T.N. govt.’s order excluding persons with disabilities from being recruited as meal scheme cooking assistants shocks activists

The Rights of Persons With Disabilities and RTI Activists Team, Tamil Nadu, has expressed its displeasure over the State government’s decision to “exclude” persons with disabilities from being appointed as the nutritious meal scheme cooking assistants.

In a memorandum to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, RPWD and RTI Activists Team president Sundara Vimalanathan of Swamimalai said that it was shocking that in the recent Government Order issued by the Social Welfare Department with respect to the appointment of 8997 cooking assistants in the Nutritious Meal Centres it was mentioned that selection of persons with disabilities for this post has been excluded.

Claiming that the exclusion of persons with disabilities from the selection process for the posts of cooking assistants negates the very purpose of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, Mr. Vimalanathan urged the State government to revise the GO to ensure that the right of persons with disabilities to lead a respectable life was ensured by getting absorbed as government employees.