a car to go about selling ‘peanuts’ and he couldn’t afford to acquire one. Bharat Bhai, who was given a bicycle by Mehul’s trust, is currently doing extremely well with his ‘peanuts’ business in Palitana and the neighbouring areas.
Mehul thought that because the trust was supporting the disabled so well, it would be a good idea if the laws, government initiatives, and information about the disabled could be shared throughout Gujarat so that people were aware of the privileges and rights they have.
“I know that there were millions of disabled brothers and sisters throughout Gujarat’s districts, talukas, villages, and city regions. I wanted to reach out to them but couldn’t due to my constraints. So I decided to develop a newspaper exclusively for disabled people, and in 2016, I launched ‘Vikalang Wacha’ (Voice of Disabled),” said Mehul.
“Today through ‘Vikalang Wacha,’ I am able to communicate the situation of disabled people to millions of disabled individuals, organisations, associations, intellectuals, government, and elected officials,” he added. After founding the newspaper, Mehul decided to finish his studies that had been left unfinished due to poverty. He enrolled in a Bachelor’s in Computer Application (BCA) programme.
“People look at the disabled with pity, the disabled do not need pity, they need support and courage, whether they don’t have arms or legs if you give them courage or support, they will surpass those with arms and legs… I intend to continue doing it as long as I live so that the issues and difficulties I encountered are not repeated by any other impaired brothers and sisters,” he said.
‘They need support, not pity’
“People look at the disabled with pity, but they need support and courage, not pity. Then, they will surpass those with arms and legs… I intend to continue doing it as long as I live so that difficulties I encountered are not faced by any other impaired brothers and sisters,” says Mehul.