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Special Aadhaar Camps for Persons with Disabilities launched in Delhi

Press Release

Svayam,  Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI )  & Delhi Government facilitate Special Aadhaar Enrolment Camps for Residents with Disabilities

New Delhi, November 15th, 2011:- Svayam, UIDAI and Delhi Government have joined hands to facilitate enrollment of people with disabilities for the Unique Identification (UID) number- Aadhaar. This is in line with broader national vision of including all marginalized groups such as people with disabilities. A formal launch of this special enrolment drive was held today at Auditorium, Jindal Centre. The event witnessed participation by various government officials, Camp Coordinators, residents with disabilities and other eminent personalities.

Svayam, UIDAI & Delhi Government will organize Special Enrollment Camps across Delhi State.  Through this initiative, Svayam will to reach out to the disabled residents, NGOs, DPOs, CSOs across the city and UIDAI and Govt. of Delhi will be responsible for organizing and conducting the camps.

In the initial phase, the camps will be conducted at 15 locations within the city including places like Vasant Kunj, Rohini, Vikas Puri, Narela, Hauz Khas, Bhajanpura etc.

Speaking at the occasion, Ms. Sminu Jindal,  Founder of Svayam said “It’s a great honour to be associated with UIDAI. It’s a wonderful initiative and we hope this association along with the support of Delhi Government would help disabled people to get enrolled in a friendly and accessible centre being organized in their areas.”

UIDAI RO Delhi while speaking of Aadhaar’s special drives said, “The UIDAI started enrolling residents in Delhi on 2nd October 2010 and to date has enrolled almost 80 lakh residents for Aadhaar. For the UIDAI the priority has always been enroling those residents for Aadhaar who are vulnerable or do not have any form of identification.”

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List of Dates and  Venue for the Special Camps

for Persons with Disabilities in Delhi

organized by Svayam in joint collaboration with UIDIA & Delhi Govt & NGO Partners

Proposed Dates Event Name Location/ Venue Coordinator  & their Aadhar Number with Contacts details
15 Nov 201111 AM- 12.30 Formal Launch of special enrolment camps for Persons with Disabilities for Delhi  followed by an inaugural camp for 20 Persons with Disabilities Launch FunctionAuditorium, Svayam, 12 Jindal Centre Bhikaiji Cama Place New Delhi-66 Mr. Subhash Chandra VashishthProgram Coordinator-Svayam, 9811125521, Subhash.vashishth@svayam.com  & gmail.com

16 Nov 2011 (Wednesday)

10AM-5 PM

 Special enrolment camp for Persons with Disabilities South Muskaan , B-2 Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070. Mrs. Neera Chawla, 9911591810, neechawla@hotmail.com
17 Nov 2011(Thursday)10-5 PM Special enrolment camp for Persons with Disabilities South WestARSD College, Dhaula Kuan,Delhi University South Campus  Dr. Topan Dass, ARSD College, Dhaulakuan, New Delhi

Phone: 09891874513 Email:  Arsd_library21@yahoo.com
18 A/N  & 19 Nov 2011 (Friday /Saturday) Special enrolment camp for Persons with Disabilities North Equal Opportunity Cell, Delhi University Dr. (Ms.) Chandra Nisha Singh  cnishasingh@gmail.com  09810630544 (mob) 27662602 (office)
20 Nov 2011 (Sunday)10-5 PM Special enrolment camp for Persons with Disabilities North East DelhiF-29, Near Chand Bagh Pulia (Bhajan Pura Chowk) Khajoori Khas, Delhi-110094 Mr. Pradeep Raj

Gen. Secy. – Association for Disabled People

Mob: +91 9350164514, Ph: +91 11 46532258  pradeeprajsuperidol@gmail.com disabledpower@yahoo.in,
21 Nov  2011(Monday) Special enrolment camp for Persons with Disabilities South C-21, Qutub Institutional Area, New Delhi  Dr.  (Ms.) S Muthulakshmi

Principal, Sahan Special School for the Mentally Retarded (India) 09811209495

madamlakshmi@yahoo.co.in

sahan06@rediffmail.com
22 -23 Nov 2011 (Tuesday & Wednesday)10-5 PM Special enrolment camp for Persons with Disabilities North West: Raja Harish Chander Hospital Narela, New Delhi Mr.  Rukshar Ahmad Khan

Mob: 9013760786, societydev@gmail.com
24 Nov 2011 (Thursday)10-5 PM Special enrolment camp for Persons with Disabilities South National Association For the Blind, Centre for Blind Women, L 25, Hauz Khas Enclave, New Delhi 110016Contact No: (011) 41656266, 26852589 Ms. Karuna

Assistant Director,NAB Centre

Mob No: 9582772052, email nabindiacbw@hotmail.com

karunapunjabi@hotmail.com
25 Nov  2011(Friday)10-5 PM Special enrolment camp for Persons with Disabilities South EastMPCC, Dera village, Delhi (near Bhati mines) Mrs. Seema Chadha

Project Manager- Dera Residential Project

Mob: 9868034448, Sm_chadha@yahoo.co.in
10 Dec 2011(Saturday) Special enrolment camp for Persons with Disabilities South DelhiSabalD-66, Chattarpur Extn., Near Baba Balak nath Mandir ,New Delhi -110074 Mrs. Deepa Pandey  Principal-  SABAL

Mobile: 9716481381
11 Dec 2011(Sunday)10-5 PM Special enrolment camp for Persons with Disabilities East  Bhola Sadan, A-89, Street-7, Jagat Puri, Delhi-110051 Mr. Surender Bhola 

(Gen. Secy. of Panjabi Yuva Sangathan), addbhola@gmail.com, Mob: 09213953775
12 -13 Dec 2011(Monday and Tuesday) Special enrolment camp for Persons with Disabilities EastLeprosy Mission Hospital, NandnagriNew Delhi-93  Mr. Manoj Varghese

Aadhaar No: 901264921371

Technical Media Expert

The Leprosy Mission Media Centre
M-9899683808, manojmediacenter@yahoo.co.uk


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Svayam joined hands with UIDIA to launch Special Enrollment Camps for Residents with Disabilities

Dear Colleagues,

Greetings from Svayam!

You must be aware that currently the Aadhaar enrollment is being done for the residents across the nation by the UIDAI. I am sure you are also aware of its importance for persons with disabilities.

Keeping in mind the barriers that persons with disabilities may have to face in accessing the Enrollment Centers, Svayam, UIDAI & Delhi Government have joined hands to proactively reach out to them through Special Enrollment Camps for Residents with Disabilities across Delhi State. While Svayam will be coordinating this effort to reach out to pockets of disabled residents/ NGOs/DPOs/CSOs, UIDAI and Govt. of Delhi will organize the smooth conduct of these camps and extend their support.

A formal launch of this event is being organized on 15th November 2011 from 11 AM to 12.30 PM at Auditorium, Jindal Centre, 12 Bhikaiji Cama Place, New Delhi- 110066, India. This launch will be attended by the senior officials of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, UIDIA, Delhi Govt., Svayam, Coordinators/NGOs where Enrolment Centers are proposed, 20 residents with disabilities and the media personnel.

A list of proposed camps for your information and wider circulation so that the residents from all parts of Delhi can benefit from these special camps. There may be several additions to this list in the days to come depending on the new proposals from the NGOs/areas which still remain unserved. The guidelines to the Coordinators/partner NGOs regarding the requirements for smooth conduct of the camps are attached herewith.

I am also requesting more NGOs/partners who wish to propose a camp at their location (provided the location is not covered/served in the below list) to reach out to residents with disabilities, and can extend the support as per the instructions attached, may contact the undersigned immediately with a proposed date in December 2011.

All coordinators are requested to attend the Launch function on 15th November 2011 from 11 AM – 12.30 PM as per para 3 above. Detailed agenda of the launch programme will be circulated to you shortly.

Looking forward to your cooperation and support in making this effort a success!

regards

Subhash Chandra Vashishth
Program Coordinator
Svayam- An initiative of SJ Charitable Trust
Jindal Centre, 12, Bhikaji Cama Place,
New Delhi – 110066, India
Phone: +91 (11) 41462323 (Direct), Fax: +91 (11) 26105671,
Mobile: +91-9811125521
email :subhash.vashishth@svayam.com; subhash.vashishth@jindalsaw.com
Web: www.svayam.com

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Fortune India covered Ms. Sminu Jindal: 2011

PEOPLE

Triumph of the mind

Sminu Jindal has been in a wheelchair since she was 11. But that’s not kept her from the factory floor or, for that matter, turning around Jindal SAW. Her story.

By PAVAN LALL, Nov 5, 2011

Triumph of the mind
Ms. Sminu Jindal, MD, Jindal SAW Ltd.   Photo Credit- Bandeep Singh, Fortune India

“IT WOULD, PERHAPS, NEVER have happened without the accident,” says Sminu Jindal, managing director of the pipe-maker Jindal SAW. Sitting in her South Delhi office, she talks of her 17-year journey at the helm of Jindal SAW, and what it means to be a woman born into a patriarchal business family. She lost the use of her legs in a car accident when she was just 11, and has been confined to a wheelchair ever since. “I come from a family where women never worked. Yet I have worked all my life. Would this have happened without the accident? Maybe not,” she says.
Born into the Om Prakash Jindal family (her father, Prithviraj Jindal, is one of the four sons of the patriarch), Jindal says she “always wanted to be a part of the business”. Her father is vice chairman of Jindal SAW, and “when my father or grandfather used to playfully tell me that once you grow up, we will get you married quickly, I remember starting to weep,” she says. “When other girls were playing with dolls and creating doll houses, all I wanted to do was sit in my father’s office.”

And sit in the office she did, taking the company from a turnover of Rs 300 crore when she took over to Rs 7,500 crore today. She didn’t start at the top; she joined Jindal SAW as a management trainee in one of its loss-making factories in 1992, when she was 19, and earned Rs 2,700 a month. Two years later, she was made director. By 1998, when she became the managing director, she had managed to turn the factory around.

It was difficult to convince the rest of her family that she was serious about work. “When I first joined, my grandfather would ask me every day, ‘did you earn or lose money today?’” she says, laughing. “It took some time to convince him that I was earning and not losing!”

Convincing family was one thing; factory workers did not welcome the idea of working for a woman far younger than many of them. One of her father’s lieutenants was among those most averse to working under her. “He had tremendous talent and constantly screamed at me,” she recalls. But she was convinced that she could turn the factory around, and refused to give way even when he got aggressive. The man was finally moved to a different factory.

Stories like these make some write her off as the privileged child of the owners. Would the troublemaker have been shifted if Jindal was not family, they ask. She’s unfazed by such accusations: “I knew what to do to turn the factory around.”

Jindal went on to make more waves in the family. “I broke all the rules. I guess the final one was marrying for love, outside the world of business families.” She married Indradesh Batra, a management graduate, and, soon after the wedding, went to Houston to turn around another Jindal plant. That was in 2001. The factory was being run by “tough guys who were in a country facing a hard time”, she says (it was soon after 9/11). “Here was a young Indian woman in a wheelchair who was going to tell them what to do. The overall attitude was: What does she know?”

She recalls that a man called Bill ran the factory, who thought little of Jindal’s abilities. “Then one day, I pointed out to Bill that a welding process was wrong because the strength of the flame was wrong. I could see in his eyes that he was dismissing me but he went to check. I was right. I may not be an engineer but I have seen these things from almost the time I was born. It’s in my blood.” Bill came back with a sheepish grin and admitted she was right, Jindal says, and from then things got better.

“Sminu is indefatigable and in a business full of men and grime, she towers as a complete picture of how anything can be achieved as long as one is really determined,” says Pooja Jain, executive director of Luxor Writing Instruments, and a friend of Jindal.
It’s not just passion for the industry (she sees poetry in welding flames and water sizzling on a furnace, she says) that keeps her going. She also runs a nonprofit organisation, Svayam, which works to make public places accessible to the disabled. She’s known to be vocal about rights for the disabled and the aged. In 2008, Jindal spoke out against one of India’s biggest airlines, Jet Airways, which had forced her to sign an indemnity bond before flying. The airline later apologised. Jindal points out that apart from low-cost carrier IndiGo, no other airline has a ramp instead of a staircase to board flights.

“Everyone wants to be macho, even the airlines. But macho cannot be discriminatory,” she says.

Source: Fortune India dot com

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The pedestrian pathways continue to remain inaccessible in Mumbai

Dear Friends,

The article below from Hindustan Times is a reflection of how much we care about our social infrastructure to be inclusive. There is similar situation across nation including its capital- the New Delhi.

Click below to read from source- Hindustan Times

Meant to Help, they are now impediments

Pravin Shingwan, a construction worker who lives in Breach Candy, says he cannot let his nine-year-old daughter Rakhi walk alone to the store down the road because the pavement has been completely encroached upon by hawkers, forcing pedestrians onto the busy street.

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The Shigwans are not a wealthy family, so Rakhi walks to school every day, with the children of domestic help from the plush buildings nearby.

“There are fruit and vegetable shops on the footpath, and the little space left is taken by people buying things from them,“ says Rakhi. “Even when we walk to school, the older students have to hold our hands so that nobody gets hit by the traffic.“

For Pravin and his wife, the state of the pavements is an endless source of stress.

“It would really help to have a wide footpath that was safe for children to walk or run on, without the stress of what might happen to them every day,“ says Pravin. Regional programme development advisor at SightSavers, Ketan Kothari which promotes inclusion for the blind, lives in Mahim and finds it very difficult to navigate footpaths with his cane.

“Firstly, they are often too high, and if your cane misses the change in depth, you can fall and injure yourself quite terribly,“ he says. “It would help to have a slope at either end instead.
More importantly, though, there are all sorts of obstacles in your line of walking -protruding objects such as trees planted right in the middle, or ditches from missing paver blocks. The cane cannot always detect these, leaving blind people to risk bumps and injuries as they walk.“ The cane also cannot always tell Kothari when tiles have come loose, so he and other visually impaired people are prone to trip. “Dumpsters and hawkers are also a threat.“

While Kothari hasn’t been seriously injured by footpaths, he is always afraid that he will be. “The chances are high,“ he says. Even with a fairly advanced motorised wheelchair, computer hardware professional Mayank Rokadia, 48, cannot get around by himself in Mumbai.

“It’s frustrating, because a simple change in the design of the footpaths would enable people like me to be self-reliant, for the most part,“ he says.

“Wheelchairs and prams, are not built to climb up steps. I need someone to lift the wheelchair onto the pavement every time, which defeats the purpose of having a machine that can help me achieve mobility outdoors.“

Rokadia wishes the pavements had slight inclines. “At least the newer ones should have that feature,“ he says.

He also complains that manoeuvring himself on uneven ground, with ditches and missing paver blocks, is very difficult.

“The wheels get stuck in uneven areas where the paver tiles have come loose. There are also several roads with pavement on only one side of the road, so if I cross, I’m left maneouvering down the street and that is quite scary.“ HK Rao, a 76-year-old Borivli resident and consultant at the Indian Merchant’s Chamber, often needs to walk the 100 metres from his building to the bus stop to commute, but the short walk always leaves him with aching knees.

“The steps here are unnecessarily high,“ he says. “And since it’s not one continuous footpath, you have to keep climbing up and down, which not only slows down and tires someone of my age, but is very difficult on the knees.“

The footpath is uneven too, which is worrying because you have to watch every step so that you don’t trip and fall, says Rao.

In just 100 metres, the senior citizen also has to wend his way past garbage bins, hawkers and parked cars strewn across the middle of the pavement. “It takes a lot of effort to navigate these obstacles and sometimes it is just easier to walk on the main road,“ he says.
“Of course, I can’t move fast and I sometimes can’t hear properly, so it is very frightening being at the mercy of the traffic.“

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Museum to improve accessibility for visitors with disabilities

CHENNAI, INDIA: The Government Museum is gearing up to receive more visitors with disabilities with a host of amenities for them set to come up in the next few months on its sprawling campus in Egmore.

From more ramps with hand railings near the galleries to elevators to tactile flooring to modified toilets, work on a few of the proposed facilities to make the museum more disabled-friendly has already begun. A public address system is also to be installed. Around 3.5 lakh people visit the Museum’s various galleries annually, entry to which is by way of tickets. At least 50 per cent of them are children. The Museum is also a sought-after destination for school excursions.

“We want to make this an inclusive museum and one for all,” said S.S. Jawahar, Commissioner of Museums. A sculptor garden designed is the new addition at the museum, where visitors get to touch and feel each of the artefacts. A pillar excavated from Anantapur district, sculpture of Vishnu, Nandi, Durga and Lion, all sourced from across the country are some of the exhibits in the garden. A few exhibits at the Geology sections are also the touch and feel type.

The touch and feel garden is expected to attract blind visitors. It would be of great interest to the school students and the museum should have more of such facilities, think school heads.

“We frequent the Touch and Smell Park at Taramani for our school picnics as this is the only place where children get a feel of things around as well as explore,” said Deepika Srinivasan, teacher for deafblind children at Clarke School for the Deaf. She says that it is always a challenge to find places for blind people.

“Not all blind children have access to Braille, so having audio systems will be helpful. We will also like to have interpreters for the deaf to explain us about exhibits in the museum,” she adds.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com

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POD Taxis seems a reality in National Capital Region

POD taxis a step closer (Hindustan Times) 

Moving a step towards providing high-tech public transport to city residents, the authorities have completed the survey for introducing Pod Taxis in Gurgaon. The survey – conducted by a private sector Fairwood Green Transport Private Limited, was coordinated by 98the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) – appointed as the nodal agency for the survey.

According to the survey, there will be 3150 Pod Taxis for the entire city. The route will be 105-km long with 143 stations and eight multi-level parking lots. The route will pass through NH8 at six locations.

As part of the proposed Personal Rapid Transport system (PRTS) project, the entire route, however, does not cover IMT Manesar and new sectors proposed in the Gurgaon Master Plan 2025 (Gurgaon-Manesar Urban Complex 2025).

The route will also cover old Gurgaon localities in addition to the posh and privately developed townships such as DLF City, Sushant Lok, Palam Vihar, Southcity and HUDA sectors. The project will cost the state government around R5,000 crore and is likely to be executed under the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis.

Multi-level parking lots have been proposed at stations located in Udyog Vihar, Sahara Mall (MG Road), Sector 43, Ardee Mall, Leisure Valley Park, Mini Secretariat, Sector 37 park and Kadipur (Pataudi Road).

MCG commissioner Sudhir Rajpal said, “The study conducted for the PRTS project has been completed and sent to the higher authorities for approval.”

“A detailed ground hindrance report on the PRTS has been forwarded to the Haryana government. The remaining decision on this project will be taken by the higher authorities,” he added.

The revolutionary Pod taxi service is already functional at Heathrow Airport in the UK, where it has been running successfully. Pod taxi is a battery-operated, driverless and laser guided small vehicle with rubber wheels running on an elevated tracks.

With a passenger carrying capacity of 4-6 persons, the Pod car can speed up to 40kmph. Weighing about 850 kg, the car is best suited for a burgeoning city like Gurgaon.

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DTC to allow free travel for visually challenged passengers

NEW DELHI, October 1, 2011

Source: The Hindu 

The Delhi Government has decided to provide free travel in air-conditioned Delhi Transport Corporation buses plying in Delhi and the National Capital Region to all visually-impaired people. It has also decided to remove the income limit on senior citizens for availing of concessional travel on DTC buses.

Announcing these decisions, Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said on Friday that while free passes being issued to blind persons were earlier valid in only non-AC buses plying in Delhi, from October 1 they would be valid in all AC and non-AC buses plying in Delhi and the NCR. At present about 12,900 such passes are issued annually by the DTC.

The Transport Minister said the Delhi Government has also decided to remove the income ceiling for allowing senior citizen passes         for travelling in DTC buses. He said all residents of Delhi would be entitled to these passes on reaching the age of 60. While the non-AC pass costs Rs.50 per month, the AC pass costs Rs.150 per month. About 4.5 lakh passes are issued in this category annually.

On the operation of DTC buses, Mr. Lovely said its fleet of 6,500 buses includes 1,270 low-floor AC buses and 2,505 low-floor non-AC buses.

DTC ridership up
Last year the average daily ridership was about 30 lakh, the Minister said adding that about 45 lakh passengers use DTC services on average each day now. To cater to their needs, the Corporation makes 40,000 trips per day covering a combined distance of about 10 lakh km.

The higher ridership has also led to increase in DTC revenue. It is now earning about Rs.3.5 crore per day, which is significantly higher than last year’s average of about Rs.75 lakh per day.

Mr. Lovely said the Corporation is also going for greater use of technology to improve its efficiency and profits. He said global-positioning system (GPS)-based automatic vehicle location system has already been installed in about 3,700 DTC buses and now covers almost all the low floor buses.

Through this system the speed of buses is being closely monitored and as such the cases of over speeding and fatal accidents have reduced drastically, the Minister pointed out. He said the Corporation is also taking punitive action against drivers for over speeding. Similarly, the system is being used to prevent idling or unauthorised rest by drivers and to ensure that no trip is missed, he added.

As for the Passenger Information System (PIS), Mr. Lovely said it would soon be launched by the Transport Department so that passengers waiting at a bus stop know exactly which bus plying on which route would be reaching them. “In the first phase, 100 bus shelters will be taken up involving about 2,500 DTC buses and this would include the cluster bus service,” he said.

The Minister said electronic ticketing machines would also be introduced in DTC buses soon to help in smoother operation of bus services.

Mr. Lovely said disciplinary action had also been taken against some DTC staff members for various violations. He said 947 drivers and 723 conductors reported not to be in uniform while on duty were challaned or were cautioned with strict warning. About 300 cases of improper parking were detected and 632 cases on non-display of LED/destination boards were detected.

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Railway Minister promises to address the problems faced by passengers with disabilities in Indian Railways

Dear Readers,

Representatives of 17 organisations working among the disabled in the India, met the Union Railway Minister Shri Dinesh Trivedi on September 28, 2011 to draw attention to the problems faced by passengers with reduced mobility, the elderly in general and those with disabilities in particular, while travelling with the Indian Railways.

 The delegation inter alia demanded extension of e-booking facility for the disabled, extension of concessions on tickets to all categories of disabilities enshrined in the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995. They also demanded that concessions be provided in local and passenger trains as well, as was being provided in long distance trains.

“I find no reason why it can not be extended to persons with disabilities if it can be conveniently extended to other passengers. In fact, it is the disabled who require it most!”, expressed the Hon’ble Minister.

The members of the delegation pointed out that railway stations continues to be inaccessible despite legal mandate resulting in multiple barriers for persons with reduced mobility in using them. Ramps  were rare and that too limited for entry to the first platform in big stations while there was no access to the other platforms if it were more than two. Ramps lead to the foot over-bridges which can not be climbed by persons with reduced mobility.

It was pointed out to the Minister that the Platforms do not provide accessible entry to the train. The gap (height) between the platform and the coach varies from station to station and there is no provision of ramps. There is not enough space for mobility inside the coaches. Toilets cannot be used by persons with certain disabilities. In this light, they demanded that the railways should set up a task force on access and go in for universal design. They also demanded that battery operated cars now provided at some stations should be made available at all major stations and platforms.

The Hon’ble Minister suggested that they would consider placing a mobile ramp in front of the coach designated for the disabled so that they could conveniently use the coach specially reserved for them in the long distance trains.

The delegation also pointed out that for the past many years the railways have not made recruitment to fill the 3 per cent quota for disabled persons mandated by the PWD Act. In the matter of promotions also, despite court orders, reservations in promotions are not being implemented.  It was also brought out that employees acquiring disability during  their service who are protected under Section 47 of the the Act were silently being accommodated against the minimum 3% reserved employment quota which was against the mandate of the Persons with disabilities Act 1995.  They urged upon the minister to fill the backlog both in employment and promotions without delay and implement the reservation policy as per the mandate of the law.

Mr. Dinesh Trivedi gave a patient hearing to the delegation. He assured the delegation to consider their demands sympathetically. He also stressed the need for the railways being more sensitive to the issues of the disabled.

The delegation was led by Ms.Brinda Karat, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and ex member of parliament and comprised of Mr. Muralidharan, Assistant Convener of the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled, Mr. Rajive Raturi of the Human Rights Law Network, Mr. Subhash Chandra Vashishth of Svayam, Mr. Abdool Mabood of Snehi amongst others. They submitted a memorandum to the minister, in which they welcomed the decision to extend concessions to the disabled in Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains. This was one of the demands that was raised with the ministry earlier. However, many other issues continue to remain unaddressed. Some urgent issues mentioned in the memorandum are as follows:

Concessions

 (i)   Extend concession to all trains: The railways have been providing concessions for disabled persons in mail and express trains, which now has been extended to Rajdhani and Shatabdi also. But the concession is not provided in local and passenger trains and the Garib Rath. We request that concessions be provided on these trains also.

(ii)  Validity of disability certificates:  Currently, a separate certificate has to be obtained for availing railway concession. The railways should accept disability certificates or cards as valid proof of the disability of the concerned person and do away with the requirement of a separate certificate.

(iii) Travelling without Escorts: Except for visually impaired persons and the hearing and speech impaired, currently all other disabled persons have to invariably travel with escorts if they have to avail concession. This restricts their right to travel.  All disabled persons who are capable of travelling independently like persons with locomotor disabilities should be allowed to travel with or without escort.

(iv) Concession to mentally disabled persons: People with mental illness are included in the PWD Act but they are not provided concessions in the railways. All those classified as disabled in the PWD Act should be provided concession in the railways.

(v) Concession on tatkal tickets: The usual concession given on other tickets should also be provided for bookings made under tatkal.

E-booking facility

E-booking facility should be extended to the disabled. In fact they require it more than non-disabled persons. As is done in the case of senior citizens, the TTE can verify the proof (disability certificate) during the course of the journey.

Coach for disabled

Most of the time the coach reserved for the disabled is occupied by other non-disabled travellers, railway employees and even RPF personnel in connivance with and often due to lack of proper enforcement. It should be ensured that the coach be placed next to the guard’s coach and a disability sensitive attendant be provided in these coaches to ensure that none other than disabled persons and their escorts are allowed in the reserved coach.

Accessibility

The Persons with Disability Act of 1995 mandates railway stations and coaches to be made barrier free. Its implementation, however, has been disappointing.Tactile marking should be made on the platform to guide blind persons to the exit, bridges, stairs, ticketing counters etc. Tactile markings should also be provided on the edges of the platforms. Platform numbers should be labelled in Braille both at the entry/exit points as well as on the railing of the foot over bridge. Train coaches need to be re-designed to cater to the needs of the disabled persons. 

Sensitizing railway staff

The disabled encounter a lot of problems at railway counters.  There is a need to sensitise all personnel working in the railways, especially those dealing directly with travellers, on issues connected with disability.