Himachal Blind Persons Association members protest, clash with police

Shimla, Jun 18 (PTI) Demanding filling of backlogs for the blind people, over 100 activists of Blind Persons Association in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday protested here by blocking the traffic.

The protesters blocked the Sanjauli-Chotta Shimla road near the state secretariat for a few hours, disrupting the vehicular movement on the road.

During the protest, the agitators also had a scuffle with the police personnel who tried to remove them from the road. They ended their protests after being assured by Health and Family Welfare Minister (Col) Dhani Ram Shandil that their demands will be considered.

The visually-impaired have also been demanding the government to provide reservation and promotion to them as promised in a notification issued by the government in the year 2021 and to extend the retirement age of all specially-abled persons to 60 years.

Shobhu Ram, one of the activists of the association, said they have been sitting on protests for their demands for the past 240 days but nothing has been done so far.

He said, "We were assured that a special meeting will be held on June 28 with the government in which discussions will be held regarding our demands." Ram said they will continue with their protests until their demands are not met by the state government. PTI COR BPL KSS KSS