Visually Impaired protesters suspend 93-Day stir after assurance from CM
Ferozepur, November 6, 2026: Visually impaired protesters under the banner of the Netarheen Ekta Association Punjab on Friday suspended their 93-day-long protest following an assurance from Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann that their demands would be addressed soon.
During the meeting, the protesters also extended Diwali greetings to the Chief Minister, who assured them that the Punjab Government would soon fulfil their demands and present them with a Diwali gift.
Earlier, the protest had been continuing since August 5, outside the office of the Department of Social Security, Women and Child Development in Chandigarh. The agitation had occasionally turned intense.
Meanwhile, a large number of visually impaired protesters - including from the visually impaired inmates from Home for the Blind Ferozepur - reached the Chief Minister's residence to press for their long-pending demands.
The major demands include filling vacant posts under the 1% reservation quota for visually impaired persons through a special recruitment drive and increasing the monthly disability pension from Rs 1,500 to Rs 5,000. Besides, they have also demanded infrastructure improvements, adequate staff and transfer of the academic section of the Government Institute for the Blind, Jamalpur (Ludhiana), to the Punjab School Education Department. Another major demand concerns pay parity for visually impaired Tabla Players recruited in 2012 under the C&V cadre. The association has sought implementation of the Rs 10,300-34,800 pay band with Rs 3,200 grade pay, alleging that they continue to receive the lower grade pay of Rs 5,910-2,400.
The Chief Minister met the delegation, acknowledged their demands as genuine and assured them that a meeting with senior government officials would soon be convened to resolve the issues.
Association President Nirmal Singh from Ferozepur said the protest had been suspended in view of the Chief Minister's assurance.