HYDERABAD: Justice Bhimapaka Nagesh of the Telangana High Court came down heavily on officials of the Department for Welfare of Disabled, expressing displeasure over the mistreatment of visually challenged employees, who have been battling a prolonged legal fight for justice.
Justice Bhimapaka Nagesh was hearing a petition filed in 2017 by a group of visually challenged employees, alleging that they were unjustly dismissed from their jobs. The petitioners have been fighting a legal battle for over eight years, enduring immense hardship due to official negligence.
Voicing strong indignation, Justice Nagesh remarked that “the disabled are not victims, but the officials are the real blind.”
Condemning the behaviour of the officials, the judge said that the working lives of the petitioners have been irreparably affected by their actions.
Justice Nagesh criticised the systemic failure that has forced the petitioners to run from one court to another in pursuit of justice. He observed that such treatment not only violates their rights but also displays a deep-rooted insensitivity within the state’s administrative machinery.
Meanwhile, representatives of the Bharatiya Vidyalaya Prakash Parikshan Samiti have echoed the concerns raised in court, stating that the broader disabled community in Telangana — comprising nearly 30 lakh individuals — continues to face neglect and unresolved issues. They demanded immediate intervention from the state government.
Their demands include raising the monthly disability pension to `6,000, as promised by the Congress during elections, strict implementation of the Atrocities on the Disabled Act and creation of an independent Disabled Welfare department, separate from the Women & Child Welfare department.