On July 26, a general body meeting was held in Erode, Tamil Nadu, to hand over subscriptions collected for Theekkathir, the daily organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Polit Bureau member Com U Vasuki received the subscriptions.

One moment at the meeting captured the essence of the movement that has been patiently built over the years. When Com R Ramesh and Com R Natarajan, two mobility impaired persons, came forward on behalf of the Bhavanisagar Area Committee to hand over the subscriptions, the leaders stepped down from the stage to receive them. In a venue that was not accessible for them, it was a simple gesture, but one that reflected the Party's commitment to equality and dignity.

The Bhavanisagar Area Committee achieved the district committee's target in full by enrolling 30 new subscriptions—25 annual and five half-year subscriptions. Behind this achievement lies an important political experience.

The Bhavanisagar Area Committee came into existence in December 2018 after it was bifurcated from the SathyamangalamTaluk Committee. It then consisted of just six party branches with 36 members, and there were virtually no mass organisations functioning in the area.

The new committee consciously took up the task of organising persons with disabilities. Organisations were built in more than twelve village panchayats, and sustained struggles were conducted on issues of livelihood, social security, accessibility and other rights. Through these struggles, increasing numbers of persons with disabilities and their family members came into contact with the Party.

Over the past eight years, this consistent work, combined with continuous political education, has transformed the organisation. Today, the Bhavanisagar Area Committee has 172 party members. Among them are 79 full party members and 18 candidate members with disabilities, taking the total number of party members with disabilities under the committee to 97.

The organisational advance is equally remarkable. Ten party branches now consist entirely of persons with disabilities and their family members. Of the nine members of the Area Committee, three are persons with disabilities, including a visually impaired comrade. Bhavanisagar is perhaps the party committee with the largest number of members with disabilities not only in Tamil Nadu but in the entire country.

More importantly, persons with disabilities are not confined to taking up issues directly affecting them. They play an active role in party meetings, campaigns, fund collection, and mass struggles on issues affecting the wider sections. They are organisers and leaders of these struggles, demonstrating in practice that disability is no barrier to political leadership.

The experience of the Thalavadi hill region further illustrates this process. Thalavadi, bordering Karnataka's Chamarajanagar district, consists of ten village panchayats where over 80 per cent of the nearly one lakh population speaks Kannada. Until a few years ago, there were virtually no party branches in most parts of the hills.

The turning point came through the efforts of Com S Vimala. After retiring as an Anganwadi Supervisor, she devoted herself to organising persons with disabilities and later served as president of the Erode district disabled organisation. Living in Erode city, she travelled long distances—leaving home at four in the morning, reaching Thalavadi only around nine, completing organisational work and returning late at night. She firmly believed that organising persons with disabilities could become an effective means of building the Party in the hill region. Although she passed away six years ago, the work she initiated has continued to grow.

Organisations of persons with disabilities have now been established in around twenty-seven hamlets across the hills. This work has also produced significant organisational gains. In 2025, 127 party auxiliary members were enrolled in the Thalavadi hill region. In 2026, this led to the formation of thirteen party branches with 110 candidature members. It is a striking example of how patient work among persons with disabilities can contribute directly to strengthening the Party in previously unorganised areas.

The subscription campaign reflects the same trend. Of the thirty new Theekkathir subscriptions enrolled by the Bhavanisagar Area Committee, ten came from the Thalavadi hills through the organisations of persons with disabilities. The newspaper will now reach villages where it had little or no presence earlier.

The Bhavanisagar experience demonstrates that organising persons with disabilities is not merely welfare work or issue-based mobilisation. It is an important avenue for expanding the democratic movement and strengthening the Party among some of the most marginalised sections of society.

This achievement has been possible because of the sustained efforts of many comrades including those at the leadership level of the Party in the district.

The experience also carries a wider lesson for the Party. The 19th Congress of the CPI(M), held in Coimbatore in 2008, called upon the Party to take up the task of organising persons with disabilities. Eighteen years later, the Bhavanisagar experience demonstrates the correctness of that perspective.

The misconception that persons with disabilities are incapable of contributing to political and social transformation has been decisively challenged. The experience of Bhavanisagar shows that when they are organised, politicised and entrusted with responsibility, persons with disabilities emerge not only as participants but as capable organisers, leaders and party builders. It is an experience that deserves to be studied and replicated across the country.