CHENNAI: Rajiv Rajan, executive director and co-founder of Ektha, a disabled persons organisation, and member of Disability Rights Alliance (DRA) has written to Director General of Police C Sylendra Babu to look into the insensitive treatment meted out to him at the police commissioner’s office on Saturday. He had gone to the commissionerate to get permission for holding a protest near Rajarathinam Stadium demanding accessible low-floor buses.
In his letter, Rajan had said an auto driver, who was his support person, was asked by the personnel at the reception desk to park the auto outside. “In the case of a non-disabled person, this sounds like a reasonable thing. But in my case and in case of persons with disabilities and elderly citizens, it is not reasonable.
There are also no parking spaces allocated for vehicles carrying persons with disabilities and elderly people as mandated under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016,” he said in the letter. When auto drivers also act as personal assistants, there is a chance that the vehicle might be damaged if parked outside, he said.
Rajan also demanded stern action against the personnel on gate duty at the reception for the rude behaviour and an apology from them. An officer from the Chennai city police commissionerate said that they will look into the issue. “We usually check people, take photographs and send them inside the building with a visitor’s ID card. We are not sure what happened. Since the person reached in an auto, there must have been a misunderstanding since parking is closed inside the premises due to construction work,” the officer said.