In July 2016, Dr Rajlakshmi, a wheelchair user and her mother Dr
Sobha booked a conducted tour while travelling from Bengaluru to London in an
Air India flight. Upon landing at the airport in London, the airline staffs
denied them wheelchair assistance and other support due to which the mother
and daughter had to cancel their travel plans. Last week, the Karnataka High
Court ordered Air India to pay them both ₹ 20 lakh as compensation for
lapses.
In July 2016, Dr Rajlakshmi and her elderly mother
Dr Sobha booked for a conducted tour, and their flight was
from Bengaluru to London. Dr Rajlakshmi, a wheelchair user, had clearly
stated her demands with the travel agency and even insisted on getting
special assistance and a wheelchair. Upon their entry at London’s
Heathrow Airport, Air India delayed
offering them wheelchair assistance leading to the mother and daughter
missing their flight to Scotland.
Air India also failed to provide them with any assistance due to which they
underwent mental, physical and emotional trauma. Last week, the
Karnataka High Court directed Air India to pay ₹ 10 lakh
each to both Dr Rajlakshmi and Dr Sobha for the lapses. This latest verdict
has been cheered by members from the disability community.
Instances of people with disabilities being harassed by airline and airport
staff continue to be widely reported despite sensitisation drills. There was
the recent case of disability rights activist and wheelchair user
Virali Modi being asked to get up from her wheelchair and
walk at the Delhi Airport. Even more recent was the harassment faced by
disability rights activists Jeeja Ghosh and Kuhu
Das at the Kolkata airport a couple of weeks back.
There are a number of such cases happening at airports across India where
people with disabilities are harassed. When Jeeja Ghosh faced a similar
incident first in the year 2012 at Kolkata airport, she had to approach the
Supreme Court for justice. To begin with, airport and airlines staffs are
not sensitized about disabilities and this sensitization has to begin from
a young age at schools. It is great that Dr Rajlakshmi and Dr Sobha have
gotten justice from Karnataka’s top court. – Shampa Sengupta,
disability rights activist.
Reportedly, Dr Rajlakshmi and Dr Sobha filed a complaint with a local police
station in Bengaluru upon their arrival from London. They did not get justice
there either. The bench of Justice B Veerappa had aptly
summed up in his verdict that the Indian Constitution does not stand any
violations against people with disabilities. The bench has also asked Deputy
Commissioner of Bengaluru South to take appropriate action against the head
of the police station. The tour operators, who lapsed, had earlier paid the
victims a compensation.
Shama Noorani Choudhary, an accessible travel specialist,
hails the court verdict as remarkable. “Personally, I have had bad
experiences at airports. With such verdicts being passed, airlines will also
think twice before being indifferent to a person with disability. They will
also learn how to behave well. Even today, most staffs do not know the exact
drill of transferring a person from their wheelchair to seats. It is time
they listen to what the disabled community has to say”.
The court verdict will underline the extent of physical, emotional and mental
ordeal people with disabilities have to face for exercising their basic right
to travel and live independently. Hopefully, this will drive greater
sensitisation towards the needs of people with disabilities.
Also Read: Disability activists’ harassment at Kolkata Airport
continues to evoke outrage
