We have been expressing our concern and anguish regarding the railways on this list. Now is the time to act. I am copying below some points which can be sent to the Railway Minister. many of us are affected lets see how many of us are really bothered. if you are not only an arm chair complainer then please send out a letter to the Railway minister on similar lines and send a copy to Secretatiat E-mail Address(es): [email protected]
Ms. Mamta Banerjee Hon’ble Minister for Railways Room No. 239 Rail Bhavan New Delhi – 110 001 SUGGESTIONS FOR THE RAILWAY BUDGET VIS-À-VIS DISABILITY Travelling in train continues to be an ordeal for disabled people and senior citizens in our country. Their safety and needs should be taken into account while planning the Railway Budget. Even though The Disability Act (enacted over a decade ago) mandates railway stations and coaches to be made barrier free for disabled people, its implementation leaves much to be desired. Following are some of the suggestions for the Rail Budget with respect to the needs of people with disabilities: a.. Railway Stations: Railway stations are not accessible for people with disabilities. Apart from a ramp (sometimes it is just a slope and not a proper ramp!) which is available in some stations and reserved parking, there are no facilities for people with disabilities at the stations. The issue of accessing the reserved parking, reaching the various platforms and getting on to the train for people with mobility impairment; making enquiries and getting information about rail routes, arrival/departure, etc. for hearing impaired people; and safe and independent mobility and access to information for visually impaired persons are not being taken into account while renovating/upgrading the railway stations. Specific Plan (covering all aspects of accessibility for disabled people) should be prepared to make all stations disabled friendly. All passenger amenities that are being planned should ensure that they cater to the needs of disabled passengers as well. There should be availability of serviceable wheelchairs at every platform and sign language interpreters at every station. a.. Coaches: There are now ‘special coaches’ for disabled people in certain trains. The approach is exclusionary and defeats the very purpose of inclusiveness and a universally accessible environment. The coach is totally disconnected from all other compartments. Only 8 passengers along with the escorts can travel. The design of ALL coaches should follow the universal design concept and should be accessible for all. There should be a clear plan to design coaches which are inclusive, so that disabled people can travel with dignity and comfort in whichever class or compartment that they wish to, from say a general category bogey to a Ist AC Coach! a.. Allocating appropriate seats in coaches: While booking tickets using the Railway Concession Forms, persons with disabilities and their escorts should be assigned seats according to their preference, such as lower berths, seats near the entry/exit of the coach, etc. a.. Railway Concessions: Concessions are available only for mail and express trains but not for superfast trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, etc. The disability concessions should be available in all trains including local trains. a.. Procedure for availing concession: The whole procedure of getting concession is very complicated. ‘Disability Certificate’ issued by Government to people with disability is not valid for railway concession! People with disability have to collect a Railway concession Form from DRM’s office, fill it in, and go through medical examination once again to get the concession. Also, they come with 5 years validity and need to be renewed. Disability Certificate should be considered as a valid proof for availing railway concession. a.. On-line Ticket Booking: On-line booking is a great boon. However, disabled people cannot buy their tickets online, as they have to submit the railway concession form while booking their tickets. This really makes it very difficult for people with disability. Disabled people should be allowed to book their tickets online (One can give the details online, which can be cross checked by T.C. at the time of the Journey, as it is done in the case of Senior Citizens). a.. The Indian Railways Website should be made accessible for people with disabilities. It should comply with the guidelines announced by the Department of Technology (DIT) on web accessibility (WCAG 2.0). a.. Training of the railway staff: Disabled people often face a lot of issues dealing with railway staff who are not only ill informed about disability concessions & procedures but are also insensitive and misbehave with them. There should be a system to make disability training mandatory for all railway staff. Kanchan Pamnani Advocate & Solicitor 9, Suleman Chambers, Battery Street, Colaba, Mumbai - 400 039. To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
