Tamil Nadu civic polls: Breaking barriers, nearly 40 disabled candidates in fray

CHENNAI: Ten years after her nomination to contest in local body polls was rejected on the grounds of disability, A Kavitha of Navamal Kapperi village in Villupuram district is in the fray in the rural local polls in Tamil Nadu.
The rejection of her nomination in 2011 paved the way to amending the law to enable people with hearing and speech impairments as well as those affected with leprosy to contest the polls.
Kavitha, 34, who has hearing and speech impairment, is now contesting for the post of ward councillor in Navamal Kapperi panchayat.
The rejection of Kavitha’s nomination paper in 2011 on the grounds of disability triggered a protest to do away with a subsection in the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act 1994, which prohibited people with hearing and speech impairment and those affected with leprosy from contesting polls.
Activists and differently abled forums staged protests and laid siege to the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission office in Chennai. After continuous struggles, the government brought the amendment on November 15, 2012 to the Act. It removed “deaf, mute and persons affected with leprosy” from sub-section 3 of Section 33 (no person shall be qualified for election as a member or president or chairman of panchayat) and published it in the government gazette.
“There is a tough fight ahead, but contesting in the polls itself is like winning for us. It gives a lot of confidence to the (differently-abled) community,” said Kavitha’s father V R Thangarasu, who is also a disabled person. Both daughter and father are contesting in ward 3 and 4 respectively in the panchayat.
Kavitha has been allotted the ‘key’ symbol to contest in the polls. “We hope it will unlock the barriers and give opportunities for us to serve the community and prove a point,” Thangarasu said.
They are among 40 odd disabled candidates in the fray for the posts of village panchayat ward councillors, district and union ward councillors in the rural local body polls in the nine reconstituted districts. Most of them are from Villupuram, Chengalpet and Kancheepuram districts.
"I don't want to be a spectator. So, I decided to contest and prove to the community that we are no less than anyone," said 33-year-old A Sathyaraj, a graduate, who is one among the 10 candidates in the fray for district ward councillor post in Kallakurichi's Chinna Salem taluk.
“I sustained serious spinal cord injuries after I fell from a coconut tree 21 years ago. After being bedridden for a couple of years, I fought back to stand on my own. I want to serve the village and give a corruption-free administration and improve the facilities in my village if I get elected,” said 43- year-old V Kannadasan, who is contesting for the panchayat president post in Kottiyampoondi panchayat. A farmer, Kannadasan is all set to release his manifesto in two days.
Deepak Nathan, founder of December 3 Movement, said these candidates were being fielded to create a presence of disabled people in administrative positions.