A physically challenged man today climbed atop a mobile phone tower to highlight his demand for getting benefit under a Government scheme and came down after high drama and a great deal of persuasion by officials who assured to look into his grievances.
The man, identified as Praveen Padiyar, said he did this to protest against the alleged apathy of the administration towards his demand and draw people's attention towards his plight.
The 42-year-old lost one of his legs in an accident sometime back and since then he had been running from pillar to post to get benefit under the Chief Minister Self- Employment Scheme of Madhya Pradesh Government.
Padiyar applied to banks and District Commerce and Industries Centre here for financial aid under the scheme but failed to get any positive response. He also wrote letters to the State and Central Governments but nothing happened.
Fed up with nothing moving on the job front, Padiyar took an unusual route to get himself heard.
He somehow managed to climb on a cellphone tower in Datt Colony, and started shouting and narrating his problem. Soon a large number of people gathered under the tower.
Police also arrived at the spot and advised him to come down, but in vain. District BJP President Daulat Bhavsar and later Jhabua District Collector also reached the scene along with other officials, including Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ashfaq Ali Khan.
They all advised Padiyar to give up his protest and the Collector spoke to him on his cellphone. The officials, led by the Collector, repeatedly assured to look into his demand following which Padiyar came down.
