BHUBANESWAR: Wheelchair-bound differently-abled persons have yet again raised the issue of allowing them access up to the Ratnasimhasana of Shri Jagannath temple at Puri. In a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, secretary of Sahaya - the Red Cross Centre for Special Children Mrinalini Padhi urged him to allow wheelchair-bound devotees to witness the Trinity on Ratnasimhasana and offer prayers from January next year.
Referring to November, 2015 when 140 wheelchair-bound persons from Gujarat were allowed to enter the Srimandir, she requested that similar arrangements be made for divyangs. She also suggested that children of sevayats may be engaged as 'sahayaks' to assist people on wheelchairs inside the temple.
Currently, differently-abled devotees are allowed to go on wheelchairs upto the Lion's Gate and wheelchairs are not allowed beyond that. From there, either volunteers or relatives can carry their divyang relatives into the temple on their shoulders or arms. Although a demand in this regard has been made many times in the past, it has remained unanswered so far.