I am disgusted! There was a meeting of NGO s called by the new Jalandhar DC “some days back.” Apaar was again not told. Rogi Kalyan committe has been hogwash. We were never invited after Dec 13 though the then DC said “done” when I complained in Dec that we have not veen invited to the Rogi kalyan committee meeting for over a year and just found out by chance from a group message and came in Dec. Apaar manager Rajan and I went to introduce myself to the new DC Jlr today. He was away. It is impossible to reach his office on phone. No one answers this phone though there is a man sitting there as my phone rings. He says when confronted that the person in charge of answering the phone has gone away to some office. I’ve complained today to the PA of the DC who has told me to complain to the DC who we have no way to get an appointment with.   Comic and tragic!

DPO Kapurthala, DPO Nawanshehr , DPO Jalandhar,   AND DSSO Jalandhar is ONE person ! Imagine that. In a five days work week. This is how serious our govt is about disability affairs.

Not a priority. Never has been.  Railway stations not accessible to the physically handicapped. The locomotor surgery project almost non functioning in multiple districts of Punjab. The rural and other poor have no access to HOPE as their adult loved ones ,not able to stand or walk  ,are attended to by unsupported parents mostly mothers as fathers work to get food on the table. Mothers have no breaks so their own physical and mental health suffers enormously.

NO civil society can have an impact across socioeconomic classes with ZERO govt cooperation. APAAR s vision has failed on the ground for this reason. We all as citizens must hang our heads in shame. We at APAAR cry for the neglected disabled we cannot serve with limited staffing ( govt salaries are enormous with ZERO accountability. We pay the best we can).

I visited Chandigarh Sep 25 2023. Got hollow reassurances re my complaint about the non functioning surgery project. They never followed up. Emails asking for follow ups remained unanswered. Never in our ten years have we heard from

the Disability Commissioner in Chandigarh although APAAR is one of just thirteen National Trust regd organisations in Punjab . 

All we can do is documenting this neglect of the disabled here. Emails hit dead walls. And why should we be chasing them! They are paid hefty sums for their positions? Whither accountability!!