Differently Abled Kerala Artist Wins Pinarayi Vijayan's Heart After Donating to Relief Fund

A differently abled artist from Alathur has impressed Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan after he donated generously to the Chief Minister's Greivance Redressal & Distress Relief Fund. The relief fund was set up to support post-flood rehabilitation and rebuilding in Kerala.

Pranav Balasubrahmanyan met the CM recently and clicked photos with him after making the donation. The CM was apparently moved by the meeting since he took to Twitter to post photos of the young artist.

"Had a very touching experience this morning," Vijayan wrote. "Pranav, a painter from Alathur, visited me in the Legislative office to hand over his contributions to the CMDRF," he added.

This is not the first time that Pranav has made news for his philanthropy. after the devastating 2018 floods in Kerala, Pranav had come forward to donate Rs 5,000 for the relief fund. The money had been handed over to Minister AK Balan at an event in September. The painter, who was born without arms and excels in painting with his foot, had singed the cheque with with his toes.

In his Twitter post, Vijayan also said that Pranav "expressed happiness over the support given by the Government for differently abled persons".

In 2015, the Kerala government enacted the State Policy for Persons with Disabilities to better fulfill the needs of the 7.94 lakh Persons with Disabilities (PwD) in Kerala who make up about 2.32 percent of the state's total population.

It has also launched schemes such as the Distress Relief Fund for the differently-abled, Swavalamban - Health Insurance scheme for differently-abled persons, Scholarship for Disabled Students, Marriage Assistance to Differently-abled women and daughters of differently-abled parents among others.