MADURAI
When S. Dhanam entered the Collectorate on Monday hoping to submit a petition requesting a wheelchair for her son who has cerebral palsy during the grievance redressal meeting, she says she was shocked to have been approached by a number of men who promised her benefits under a number of schemes for differently abled.
“Two people promised to help me get the monthly stipend due for differently abled persons. One of them offered to write a strong-worded petition and another said that he would represent me in front of the officials,” she said.
Since Ms. Dhanam knew contacts in the differently abled welfare department, she said that she had not fallen for a scam that the two men were trying to pull.
“Usually, a small set of people sit under the shed area reserved for the differently-abled. They are petition writers who aim to make quick money by scamming poor people who cannot seek help from officials directly. They charge a minimum of ₹80 and a maximum of ₹150 for each petition,” said an official at the Collector's office.
The source said that the petitions usually are about setting up petty shops for differently abled, getting hearing aids, wheelchairs and walking sticks as well as monthly aid.
“Since the people who come there are naive and the Collectorate seems like a maze to them, some petition writers pose as helpers and choose to exploit them,” the source added.
S. Raja, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Crawling Differently Abled Persons Federation, said that he had predominantly seen the fleecing outside the Collectorate.
“Some people also wear the traditional veshti and act like they are from political parties. They also seem to demand cuts from us when we are sanctioned a certain amount. This has been happening for years but no one has stopped them,” he said.
He added that there was a need to improve amenities at the section for differently abled as well. “There is no proper fan facility and all elderly people who wait for old age pension also wait here. The Collector finishes all his works and comes last to us. We have to wait for four hours for our pleas to be addressed,” he said.
Collector T. G. Vinay said, “Usually, petition writers are not allowed inside campus. We have had volunteers from Nehru Yuva Kendra to help petitioners write their grievances. We will look into the matter. The installation of fans will be done immediately,” he said.