THE fourth state conference of the Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of the Differently Abled and Caregivers (TARATDAC), the state affiliate of the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD), was held from September 19-21 in Chengalpet district, near Chennai.

From humble beginnings when the TARATDAC was formed in 2010, this cross disability organisation now has 38 district committees, four organising committees, 295 local committees and has nearly 5000 units with over 80,000 memberships across Tamil Nadu.  It has successfully mobilised the rural and poor masses of families with disabilities in large numbers in various struggles, that is reflected in its membership.

The conference began with a huge rally at Maraimalainagar municipal ground on September 19, in which over 15,000 persons with disabilities and their caregivers took part.

The chief minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin, who was the main speaker at the rally  said that he has aware of the long pending issues of the persons with disabilities and assured them to fulfill all the concerns, in a phased manner.

K Balakrishnan, CPI(M) state secretary slammed the union government for cutting the financial allocations of the disabled in every budget which reflects its indifference to the welfare of persons with disabilities. He also pointed out that the GST on aids and assistive devices of the persons with disabilities, is an example of the Modi government's disregard. He castigated the prime minister for using the term ‘divyang’ to connote persons with disabilities, while doing little to ameliorate their conditions. He lauded the achievements gained in the struggles conducted by the TARATDAC during this period. 

NPRD national treasurer S Namburajan and Association’s state president B Jansirani also addressed the meeting. On behalf of the reception committee president, BS Bharathi Anna welcomed the gathering and the treasurer V Harikrishnan gave the vote of thanks.

The delegate session of the state conference was held on September 20-21 at                  D Lakshmanan memorial venue  in Singaperumalkoil. Over 355 delegates and observers elected at the district conferences took part. State vice president                 P Thirupathi hoisted the flag.

The delegate session was inaugurated by Su. Venkatesan, member of parliament.  In his inaugural speech, he deplored the cut in budgetary allocations for the disabled to the extent of 35 per cent in the current year’s union budget. He urged the government to make substantial allocations rather than delivering empty slogans and bestowing then with divine status by calling them ‘divyang’. 

Greeting the conference, honorary president of the Tamilnadu Untouchability Eradication Front and CPI(M) Central Committee member, P Sampath said that those who were responsible for the killing of Mahatma Gandhi are ruling at the centre. They don't care about the country's economy, the poor and the workers. That is why they are selling all PSUs to private sector. In order to suppress protests against this, many autocratic laws are introduced and democratic rights are taken away. Therefore, we should come forward to fight against the wrong policies of the union government, regardless of caste, religion and strengthen the Left forces.

CITU state deputy general secretary S Kannan came down heavily on the anti-worker policies of the Modi government. He said labour laws are being amended and the protection that they gave to people who become disabled due to industrial accidents etc are being done away with. For the corporates, profit is more important than the life or well being of the workers he emphasised.

P Suganthi, AIDWA state general secretary appreciated the struggles and intervention of the TARATDAC on the sexual violence against disabled women and children in the past.  She applauded the association for not only waging struggles for the livelihood issues of the disabled but also for 17 such social issues related to woman and children during the last four years.

Educationist and patron of the Association, Dawood Miakhan, Tamilnadu Government Employees Association general secretary A Selvam, also greeted the conference. 

In this state conference two different reports on socio economic issues and the work and organisation report were placed for discussion and adopted.  36 delegates took part in the discussions. Nine important resolutions were passed in the conference including demands for increasing monthly assistance, MNREGA work days as well distributing Antyodaya Anna Yojana(AAY) cards etc.

The reported noted that the Association has conducted hundreds of sustained struggles from the branch level to the state level right from its inception.  Some of these like the six days prolonged and sustained struggle left a big impact on the disabled people in the state.

Preceding the fourth state conference, conferences of over 3400 units, 223 local and 34 district committees were conducted with great enthusiasm and big rallies all over Tamil Nadu. 

On September 21, the conference elected a 75-member state committee and 17- member executive committee with T Wilson as the new state president, B Jansirani as new general secretary and KR Chakravarthi as treasurer.

In his concluding remarks, outgoing general secretary and NPRD treasurer,  S Namburajan laid emphasis on the need to expand the activities of Association including among the students, youth and different types of persons with disabilities.