Sushma Swaraj replies with promise to help out with disabled daughters’ passports

Hyderabad: An emotional petition on Change.org started by a septuagenarian couple from Nellore in  Andhra Pradesh asking for help in getting passports for their disabled daughters, has drawn a positive response from Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj.

75-year-old Ramasubbarao Rallapalli, a retired tahsildar, and his wife 70-year-old Subbalakshmi jointly started a  petition on Change.org saying their two daughters who were severely disabled were unable to appear  in person at the passport office for applying for passports.

The current passport rules mandate every applicant’s physical presence at the passport office for an interview.

The couple’s daughters – R. Gayathridevi and R. Sarvani – are 72% and 90% disabled due to polio. The couple have taken care of them for 40 years now and were worried that they would not be able to continue to do so for much longer. They wanted to ensure that their daughters are able to join their brothers who were settled abroad.

In order to reach out to the Ministry of External Affairs, they used technology platform Change.org. Their petition drew overwhelming public support and over 45000 people signed it. Following this, Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted last night: