Snubbed by welfare dept, disabled man crawls up stairs

Monday, October 7, 2013

Snubbed by welfare dept, disabled man crawls up stairs

A disabled man resorted to crawling up a flight of stairs in a bid to submit a memorandum to the Kulim Welfare Department (JKM) after its director snubbed his association.

When contacted, Padang Serai MP N Surendran said some 50 members from the Persatuan OKU Setia Daerah Kulim had protested outside JKM to voice their grouses about welfare benefits around 1.30pm today.

However, he said Kulim JKM director Rohana Yusof refused to receive the memorandum and instead chose to remain at the department's office on the first floor of the municipal council building complex.

After waiting for over an hour under the hot sun, Surendran said one of the association's committee members, 53-year-old Gnana Pragasan (left), who cannot walk, decided to personally go up to the first floor and hand the memorandum to Rohana.

"With the memorandum in his mouth, he used his hands to climb all the way up and banged the door until the director finally came out to receive the memorandum," he said.

Surendran said the incident today illustrated the welfare department's insensitivity towards the disabled and elderly in the country.

"It is a sucker punch for the disabled community, it is a national shame... the (Woman, Family and Community Development) minister must answer," he said.

Surendran said among the grouses in the memorandum was the fact that the Kulim JKM office was on the first floor where disabled people found it difficult to access.

They were also upset that JKM officers have refused conduct site visits to disabled people who cannot personally visit the department's office for assessment, while others were unhappy that they were not receiving their welfare allowance.

Also present at the scene were Lunas state assemblyperson Azman Nasrudin and PKR legal bureau chief Latheefa Koya.