Lapierre treks with disabled children to mark their day

Uluberia, Howrah, Dec 3 (UNI) Writer Dominique Lapierre and his wife today led a street rally here of physically handicapped children to create awareness for the underprivileged to mark 'World Disabled Day'.

The author of ''City of Joy'' trekked some two km on the busy Kolkata-Mumbai highway before reaching the site of a disabled centre named after him. He laid the foundation stone for construction of the home for disabled children.

For more than a decade, the celebrated French writer has been financing some NGOs in Bengal and elsewhere, particularly for lepers, TB patients, the disabled and destitutes. Over 21.9 million(Census 2001) people in India are disabled.

Later, addressing newsperons, Mr Lapierre, who recently penned 'Once Upon a Time in Soviet Union', said he was keen to support another NGO to ensure basic health to the people of remote South 24 Parganas district.

To a question, Mr Lapierre, said he would not comment on controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreem, now in Delhi, after being forced to leave Kolkata following a riot demanding her expulsion from the country.

UNI