Make coach for disabled safer: State to Railways

The Department for Empowerment of Differently-abled and Senior Citizens has decided to write to the Railway Board objecting to the disabled coach being placed at the end of the trains. This comes clos
Representational image.
Representational image.

BENGALURU:The Department for Empowerment of Differently-abled and Senior Citizens has decided to write to the Railway Board objecting to the disabled coach being placed at the end of the trains. This comes close on the heels of two knife-yielding men robbing a differently-abled woman passenger in the differently-abled coach on Bengaluru-Mangaluru-Kannur train on June 28.

“We decided to write a letter to the Railway Board before the start of the legislative sessions because Bengaluru Divisional Railway Manager, South Western Railway (SWR), ignored our summons which were issued based on the complaints filed by NGOs,’’ Department Director Siddaraju told Express.

Karnataka State Disabled and Caregivers Federation (KSDCF) vice-president Rangappa Das, who travels regularly in the disabled coach, recollected that protests had been organised in 13 districts, including Bengaluru, against SWR in February. The protesters wanted the coach for the differently-abled to be placed in the centre of the trains. Placing the coach at the end of a train is inconvenient for the differently-abled.

The June 28 incident has exposed the vulnerability of passengers to robbery and armed attacks. Siddaraju admitted to witnessing it firsthand. He recollected how a stranger, on the pretext of helping a wheelchair-bound girl student, had robbed her of her cellphone.

Siddaraju said there was zero-tolerance to such violations of rights of differently-abled in Tamil Nadu. If relatives of Railway Protection Force or railway employees board the disabled coach, such offenders were not only disembarked at the next station but also slapped with a hefty fine.

In his letter to the Railway Board, the director will also emphasise on special toilets in disabled coach and appointing attendants to help the differently-abled people board the coach.

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