Kathmandu. Visually impaired people who earn their livelihood by singing songs and hymns in the open space of the Pashupatinath temple premises have said that they have been facing many problems ranging from daily living, shelter, health treatment and social behaviour. <\/p>\n
They complained that they have not been able to fulfill even the basic needs of the elderly even though they are living on old age allowance and assistance provided by the general public.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A woman who goes by the name ‘Khagisara’ who lives in Gaurighat area said that earlier she used to sit in groups with friends on the pavement or in the open area singing bhajans, but nowadays she has started living separately.<\/p>\n
She said that she was compelled to face abuse from the landlord for not paying the rent on time. <\/p>\n
‘Where is the allowance of 2100 enough? If the rent is delayed by two to four days, the landlord throws away the contents of the room or abuses them,” she said. <\/p>\n
She said that she had her eye check-up done in Pokhara, Kathmandu, Bhairahawa and Butwal but the doctors said that the veins in her eyes were also dry. According to her, she started losing her eyesight at the age of eight and could only study up to the fifth grade.<\/p>\n
Since then, she said, her vision has been gradually declining. <\/p>\n
‘I can only distinguish the light. When I walk on the road, I walk on the basis of guesswork. You don’t know when you’re going to hit or fall into a pit. Only those who have experienced it know the pain,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said that she has to live alone and work every day, adding that the behavior of others causes more mental pain than physical ones. <\/p>\n
Similarly, Kabita Oli, who was found in the Pashupati premises, said that she has stopped seeing completely in one eye after she suffered an eye injury eight years ago and the other eye also sees only blurry. She hails from Tulsipur of Dang and is currently living with her husband and granddaughter.<\/p>\n
Her husband is also visually impaired, she said. <\/p>\n
‘We both can’t see well. We can eat if we get help from the people, otherwise it will be difficult,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to him, they were found while studying in a school for the visually impaired.<\/p>\n
She said that efforts are still being made to make her daily life easier with the help of her parents. <\/p>\n
They complain that the police have been arresting those who earn their livelihood by begging in the Pashupati area from time to time and warning them not to beg there.<\/p>\n
‘They take you to the checkpoint saying that you can’t ask for it here. You have to eat noodles and water all day,” Oli said. <\/p>\n
Although they have been advised to stay in the ashram, they say that they are not ready to stay in the ashram by separating from their families. Visually impaired and disabled people have said that the state’s attention is needed on regular income generation, easy treatment, dignified housing and effective implementation of social security.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chief District Officer of Kathmandu Ishwar Raj Poudel clarified that the campaign was launched for the rescue and protection of the dependents on the streets and in need of assistance, not for the visually impaired or disabled people. Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Manav Sewa Ashram, Nepal Police and District Administration Office, Kathmandu to launch the campaign to free people from the streets, Chief District Officer Poudel said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said, “People living on the streets, needing assistance and needing help who are making a living through music or other means will be rescued and kept in various shelters of the Manav Sewa Ashram.”<\/p>\n
Arrangements for their food, accommodation, medical treatment and necessary care will be made in collaboration with the concerned agencies. “<\/p>\n
Some time ago, a group of blind people also came to the street movement. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Santoshi Rawal, Nepal News Bank Kathmandu. Visually impaired people who earn their livelihood by singing songs and hymns in the open space of the Pashupatinath temple premises have said that they have been facing many problems ranging from daily living, shelter, health treatment and social behaviour. They complained that they have not been able toContinue reading “The Plight of the Blind and Disabled: ‘How long will we survive with allowance and money?’”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":76728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-samachar-en"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/photo-1_418fbeb7.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76750"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76751,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76750\/revisions\/76751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/media\/76728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}