The Madras High Court on Monday directed the Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority (TNSLSA) to ensure that the COVID-19 relief amount allocated by the State government reached all the eligible persons with disabilities in the State.
Justices M.M. Sundresh and R. Hemalatha passed the order on a batch of public interest litigation petitions which alleged that the relief amount had not reached scores of beneficiaries though the government had been submitting attractive figures in the court.
The Bench ordered that TNSLSA district secretaries could coordinate with the district administration and facilitate the distribution of money within eight weeks. The Bench called for a report after 10 weeks, on compliance of the orders.
The orders were passed after taking note of submissions made by Additional Advocate General Narmadha Sampath that the State government had allocated ₹13.35 crore to provide ₹1,000 each to 13.35 lakh National Identity and Disability Certificate (NIDC) holders.
She produced the Standard Operating Procedures issued by the State Commissioner for the Disabled instructing the Collectors to ensure that the relief amount was disbursed at the doorsteps of the beneficiaries after making necessary entries in the NIDC passbooks.
Disputing the claim, M.K.S. Sundar, counsel for one of the petitioners, said: “Drawing a brinjal on paper and showing it to me does not amount to serving brinjal sambhar to me.” He claimed that many people had not received cash assistance.
Advocate B. Ramasamy, representing another petitioner, said Section 24 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act of 2006 required the State to allocate at least 25% more to the candidates compared to similar benefits accorded to others.
However, in so far as COVID-19 relief was concerned, the government had disbursed an amount of ₹1,000 to all beneficiaries without any special consideration for persons with disabilities. Therefore, it should be directed to pay more to them, he urged.
After recording his submissions, the judges ordered that the issue of paying additional compensation to persons with disabilities could be considered by the government if any money was left in the allocated funds after disbursing the already fixed amount of ₹1,000.
They said that during similar exigencies in the future, the government should take note of Section 24 of the 2006 Act and carve out an exception by treating the persons with disabilities differently as compared to the others.
