Ongole: Visually-challenged man on padayatra for 1% quota to blind

Ongole: A visually-challenged man, Ponnaluri Srinivasa Phani, who is on padayatra from Narayanadri to Indrakeeladri demanding one per cent reservation to the blind people in all legislative houses, reached here on Saturday. Leaders of local organisations received Srinivasa Phani and felicitated him while other organisations celebrate the 213th birth anniversary of Louis Braille.

Srinivasa Phani started his padayatra from the Navajeevan Blind Home in Tiruchanuru at Tirupati on December 12, 2021, with plans to reach Kanakadurga temple in Vijayawada by January 26, by creating awareness on the issues and problems of the visually-challenged and the need for the provision of reservation for them in legislative houses.

The National Federation of the Blind of India (NFBI) general secretary for Guntur, Prakasam and Krishna districts, Ch Srinivasa Reddy and others welcomed Srinivasa Phani here at the Sanghamitra Hospital, marking his completion of 280 kilometre, and organised a rally up to the collectorate and garlanded the Louis Braille statue.

Srinivasa Reddy appreciated the effort of Srinivasa Phani who is to walk about 160 kilometre to complete the padayatra and requested the support of all political parties to give the visually-challenged people an opportunity to voice their issues. Meanwhile, Kranthi Nethra Blind Welfare Association in Ongole celebrated the 213th birth anniversary of Louis Braille at the NTR Kalakshetram on Saturday. Speaking at the programme after paying tributes to Braille, the chief guest and joint collector K Krishnaveni said that with the help of the teaching system developed by Louis Braille, thousands of people were educated and got jobs in the government.

Assistant director of the differently-abled welfare department G Archana said that the government is providing many welfare programmes for the blind, and encouraged them to get educated to settle in life.

Kranthi Nethra Blind Welfare Association leader Marripudi Edukondalu demanded the government to appoint blind people in the government, contract and outsource jobs as per the 4 per cent reservation provided to them in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.