A new ray of hope for polio-affected hawker

TIRUPATI: Thirty-one-year-old N Venkatesh, a polio affected person, could not believe his ears when a municipal corporation official told him that the TTD has allotted a shop to his Sri Venkateswara Vibhinna Prathibhavanthula Sangham (VPS) at HT shopping complex on the Tirumala Hills.For the first time, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams has allotted 20 shops to Self-Help Groups (SHGs) of SC and ST communities for self employment. The allotment of shops was hitherto restricted to displaced persons or on compassionate grounds to individuals as special cases.Talking to Express, the polio-affected person with both legs crippled said, ‘’the allotment of shop has kindled the hope of standing on my own legs financially, though physically I can never be able to stand on my legs.’’The 31-year-old Dalit youth, who was eking out a livelihood by selling toys at Tirumala, said he was at first reluctant to apply for the shop as he was aware that getting a shop on Tirumala is next to impossible but applied at the insistence of a IKP official.He said he was driven away by vigilance and police many a time as he had no valid hawker license.He said he was living with his uncle in the TMC colony, Tirupati and selling toys on the hills for livelihood.With the allotment of the shop, Venkatesh found a place for his toy shop and also planning to open a tiffin centre, involving other members of the group in the shop near Rambhagicha RTC bus stand.The shop allotment orders were issued recently to the SHGs at a meeting by the TTD executive officer in the presence of local MP Chinta Mohan and MLA K Chiranjeevi. Slums Local Resource Person (SLRM), Suryakumari said that three more shops were allotted on Tirumala, including, Gangammatalli Sangham Pachigunta. Group leaders and members praised Chinta Mohan and former commissioner M Janaki.