Undeterred by blindness, this activist from Punjab has set his sights on restoring labourers’ rights

Primarily taking up the issues relating to building and other construction workers, Walia’s has been quite a journey – from erstwhile Janta Party Punjab’s working committee member and the party’s national council member to a government contractor who spent around three decades in Rajasthan and now to a rights activist with visual impairment fighting for the welfare of building and other construction workers.

Following his complaint to the state’s public grievance redressal system, the Punjab government last month allowed free travel facility to any attendant accompanying a visually impaired person in government-run buses.

In fact, there was a provision in a 2021 Punjab government scheme ‘The Punjab Divyangjan Shaktikaran Yojna’ allowing free travel for one person accompanying a blind passenger in government buses. The notification of the scheme read, “Free travel in government buses is currently being given to blind persons in the state. One accompanying attendant shall be given free travel along with blind passengers.”

But the state with 6.5 lakh disabled people of which 12.6 per cent are visually impaired as per 2011 Census did not implement the provision and Wali took up the cause in 2022. “The implementation of such provisions is the least the government should do for the disabled, who face many challenges in life,” Walia told The Indian Express.

Walia mentioned the number of the visually impaired may have gone up, going by the extrapolation.

He developed an issue with his retina while he was in Rajasthan. By 2008, he became almost totally visually impaired and was medically certified so in 2011 when he had returned to Punjab, after having spent 27 years in Rajasthan from 1983 to 2010 as a government contractor.

Walia went back to Rajasthan in 2014 for organising a camp for construction workers wherein “a record 2,500 construction workers had turned up for registration with the Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board”.

The camp was held jointly by local contractors. A labour department official also helped as he accompanied us going to various labour chowks to motivate the construction workers for registration, he said.

“During the 1975 Emergency, I came in contact with socialist leaders and served as Punjab Working Committee member and National Council member of the Janata Party,” Walia said, adding that in 1983 he moved to Ajmer in Rajasthan and worked there as a government contractor before returning to Patiala in 2010.

While in Rajasthan, he observed a two-day hunger strike to protest against a local Urban Improvement Trust chairman for stopping the payments for construction work contractors.

Walia said after developing eyesight problems, he consulted numerous doctors, including a noted eye-surgeon based in Ahmedabad, but was told the condition was not curable.

Subsequently, Walia visited the National Association of Blind in New Delhi and got a software installed in his laptop which would read out texts for him.

“Afterwards, I purchased an E-series mobile which was compatible with a paid software, for Rs 4,400, which would read out the text from the mobile phone. Subsequently, I learnt about ‘Text Freedom app’ which converts image/pdf files into Word format and reads the text. This is apart from regular Word documents. I have been using this app now for quite some time,” said Walia, who also counts on a colleague who, on dictation, drafts the correspondences for making complaints and filing RTI applications.

Walia participated in the 2011 Anna Hazare Movement and served as para legal volunteer with Punjab Legal Services Authority where he was also adjudged the best volunteer in 2016-17.

Walia mentioned that the Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board paid Rs 56 crore Income Tax plus Rs 4 crore interest in the 2012-13 assessment year. After analysing the CAG report he pointed out the exemption clause, following which the Board saved around Rs 400 crore.

Until 2020, Walia’s wife had been a big help to him, driving him around to various offices on a scooter till about four years ago. “Last four years have been very difficult to me. My wife suffered a paralysis attack on March 20, 2020. Earlier, she used to attend me, now I have to attend her. I have been rarely going outside to any offices for the last four years,” said Walia.

Walia has a son who is into real estate business shuttling between Patiala and Goa, and a daughter, who is married in Delhi.