The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Officials blind to these children's protest

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Thursday, Mar 24, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Officials blind to these children's protest

Staff Reporter

— PHOTO: V. SREENIVASA MURTHY

LOOK AT US!:Blind children from Bidar have been protesting under the broiling sun for the past three days demanding government grants for a better facility.

BANGALORE: Nearly 60 children from Bidar, all students of the Asha Deepa School for the Blind, sat for a dharna for the third consecutive day in front of Mahatma Gandhi statue here on Wednesday.

It was a wrenching sight to see the young ones sit under the broiling sun along with their faculty and staff, with placards in hand. They were demanding allocation of funds and allotment of land to them to build a new facility.

However, in all these three days nobody has turned up to ask them why they were protesting. In fact, officials, right from their district directorate, have simply turned them away.

Speaking to The Hindu, a representative of the institution said under the Union Government scheme, there is a provision to allocate funds to institutions providing educational and support services to children with disabilities. “But no one is prepared to listen to us. We will not go from here until the higher-level officials come, meet us and hear us out,” he said.

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