The Telangana High Court has directed the State Government to create a separate COVID-19 Fund for the disabled people in the State.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan & Justice B Vijayasen Reddy was hearing a petition by Ganesh Karnati questioning the inaction of the State Government in implementing the Comprehensive Disability Inclusive Guidelines issued by the Central Government amid COVID-19 pandemic.
The petitioner submitted that the government had failed to provide benefits to about 10 lakh disabled people in the State.
Advocate General BS Prasad appearing on behalf of the State Government submitted that the government was providing benefits to the disabled by implementing the “Aasra” pension.
The bench however observed that the said pension scheme was for serving the needs of the disabled in normal circumstances, however in order to take care of the special needs of the disabled in times of the Pandemic, the State is required to create a special fund.
The High Court directed the government to ensure that the pension given to the disabled is not to be included in the fund and the fund is to be deal with the special needs of the disabled people in the State.
-India Legal Bureau