Rafiq Ahmed, who has a disability, recently faced discrimination at
the Tiruvarur railway station in Tamil Nadu. His scooter was moved from the
disability parking lot to the private parking space and he was also charged
for this. Rafiq tweeted a complaint to the Indian Railways through his social
media account for which he got a prompt response from the officials which was
welcomed by disability rights groups in Tamil Nadu. Tiruvarur station now has
an exclusive parking lot for travellers with disabilities.
Chennai resident Rafiq Ahmed had to make a trip to Tiruvarur
in Tamil Nadu recently. As a person with disability, Rafiq was entitled to
park his two-wheeler at the parking lot earmarked for disabled people at the
station. But when he came back after a week, Rafiq could not find his
vehicle. He later found it at the private parking lot and was directed to pay
for the service.
Rafiq says he appealed to the official not to levy the charges as he was a
person with disability but the official did not pay any attention. With the
support of December 3 movement, a disability rights NGO,
Rafiq lodged a complaint with the Southern Railways. Officials responded on
time and now thanks to Rafiq’s action, disabled people have an exclusive
parking lot at Tiruvarur station.
The person in charge of the parking lot was rude to me. How can they take
away my vehicle which has been parked at the disability lot? Being a person
with a disability, this is my right and government granted privilege. When
I realised that my rights were being violated, I soon tweeted to ministry
of railways and concerned officials. I got a reply from the Railway Seva
within a few minutes. They immediately took action and I’am glad that
Tiruvarur station has now an exclusive parking lot for people with
disabilities-Rafiq Ahmed.
TMN Deepak, who is the founder of the 3 December movement,
says that disability groups had planned to call for a strike against the
railways on 5 November over this issue. This was later called off authorities
promised to look into the issue.
“What the Railways has done is definitely a welcome move since a common man
could get help. But this must not stop at Tiruvarur station alone because
this is not an isolated incident. Railways must engage people with
disabilities more so that officials will also know our needs and
requirements. The more you engage, the more fruitful the results will be”,
says Deepak.
Incidents like these show that people must speak up when they see their
rights being violated. Thanks to social media, lodging complaints and getting
solutions has become easier.
Also Read: Disabled people push for need of accessible
& disabled-friendly Indian Railways
