Dear Jignesh,I am not sure, if you spoke to me some months before and you have a legal background. If this is correct, Please get in touch with me.
regards
----- Original Message ----- From: "jignesh thakur" <jigneshthaku...@gmail.com>
To: <accessindia@accessindia.org.in> Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 10:29 AM Subject: Re: [AI] Kingfisher crew offloads blind woman with kids now i think we are strongly in need of anna hazare in our comunity. On 5/25/11, manoj cherian <manojcheria...@gmail.com> wrote:
On 5/25/11, Sathiyaprakash Ramdoss <sathiya.ramd...@gmail.com> wrote:Hmm!Discrimination instances against disabled by airlines keep accumulating in India? Few instances from the past- Example-1: Taken from- http://www.dnis.org/news.php?issue_id=13&volume_id=3&news_id=464&i=7 Ali, 26, with locomotor disability, booked a ticket on Indian Airlines and was placed on the waiting list. For nearly a month he was on the waitlist no. 1, without getting a confirmed seat. He has alleged that it was not a case of excess booking with Indian Airlines (as several persons who had booked tickets after him were given confirmed status), but because he booked his ticket under the category of disabled persons. Indian Airlines issues ‘M’ category tickets at concessional rates to visually impaired people and people with locomotor disability of 80 per cent and above. Ali claims that the practice of the company is to issue only waitlisted tickets to disabled persons, regardless of how well in advance they may have booked the tickets, and not confirm them until the time of departure so as to accommodate passengers paying the full fare. As per the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, as also directions of the Supreme Court of India, Indian Airlines, as a state-owned carrier, is under legal obligation to pursue disabled-friendly policies. Through his counsel S. S. Dey, Arman Ali filed a writ petition praying for non-discrimination by Indian Airlines in issuing ‘M’ class tickets, and further direction to the airline for giving confirmed ticket on booking by a person with disability on his availing a ticket at concession rate solely on the criteria of availability of seats on aircraft and not on any other commercial consideration. Justice A. Roy, in his order dated 24 June, has issued a show cause notice of motion to the Ministry of Civil Aviation as well as the Indian Airlines Ltd. asking as to why the prayers of the petitioner should not be granted and has fixed the matter for 18 July, for further consideration and necessary orders. Example-2: Taken from; http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-06-20/india/27990719_1_disabled-protest-human-chain-rajiv-rajan Disabled protest in Chennai airport against offloading NGO activist PTI, Jun 20, 2007, 02.06pm IST CHENNAI: About 100 physically challenged persons on Wednesday formed a human chain in front of the domestic airport here in protest of refusal by a private airline's to allow a cerebral palsy victim to board the aircraft without an escort. Holding placards, the disabled, most of them in wheelchairs, held a peaceful protest by forming the human chain for nearly 90 minutes. They demanded equal rights and urged the Government to put an end to discrimination against the disabled. "We've been facing discrimination from various airlines and Monday's incident was the height of it. It not only violated human rights, but also the International Civil Aviation rules," said Smitha, Assistant Coordinator - Vidyasagar, an NGO which organised the agitation. Example 3: Taken from; http://www.petertan.com/blog/2007/12/20/widespread-discrimination-of-disabled-passengers-by-low-cost-airlines/ The Hindustan Times news titled Airline Displays Callousness in December 19 reported that Sanjiv Sachdeva was asked to sign a bond to absolve Jetlite from all responsibilities should anything happen to him in a flight on December 16. Jetlite is an India-based low cost carrier. Sanjiv has filed a complaint with the Directorate General of Aviation and the Commissioner of Diabilities. In the same newspaper report, another wheelchair user Mahesh Chandrashekar was subjected to similar conditions by Deccan, India’s first low-fare airline. Mahesh was reported to have said that the language used in the indemnity form sounded prejudiced, embarrassing, derogatory and appeared as if a favour has been doled out to a passenger with disability who is travelling on a fully-paid ticket. Indemnity forms are worded in such a way that the person who signed it absolves the airline from all blame should anything happen. Too bad if that person dies or is injured as a result of flying with the airline. To add insult to injury, if the airline has to incur additional costs because of that person, the said person has to bear all that. Tell me, where is justice in that? Heads I lose. Tails also I lose. Mana boleh? Unbelievable? Go read the indemnity form that Airsia made me sign. Shame on you Civil Aviation ministry of India!. Thank You. Your's Sathiyaprakash On 5/24/11, Madhu Singhal <madhu.singha...@gmail.com> wrote:Dear Members, I want to share that last year king fisher refused to book my ticket to Bangalore to Delhi.I wrote a letter personally and also from comitioner disabilities office.One fine day they called me over phone and said that sorry for this incident and requesting me please do not force to give in writing. Accept our apology our staf was unaware that blind person can travel alone. I did not persue further.----- Original Message ----- From: "Pradeep banakar" <pradeepsocialw...@gmail.com> To: <accessindia@accessindia.org.in> Cc: <linkingle...@yahoogroups.com>; <friends...@googlegroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2011 4:17 PM Subject: [AI] Kingfisher crew offloads blind woman with kidsFriend of myne forwarded me this information http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/article/0gG70zO9fqb0C Kindly copy the message and send the email to chair kingfisher airlines, NHRC, DGCA. Subject: Act immediately Tuesday, May 24, 2011 To: The Chair Person, King Fisher Airlines Dear Chair Person, Sub-Registering protest for immediate and appropriate action against guilty crew This is to register our strong protest against the inhuman, cruel and indecent behaviour of your crew and other airline members shown towards a woman with visual impairment and her 2 children. We are shocked and humiliated by the act and express our serious concern over the matter. This is the clear case of violation of the provisions enshrined in The "UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities-2006" where India has signed and ratified the same; Guidelines issued by DGCA for all airlines with regard to persons with disabilities in May 2007; Persons with disabilities Act 1995 and other human rights treaties and conventions.Disabled community of this country strongly condemns this act with clear and loud words."Violation or Exclusion of persons with disabilities fromenjoying their human rights on an equal basis with others cannot be excused any more". We urge you to initiate immediate and appropriate action against the guilty crew and the parties concerned who are accountable for this inhuman act. We look forward to hear from you as early as possible about the actiontaken against the guilty and measures taken to prevent this kind of actsin future. For more details on the incident please read below. With warm regards, Victor Kingfisher crew offloads blind woman with kids Airline makes them disembark from flight, leaves them unattended for nearly an hour and a half as aircraft takes off without themA private airline made a blind woman and her two children disembark from her connecting flight to Goa and left them unattended for nearly an hourand a half while the plane took off without them. Adding insult to injury, the airline's staff allegedly told the woman that she could not travel with two kids because she was blind. Shabnam Mansuri had flown in to Mumbai from Ahmedabad with sons Lukman (7) and 18-month-old Luftaan, and was on her way to Goa when the incident happened Shabnam Mansuri (35) says the experience has made her realise the fallacy of thinking that she can be treated like everyone else despite her handicap. On May 10, Mansuri was travelling with her sons Lukman (7) and 18-month-old Luftaan from Ahmedabad to Goa via Mumbai to meet her husband. Her tickets had been booked with Kingfisher Airlines."I boarded the Kingfisher flight from Ahmedabad and reached Mumbai, fromwhere I was supposed to take a connecting flight to Goa. I had barely taken a seat in the connecting flight around 12.30 pm when acrew member came and asked me to follow him. He also asked me to take mycabin baggage and kids with me. Initially, I thought that he must be changing my seat, but realised something was amiss when he took me down some stairs," said Mansuri. "I asked him why he was making me get off the plane but he refused toanswer. When my kids and I got off, they closed the aircraft's doors andtook off, leaving us standing there. One attendant told me later that I cannot travel with two kids as I am blind. I was shocked," she added. She kept telling the attendant that she had two young kids and needed to meet her husband in Goa, but to no avail.Finally, close to 2 pm, a staff member came and told her that they would arrange for her to board a 4.40 pm flight to Goa."I did not want to bankon them anymore. I called my husband and he arranged for us to board another airline's 3.10 pm flight. My question is, how can they let me travel from Ahmedabad to Mumbai without any trouble and then say I cannot travel with two kids from Mumbai to Goa? I was travelling on the same airline in both cases," said Mansuri. She said the experience was one of the worst she's had in her life. "I am blind but that doesn't mean they have the right to discriminate against me.I had paid the full fare and if they had some problems, they should haveinformed me before I boarded. My elder son is so traumatised by the incident; he says he does not want to fly anymore." Husband reacts Mansuri's husband, Samir, who is the Chairman of Blinds Dream, an NGO, wrote a letter to the airline to complain about the treatment meted out to her. A portion of the letter states, "Kingfisher officials told my wife that if she thought they were cruel, she shouldn't travel with them anymore." "What the Kingfisher staff did to my wife is shameful. They had done something similar with me in 2005 (see box) and I will not let them get away this time. Flight tickets of Shabnam Mansuri and her two sons Lukman and Luftaan They have replied to my letter but that is not enough. I will take thisissue to the consumer court and will go to the Supreme Court if need be.This is an insult to me and my family and I will not tolerate it under any circumstances," said Samir. He alleged that he had come to know that his wife was made to disembark because of a VIP booking at the last moment, which led to the flight being overbooked. "If their company cannot handle blind people, they should declare thatvisually challenged people are not allowed to fly Kingfisher," he added.The Other SideWhen MiD DAY contacted Kingfisher Airlines, they said they regretted theincident. Prakash Mirpuri, vice-president, corporate communications, Kingfisher Airlines Limited, said, "We are investigating the matter. In the meantime, we would like to convey our deep regret for the inconvenience that may have been caused inadvertently to our valued guests." Earlier too Dr Samir Mansuri, Shabnam's husband and a celebrity doctor who is also blind, had allegedly been insulted by Kingfisher Airlines in 2005 as well. According to Samir, he was travelling from Mumbai to Ahmedabad that year. "I was first in the queue to board the flight, but I was made to wait till all the other passengers boarded. When I went inside, they forced me to visit a washroom outside the aircraft even when I did not want to go.They said they were doing that so I would't have to visit the airplane's loo when we were airborne. The crew told me that they could not allow meto use the aircraft's washroom as I am blind and there were female crew members on board," said Samir. "I felt insulted and raised the issue in the media. Vijay Mallya then issued an apology for the indecent behaviour on the airline's part," he added. --- IF we not part of the solution then we are part of the problem With Regards Pradeep T.S SyndicateBank Information Technology Cell Regional Office Bangalore Mobile: 9845925188 email: pradeep_bana...@rediffmail.com skype: pradeepsocialwork Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. 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