Tired of being mocked, bald men seek pension in Telangana

HYDERABAD: A group of men in Telangana want the state government to give them a monthly pension of ₹6,000 because they are bald. The men, all residents of Thangallapalli village in Siddipet say they suffer the embarrassment of not having a dense crop of hair on their heads and live with the mental agony of some people mocking them.
The ₹6,000 would help deal with the daily torture, they feel add that the government should announce the pension as a Sankranti gift for all men bald men, they say.

The group had an informal meeting in the village on January 5. Another meeting will be held after Sankranti involving more people as there could be more than 30 people who have had a loss of hair, they say.
“The comments people make hurt us. They laugh just because we have a receding hairline. This attitude causes mental agony. While one concern is that of going bald, another is that it hurts when we are made fun of frequently,” said P Anji, one of the members of the association. A graduate and father of two children, he adds, “Even if people are joking, it hurts.”
One of their members is just 22 years old but has lost almost all his hair. Anji, who is 41, said he had lost his hair in his early 20’s. What will they do with the pension that they are seeking? “We would like to get treatment if possible so that we can have hair. Pension should be considered as treatment cost for us,” he said.
Though the men do not have a formal association, Veldi Balaiah in his 50’s is considered president of their newly-formed informal group. There are other office-bearers too. They said their plea for pension should be considered seriously as the government was granting pension to the elderly, widows, physically challenged and others.
“They do not want to be mocked at for making the request. They want to be understood and their request considered sympathetically,” a resident age told TOI.