Unemployed visually impaired protesters denied entry to Punjab secretariat
CHANDIGARH: A group of visually impaired unemployed youth on Tuesday left the security personnel stunned when they quietly descended at the rear entry gate of the Punjab civil secretariat and resorted to sloganeering against the Parkash Singh Badal government.
The panic-gripped security personnel locked the rear entry gate of the secretariat to stop the visually challenged persons from entering the building. People who come to secretariat for personal work or to meet the ministers or the chief minister Parkash Singh Badal — who otherwise rarely sit in their offices — use the rear gate.
The entry into the secretariat from the rear gate remained blocked for over two hours as the visually impaired, who wanted to enter the secretariat, lodged a strong protest against government for not fulfilling their demands.
They lifted the sit-in after three hours at 3pm. Surprised over the sudden sloganeering by a twodozen people at the rear of the secretariat and the protesters demanding to enter the building, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel alerted Chandigarh Police to handle the law and order problem.
A minor scuffle also broke out. But the cops kept cool. The peace prevailed after chief secretary Sarvesh Kaushal swung into action and deputed principal secretary (social security) Anurag Agarwal to meet the protesters who invited them for meeting on August 30.
Among the main demands of the visually impaired is speedy recruitment of the blind against the vacant posts reserved for them.