Visually Impaired Association Stages Protest Outside Assembly in Shimla; Demands Pending Appointments and Pension Hike

Shimla, August 19 — On the second day of the Assembly session, the Himachal Pradesh Visually Impaired Association staged a strong protest at Chaura Maidan in the state capital Shimla. Despite heavy rainfall, members of the association continued raising slogans, reiterating their long-pending demands before the government.

Association president Shobhu Ram said that the visually impaired have been holding a sit-in protest for over 680 days at the rain shelter near Kali Bari in Shimla. He stated that since 1995, backlog appointments have remained pending, and despite repeated appeals, the government has not taken any concrete steps to address the issue.

He further alleged that under the new free-service card scheme of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation, visually impaired persons are being charged ₹200, which they are forced to pay out of their social security pension. In addition, those unemployed visually impaired individuals who have been allotted houses under the housing scheme are being excluded from the BPL category, thereby depriving them of other government benefits.

The association urged the government to immediately clear pending backlog appointments, increase social security pensions, and ensure that all possible facilities are extended to the visually impaired so they can live with dignity and self-reliance.