Friends In continuation of my email last week, please find below a copy of the letter sent by AICb. I am sure Mr. Kaul would not mind if you copy the letter and sent it to the Ministry. We do thank the AICB for drafting the letter. I am aware that XRCVC has sent a similar letter and a few other organisations have or will be doing the same. Please make the appropriate changes and send it on behalf of the various organisations that you represent and also you can individually send it. For those who send it- please let us know that you have done the needful. I would recommend that you send it to the Chairman, the state ministers and the former Minister of Railways. Here are some of the details:
Mr. Vivek Sahai Chairmen, Railway Board Ministry of Railways, Railway board, 234, Rail Bhavan, New Delhi-110001 Tel : 011-23384010 Fax: 011-23381453 Ref: AICB/G-1/2011 Dated: 04.06.2011 To The Chairman, Railway Board, Ministry of Railways, Government of India, Rail Bhawan, New Delhi--110001 Subject: Extension of Rail Concession For The Physically Handicapped Including The Blind In Shatabdi and Rajdhani Trains. Sir, We write to invite your kind attention to your Ministry's Circular No. 19 of 2011 No. TCII/2196/11/Policy Dated 3.5.2011, from Financial Commissioner, Railway Board. 2. The aforesaid Circular extends concession in Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains to orthopaedically handicapped and paraplegic persons on the basis of the announcement made by the then Minister of Railways in her Budget Speech on 25th February, 2011. However, we submit that extending these concessions to the above two categories of handicapped persons only, is contrary to the spirit of the Hon’ble Minister's announcement, the widely accepted principle of equality and justice for all as also the time-tested Railway policy of allowing concessions to the handicapped including the blind. We make this submission for the following reasons: 2.1. The relevant announcement made by the Hon'ble Minister in the said Budget Speech, (Paragraph 86) reads as follows: “Concessions 86. At present physically handicapped persons are not entitled for concessions on Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains. It is proposed to extend the concession facility to them in these trains also.” 2.2. Handicapped persons, as you would be aware, are broadly placed into 2 categories: the physically handicapped and the mentally retarded. 2.3. The physically handicapped cover a wide spectrum including the blind, the deaf etc. and not just the orthopaedically handicapped. 2.4. It is in line with this well-accepted policy that Indian Railways have been granting, beginning from the 50's, various rail concessions to the blind. 2.5. There is, therefore, no reason why the blind are now sought to be denied the facility of grant of concession in Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains, while allowing the same to just two types of handicapped persons. 2.5. Surely, it cannot be the intention of the Ministry of Railways to favour one type of the handicapped over the other, especially, since all earlier rail concessions have been made applicable to the blind. 2.6. To us, it seems that the above Circular is just the result of some oversight on the part of some processing official and not the outcome of any careful or objective deliberation, since the blind too need as much help as the two types under reference. 2.7. Moreover, the above Circular allows this concession up to the extent of 25% only in just AC Three-Tier and Chair Car. That, too, is against the present practice, wherein 75% concession is allowed in lower classes and 50% in upper classes. In view of the foregoing, we write to request you to kindly review the contents of the aforesaid Circular and extend concessions to the blind also in Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains, keeping the quantum of concessions as 75% and 50% in lower and upper classes respectively. May we mention here, for your ready reference, that our Confederation is a premier national organization of blind persons with extensive nationwide and international recognition with 22 branches across the country. We have the good fortune of having being adjudged the best NGO in the country in the disability sector in 2006 by the Government of India. We represent the blind on different important Government Committees and Working Groups. Soliciting an early and favourable intervention in the matter and thanking you in anticipation, Yours Truly, (J.L. Kaul) Secretary General Kanchan Pamnani Advocate & Solicitor 9, Suleman Chambers, Battery Street, Colaba, Mumbai - 400 039. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ 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
