Chitradurga, 7 October

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, R Ashoka on Wednesday claimed that the honorarium for persons with disabilities (PwDs) has not been released for the last five months and demanded that it be released immediately. 

Ashoka, in a letter to the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary of the Revenue Department, the alleged that the honorariums had been withheld on the pretext of revision and verification of the beneficiaries. He said that revision should be done, but stopping the honorarium is a “crime”.

“Most PwDs depend on this honorarium for medicines and monthly essential expenses. Withholding it is adversely affecting their daily lives,” Ashoka stated.

Workers of the Nava Karnataka MRW/VRW/URW Disability Honorarium Workers’ Association, along with persons with disabilities, are holding an indefinite fast (satyagraha) near the Ramanagara Deputy Commissioner’s office. As Leader of the Opposition, he said he had visited the protest site and received their memorandum, and criticised the fact that no one on behalf of the government had visited.

He also demanded that the honorarium be raised to Rs 5,000 a month, following the “Andhra Pradesh model”, and urged the government to provide job security to around 6,000 MRW/VRW/URW workers who have been in service for 19 years.