Finally some brownie points for the Aam Aadmi Party after the internal chaos they’ve been facing. The Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government has decided to give jobs to acid attack victims and a committee will be formed to look into the issues of acid attack survivors.
The government took this decision after the Chief Minister received a representation from acid attack victims in which they requested that government jobs be extended to them. Following the plea, the government has proposed that, as a special relief measure, suitable government jobs (contract or permanent) be provided to these survivors.
Most acid attack victims are young women in their prime whose lives were horribly disrupted and disfigured when acid was thrown on them by men with the intention to disfigure, maim or kill. Many of the survivors face multitudes of problems like lost vision, hearing or respiratory problems because of burns at the least including other complications. Many of them need multiple surgeries to set organs and systems right, followed by skin grafting. Money for the surgery becomes a problem for them.
Employment is also an issue for them given their appearance and health problems. So it’s a very good move on the part of the government to step in and provide employment for them according to their qualifications, abilities and skills.
“Depending on their qualifications, work experience and ability, we will hire them,” Swati Maliwal, advisor to the Chief Minister told The Hindu.
According to official figures, there are 35 acid attack survivors in the city. The services department has been asked to invite applications from acid attack victims and consider these on a priority basis for any suitable vacancies, current or future, which may be filled on contract or permanent basis.
Although many of them also qualify for disability benefits, it’s a known fact that the waiting list for people seeking jobs under the disability quota is extremely long, as many as 90,000 per state.
Hopefully other states will follow suit too with perhaps added medical benefits.
Image Courtesy: BCCL
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