Relief for persons with disabilities as income ceiling is raised

Idukki: The Kerala govt has doubled the annual income limit for persons with disabilities to avail KSRTC’s concessional travel scheme, raising it from Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000, a day after ToI highlighted how the existing criterion had left hundreds of beneficiaries ineligible.The revised income ceiling was announced by transport minister C P John in the assembly on Tuesday. He said the amended govt order would be issued immediately, enabling eligible persons with disabilities to apply for or renew concessional travel passes without further difficulty.The previous income ceiling of Rs 20,000, introduced through a 2024 transport department order, had effectively deprived many persons with disabilities of a benefit they had enjoyed for years.Under the order, applicants were required to produce an income certificate showing an annual income below Rs 20,000 to qualify for the concession. However, the state’s disability welfare pension itself amounts to Rs 2,000 a month, or Rs 24,000 a year. Since village offices counted the pension as income while issuing certificates, many applicants who had no other source of income were unable to obtain the required income certificate.

As a result, many persons with disabilities, particularly those unable to work because of physical limitations, were denied access to subsidized KSRTC travel, increasing their travel expenses and financial burden.Disability rights organizations had argued that it was unfair for one govt welfare benefit to disqualify beneficiaries from receiving another. They had demanded either an increase in the income ceiling or the exclusion of the disability welfare pension from income calculations for the concession.Welcoming the decision, Kalesh Ambattu, a disability rights activist from Muttom in Thodupuzha, said the revised income limit would bring relief to hundreds of beneficiaries across the state. He said the denial of the KSRTC concession, which he had availed for the past 43 years, had caused severe financial hardship.