TNR News Network
Shimla: After remaining on protest for 804 days, members of a visually impaired association on Monday (January 5, 2025) blocked traffic outside the Himachal Pradesh Secretariat where Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, his Cabinet members and other top bureaucrats sit, stepping up their agitation over long-pending demands. The protesters staged a chakka jam, disrupting movement on the busy Cart Road amid biting cold.
Angered by what they described as repeated assurances without action, the protesters intensified their stir despite harsh winter conditions. The visually impaired activists have been sitting on a dharna outside the Secretariat for the past 70 days, while another group has continued its protest near the Kali Bari temple area, where the agitation has now crossed 804 days.
Raising slogans against the government, the demonstrators said their demands had been ignored for decades. Rajesh Thakur, a representative of the organisation, said that backlog Class IV posts reserved for persons with disabilities have not been filled since 1995. He said vacancies under the quota should be filled in departments such as education, forest, public works and jal shakti.
The protesters are also demanding a substantial hike in disability pension, seeking an increase from the current Rs 1,700 to Rs 5,000 per month. Thakur alleged that welfare measures such as the Sahara Scheme and free bus pass facility for persons with disabilities had been withdrawn, further worsening their situation.
“Even though the New Year has begun, there has been no response from the government,” Thakur said, adding that every day five differently abled persons are sitting on protest outside the Secretariat despite freezing temperatures.
Warning of an intensified agitation, the organisation said that if the government failed to act soon, they would gherao the Chief Minister’s official residence Oak Over. The traffic blockade was later lifted, but the protesters said their sit-in would continue until their demands are met.
