August 23, 2019
People with disabilities from across India demand for the need of
accessible and disabled friendly railways stations and coaches. Though the
Accessible India campaign was launched in 2015, nothing substantial has been
done till date owing to which travel becomes a nightmare for disabled
people.
Sunitha Thripanikkara, a nationally acclaimed artist, has to
travel extensively often on work. Flying so often is beyond her means and she
depends on trains. Being a wheelchair user, she dreads the thought. She needs
two people to accompany her as she is unable to move but the disabled coaches
allow only one person as companion.
Sunitha says such provisions make it hard for disabled people to use train
services on an equal footing, a view shared by many people who say that
official apathy makes things even tougher.
Over the past few months, many disability rights activist and NGO’s have been
working towards making railway stations and coaches accessible. Wheelchair
user Virali Modi‘s efforts to install ramps at many railway
stations has been rightly implemented, thanks to her constant efforts.
Bengaluru-based NGO Anuprayaas has also been working towards
introducing Braille facilities inside railway stations.
However, there is a long way to go. Last year, the National Platform
for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) started a campaign demanding
installation of ramps and elevators across all railway stations in India,
tactile markings on platforms and Braille-embossed signage on coaches. This
has not yet been fully implemented. Owing to this, disabled people are unable
to travel independently. “If I have to go to a toilet, I need two healthy
people to carry me and accompany me to the toilet”, says Sunitha. “Since I
can’t take two people, I avoid drinking water on long journeys”.
Rafiq Ahmed, a wheelchair user from Chennai, regularly
travels by train to work. In spite of the many challenges that he faces
inside trains, Rafiq is unable to change his mode of travel.
I travel from Egmore station where they have a battery car facility inside
the station. But they refuse to drop a disabled person citing many reasons.
At parking lots for disabled people, others would have already parked their
bikes and cars. Our challenges do not end there. When we enter coaches, a
person without disability would have already occupied our seats. When we
ask them to move, they tell us that the TTE asked them to be seated there.
Recently, I even heard that Indian railways is going to remove the disabled
coach-Rafiq Ahmed, Wheelchair User.
Like how Rafiq points out, the attitude of people towards a disabled person
is the biggest challenge due to which even police refuses to file cases.
“When we go to the cops, they tell us that they will take action. But they
don’t do anything in favour of us. The toilets are also inaccessible”, says
Rafiq.
Apart from some token facilities, no serious effort has been made to address
such issues. Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced
Accessible India campaign in the year 2015, disabled people
point out that there is a long way to go when it comes to fully implementing
it. From getting concessions in ticket fares or being able to choose berths
while booking tickets, the struggle faced by a disabled person who travels in
trains are many. Inefficiency and apathy of
government officials only makes things worse.
TMN Deepak, Founder, 3 December movement,
says its shocking for the Railways to be so indifferent. “I see audacity on
the part of Indian Railways to choose to ignore accessibility features when
they are part of the social justice discourse. We also see the lack of
governance framework to coordinate with other ministries in handling
disability issues. If Indian railways is reluctant to address the basic first
generation disability rights, will it ever graduate itself to the next stage.
The answer is definitely no”, says Deepak.
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