Physical distancing is not for the visually impaired

Mallikarjun’s plight is proof of it

At a recent webinar titled Impact of Covid-19 – Challenges And Opportunities With Reference To People With Special Needs, there was a lot of due stress laid on the problems caused due to physical distancing (social distancing is a word we prefer not to use), when it came to the disabled sector. One of the examples given was the new railway rule of only the ticket holder being allowed into the railway station to board the departing train. Now imagine a visually impaired person or a wheelchair user having to manage entry and boarding all on his/her own, especially in a scenario where they cannot afford a travelling companion. Once you do, the realization will immediately dawn – the Railway Ministry has certainly not been inclusive.

This scenario relates to travel, which in many cases can be avoided. But what of health emergencies, what of someone like 46-year-old Mallikarjun, a visually impaired person who migrated to Bangalore from his village near Chitradurga district. Mallikarjun had been employed with a garment factory but ill health cost him his job just a few months before Lockdown 1 started. With his health deteriorating further he needed to be rushed to hospital but who would take him, how would he travel and how would he pay for his treatment?

His wife Renuka too is visually impaired and there was no public transport available. He couldn’t hail the emergency services being provided by two of India’s cab aggregators either as he simply couldn’t afford to. Renuka used to earn Rs 6,000 a month teaching music at a private school which unfortunately had to close due to the Covid situation. Furthermore, with the physical distance norms in place, even if he could somehow get to the hospital there was no one willing to take him.

Talk of tough luck. Fortunately, a kind doctor paid Mallikarjun a house visit and prescribed some medicines, which were brought with money borrowed from a neighbor. The meds though didn’t help too much, his legs are now badly swollen and Mallikarjun is struggling to carry out his daily living activities.

Forced, despite all the hurdles, to visit a hospital, Mallikarjun finally took the help of a neighbor to visit the St John’s hospital where he was asked to undergo some blood tests costing Rs 3,000, which was beyond his means.

A visually challenged friend helped him recharge his mobile and register his name to obtain the basic grocery kit that’s being distributed by Samarthanam but Mallikarjun is still looking for medical support. Once he gets that and manages to get well, he’s hoping for a job that will get him back on track and enable him support his family which includes a bright daughter who is in her sixth standard.

To help Mallikarjun and people like him,contact us