Members

Members

The members of the disability support group are as given below:

	Kokila Shah
	Narendranath Dubey
	Rajiv Grover
	Late Chhaya Mehta, Mumbai
	Vinay Phatak
	Sandeep Kharat
	Dr. H. Dhaliwal

Highlights

Govt. assistance
for the
Handicapped

Rehab plan for
handicapped
unveiled

PRAYATNA: A
special school for
children

Article by Zan
Thorton

Sanjan Home

Kokila Shah

Kokila Shah has lived with polio ever since she was two years old. It is not so much the disability that bothers her, but the lack of amenities in the city. Says she, I feel that the city planners are most insensitive to the needs of the disabled. If I want to go out and buy a dress for my granddaughter, I have to sit in the rickshaw and wait for the shopkeeper to bring the samples out to me. This is because there isn't a single footpath in the city that has ramps or banisters that a disabled person can access.

People are very helpful, I know, but what really helps us disabled people is the feeling that we are not dependant on anyone. But without the help of the Pune Municipal Corporation, we cannot do it. Why can't the PMC make it compulsory for builders, hospital's and to the public places to have ramps, banisters and other such things that make it accessible to disabled persons? Why do we have to depend on people's generosity?

I don't understand why we cannot have a special bus service which can be used by people in wheelchairs? Why doesn't anyone think about us? I have tried talking to ward officers and so on, but I think that we can achieve all this only if we put up a united front. I feel it is very important for people like me to come together and campaign for our rights.

Those interested, can contact her at: kokilashah@aarogya.com

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