#Journey-by-Train #A-Recreational-Trip or A-Real-Life-challenge for the Persons with Disabilities
Railways is one of the important means of public transport. Here I want to share some of my personal experiences while boarding the Trains from different Railway Stations at different points of time.
First and foremost problem faced in case of a severely (70-80%) disabled person on wheelchair while travelling through Train is that when you do your bookings in the AC Compartment in a Train while travelling along with your family members, & if you are a wheelchair-bound person neither able to stand, nor able to walk, in such a case you might be able to board the train through the main entrance door with the help of your Family & companions i.e. either they can lift you up along with your wheelchair and board you into the train, or you can request the Railway Station Authorities for providing you with the portable ramp facility (which is obligatory as per law to be provided, if demanded so by the wheelchair users). That is the first step to board the Train.
Step two is to enter into the AC Compartment. Our friends who are travelling through AC Coaches might be knowing how narrow is its entrance gate. Can a wheelchair user enter into it, sitting on his/her wheelchair ?
Now some people may be of the viewpoint that in case of standardized wheelchairs it’s not possible, but if you go for customized ones it’s possible. So I want to tell you all that before ordering for my customized one, my parents went to the Railway Station, took measurements of the doors (both the doors) of the AC Compartment & we sent those measurements to the wheelchair designing company so as to design my wheelchair as per my requirements and preferences, which was met in due time.
Now with all the customized measurements my wheelchair should be able to pass through the AC Chamber door & I should be able to reach the birth allowed to me while comfortably sitting on my wheelchair. But this is not the situation most of the times as many a times there is some or the other defect in the AC Chamber door due to which it’s only half or three-fourth open & my wheelchair cannot make it through that very door under consideration by 0.75 or 1-inch. Each time my father (who is a senior citizen) is required to lift me up from wheelchair, place me on some other passenger’s birth (after requesting him/her to permit so for a few minutes), fold my wheelchair and pass it from the AC door, then again unfold it & place me on it for the second time to reach to my birth allotted to me.
Now tell me is it that simple to lift a girl who is of 50-60 kgs 2-3 times to board a Train. We people are always raising our voices on the issues of accessibility, so isn’t that the Railway Compartments should be made accessible for the PWDs ?
Handicapped persons should travel in disability coaches specially designed for them. But what if you are travelling along with your family members and you require minimum 2-attendants to take care of you.
Apart from the above & the washroom issues, there is 1-more critical issue. Most of the Railway Stations in India have only stairs and no ramps. Take the example of Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station of Delhi where the said difficulty is faced by the wheelchair users. This is the situation in the capital city of India, so we can assume what may be the case in the other parts.
Aren’t Social Audits applicable to our infrastructures in the country. & if yes, then are Railways not covered in the same criteria ?
What’s the use of doing Social Audits if our infrastructures cannot be made disabled-friendly. Don’t we PWDs too have equal rights to travel for amusement, business tours, family functions or for some other reasons whatsoever like the normal citizens of India. Aren’t we too the citizens of this country ?
Then why these discrimination’s only with the PWDs ? Really a thinkable & debatable issue.
Santwana ArasE-mail: santwana.aras[at]gmail.com
Uday Shiksha Avam Jan Kalyan Samiti
Practicing CA, Motivational Speaker, Social Entrepreneur, Disability Rights Activist, Storyteller, Regular Faculty at CA Coaching
Nice article