Wednesday, December 17, 2014

VISUALLY IMPAIRED FARMER EYES ASSEMBLY SEAT

Taken from Daily Pioneer.
Politics is a ‘new beginning’ for visually impaired farmer Bipad Baran Ghosh. The negligence of former and present MLAs of his region towards specially abled persons made him choose the path of politics on World Disability Day celebrated on December 3. Ghosh, who had been fighting for the rights of disabled
ones since a decade has filed his nomination for the assembly polls from Nala constituency, going to poll on December 20.

“The condition of people suffering from poverty and disabilities has never improved in our State. It is entirely due to the ministers who want to establish them as a company. They fail to understand the importance of the sensitive matters. I have been struggling to provide justice to thousands of such people of the State. My determination to help them will surely bear fruits if I am given the chance to represent my assembly segment,” Ghosh, a Below Poverty Line (BPL) card holder and vice-president cum district secretary of Jharkhand Viklang Manch, told The Pioneer.

Financial crunch did not allow Baran to pursue his studies after class eighth but his leadership experience is appreciated by his fans. He can afford to hold a campaign in every village under his area in the evening hours since villagers manage to devote time after being free from their daylong agricultural activities.

The farmer is eager to set up committees of 20 literate boys each for various fields like education and agriculture to monitor the work in a respective department at his own constituency. He said, “I would pay a salary of around Rs 4000 to 5000 to each boy. It will help in boosting their monitoring job. I will not take the financial advantage reserved for an MLA in a government scheme. This will ensure effectiveness of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and other farming related programmes apart from those sanctioned for the education and job of disabilities.”

Also, he wants to connect his villages with Ajay River which is barely eight kilometers far. According to him, none of the MLAs have succeeded in providing water to his villages. He said, “West Bengal is hardly 15 kilometres away from my native village and Ajay River is closer. Farmers of the neighboring state are happily using the river water for drinking and irrigation facilities. We are not fortunate like them. Our ministers have never heard our request for the river water supply. As a result, till date we are forced to face water crisis. Moreover, there is no cold storage for agriculture items.”

Source: Daily Pioneer.

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