PwDs in Kothagudem oppose relocating District Welfare Office

Kothagudem: Differently-abled persons’ associations in Kothagudem district have opposed the proposed shifting of the District Welfare Office to old Kothagudem.The leaders of Telangana Vibhinna Pratibhavantula Sangham (TVPS) met District Collector D Anudeep on Monday and submitted a memorandum asking him to immediately withdraw the proposal to relocate the office to old Kothagudem.The TVPS founding president and VJAC chairman Sathish Gundapuneni said there were about 25,000 persons with disabilities (PwDs) in the district and every day hundreds of such persons come to the district welfare office from different places to submit petitions to officials concerned.But shifting the office seven km away from its existing location at Babu Camp at the district headquarters might pose great problems and would be a costly affair for the PwDs to reach the office, he noted.The differently abled persons would be forced to spend over Rs 200 on auto rickshaw charges to reach the new location after reaching Kothagudem RTC bus stand as the new office location was remotely situated.If anyone wants to go to the office on their own vehicles the road to the location was in very bad condition making it tough for them to travel on the road. The authorities might be relocating the office with the intention of preventing the PwDs visiting the office, Sathish lamented.He informed that the Collector, Anudeep responded positively to the TVPS’s submission to look into the matter and set up the district welfare office near the RTC bus stand making it easily accessible to the PwDs.VJAC district convener Nageswara Rao, TVPS office bearers Qader Baba, Maloth Beeru, Chand Pasha, Ramesh, Hussain Mia, Kanna and others were present.