✍Harish Mambady | Sr.Journalist (A first-person appeal by Harish Mambady on disability pension, dignity and access to welfare support)
For the past five months, I have been witnessing and hearing about the difficulties faced by persons with disabilities whose government pension or monthly assistance has reportedly been stopped. The issue has caused considerable anxiety among beneficiaries and their families, particularly where the stoppage is linked to APL ration-card status.
My appeal to the government and our elected representatives is simple: please consider disability itself as the primary basis for disability-related assistance, rather than allowing additional financial conditions to become barriers for genuine beneficiaries.
For families caring for children or adults with physical, intellectual or other disabilities, even a small amount of government assistance can make a meaningful difference. It can help meet personal needs and, more importantly, provide a measure of financial independence.
The annual income ceiling of ₹32,000, cited in connection with eligibility for certain benefits, also needs to be looked at from a humanitarian perspective. Families caring for persons with disabilities may have to meet substantial expenses for treatment, medicines, transportation, assistive support and caregiving.
APL Does Not Mean a Life Without Hardship
Having an APL ration card does not necessarily mean that a family has no financial difficulties.
A family may have an APL card and still have a person with a severe disability who requires continuous care. The family may have to spend regularly on medicines, medical treatment, travel to hospitals and other support services.
In many families, the parents or caregivers themselves are elderly. They may have their own health and financial responsibilities while also carrying the responsibility of caring for a person with a disability.
For many persons with disabilities, finding employment or remaining in employment can also be difficult, depending on the nature and severity of their disability. In such circumstances, the monthly assistance from the government can become an important source of personal financial security.
This is why I believe ration-card classification alone should not determine whether a person with a disability receives legitimate disability-related support.
More Than Money
The monthly assistance is not merely a payment. For many persons with disabilities, it represents dignity, confidence and a degree of independence. Being able to pay for a small personal requirement without asking family members for money every time can provide a sense of self-respect.
Even something as simple as buying a small gift for someone who has helped us can become difficult when we have no independent source of money. Having a small amount of our own gives us the confidence that we can meet at least some of our personal needs ourselves. That is why stopping the assistance can have an impact that goes far beyond the amount involved.
For a person with a severe disability who requires a caregiver, the financial burden on the family can be even greater. In such circumstances, every legitimate form of government support matters.
When Accessing the System Becomes a Challenge
There is another side to this issue that I believe the government must consider. If a person's pension or monthly assistance has been stopped, they may be asked to approach government offices, meet officials and submit or verify documents.
But can every person with a disability realistically travel from one office to another?
Some people cannot walk without assistance. Some have communication difficulties. Others may have visual, intellectual or other disabilities that make navigating government offices difficult.
Their families may also have jobs, household responsibilities and caregiving duties. As a result, the process itself can become a barrier. Some beneficiaries may eventually give up trying to restore their assistance simply because they cannot manage the process.
Why Should the Beneficiary Carry the Burden?
If the government needs to verify eligibility or documents, I believe there is a more accessible approach. Instead of requiring persons with disabilities to repeatedly visit government offices, the administration could consider a doorstep verification system wherever necessary.
Officials could visit beneficiaries, verify the required documents and ensure that eligible persons do not lose assistance simply because accessing a government office is difficult for them. Such a system could also help the government identify genuine beneficiaries who may have been inadvertently excluded.
Another Voice From the Disability Community
Artist Sudharatna K.S., who is herself a person with a disability, has also raised concerns about the reported discontinuation of disability pensions in a Facebook post.
She has argued that there should be no distinction between APL and BPL families when considering disability-related monthly assistance, particularly when a person has a significant disability and requires additional support.
Her appeal highlights the additional expenses faced by families, including care, treatment, medicines, transportation and other disability-related needs. She has also pointed out that some persons with disabilities may face neglect or inadequate support within their own families. In such circumstances, a government pension can provide an important layer of financial security.
Her concern is similar to mine: disability-related support should recognise the person's actual needs and circumstances, rather than relying solely on the family's ration-card classification.
A Question for Our Elected Representatives
Persons with disabilities cannot always organise themselves into large groups, travel to government offices or collectively raise their voices.
That does not mean their problems are any less important. The inability to physically reach an office, communicate easily or organise a protest should never make a person's concerns less visible to the government.
Several organisations continue to work for the rights of persons with disabilities, which is encouraging. But elected representatives and the administration also have a responsibility to ensure that welfare systems remain accessible to the people they are intended to support.
So I have a simple question for our elected representatives:
Will you listen to the concerns of persons with disabilities and work towards ensuring that disability itself remains a central consideration for disability-related assistance?
We are not asking for charity. We are asking for a system that recognises the additional challenges of living with a disability and ensures that genuine beneficiaries are not pushed out because of classifications or procedures that may not reflect their actual circumstances.
For a government, a monthly pension may be a modest amount. But for a person with a disability, it can mean dignity, independence and a little more security in everyday life.
That is why this issue deserves to be heard—not merely as a welfare question, but as a question of dignity, accessibility and equal citizenship.
✍Harish Mambady, Sr. Journalist - BantwalNews
Keywords
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