Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 10:03:41 +0530
Subject: Suggestions to Rail Minister -- Budget
From: nprd...@gmail.com
To:
June 27, 2014
Press Release
Given
below are the suggestions submitted by the National Platform for the Rights of
the Disabled (NPRD) to the Railway Minister. The ministry has invited
suggestions from the public for the rail budget 2014-15.
*********
June 26, 2014
Shri Sadananda Gowda
Minister for Railways
Government of India
Dear
Sir,
We,
representatives of various organisations working among the disabled in the
country, affiliated to the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled
(NPRD) wish to draw your attention to the problems faced by persons with
disabilities, while travelling with the Indian Railways. Most of these issues
had been raised with your ministry earlier, with no avail.
We
wish to draw your attention to some urgent issues with a request for redressal.
1.
Concessions
(i)
Extend Concession to all Trains: The Railways have been providing concessions to
certain categories of disabled persons in mail & express trains, which now
has been extended to Rajdhani & 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 blind and the hearing deaf & 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
traveling 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 though
categorized as
disabled as per the Persons with Disabilities Act 1995, are not provided
concessions in the railways. Concession should be extended to all
those classified as disabled in the Persons with Disabilities (Equal
Opportunities, Protection of Right and Full Participation) Act, 1995, the
National Trust Act and those disabilities included in the Disability Rights Bill
pending with the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
(v)
Concession on Tatkal Tickets: The concession given on other tickets should also
be extended for
bookings made under Tatkal by the disabled.
2.
E Booking Facility: The repeated promises of extending e-booking
facility to the disabled should be honoured. The Railway Board had promised in
the Delhi High Court to start a pilot project in this regard. This is yet to be
implemented. E Booking facility should be extended to persons with
disabilities. As
in the case of senior citizens, the TTE can ask for proof (disability
certificate) during the course of the journey.
3. Coach for Disabled: Many a time the coach meant for the disabled is
occupied by other travellers, railway employees and even RPF personnel.
Placement
of this coach has also not been consistent – sometimes it is placed at the end
of the train and sometimes it is placed next to the engine. It should be
ensured that the coach be placed
next to the guard’s coach and a disabled sensitive attendant be provided in
these coaches to ensure that none other than disabled persons and their escorts
are allowed.
4.
Accessibility: You will appreciate that the Persons with Disabilities (Equal
Opportunities, Protection of Right and Full Participation) Act, 1995, mandates
railway stations and coaches to be made barrier free. Its implementation,
however, has been disappointing. The United Nations Convention on Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) which India has ratified also mandates that
persons
with disabilities have “access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical
environment, to transportation……..”
Railway stations are not accessible. Ramps are rare
and wherever available are limited for entry into the foot over-bridges.
Platforms are inaccessible. The gap (height) between
the platform and the coach varies from station to station. There is not enough
space for mobility inside the coaches. Toilets cannot be used by persons with
certain disabilities. Inter-platform transfers pose a big challenge.
·
The Railways
should go in for universal design.
·
Ramps/Lifts
should be provided wherever necessary. As against escalators which are not
disabled friendly, elevators can be used by persons with disabilities.
·
Floor
tiles everywhere should be non slippery
·
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
overbridge.
·
To guide persons with low visibility
stations should also have coloured markings and contrasts to guide low vision
persons to ticket counters, platforms over bridges etc. Coloured markings should
be made on the edge of platforms including tactile markings to warn passengers
with low vision of the edge of the platform.
·
All Coaches should have Braille embossed signage.
·
Battery operated cars now provided at some stations should
be made available at all major stations and platforms.
·
Provision
of sign language interpreters at stations.
·
5. Sensitising
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
travelers, on issues connected with disability.
6. Disabled
Hawkers: The vast majority of the
disabled people in the country are poor. Denied employment, many of them do odd
jobs, one of them being hawking petty items on board trains to sustain
themselves and their families. Disabled persons should be given licence to
sell such items on trains.
7. PCO
Booths: The railways had earlier allotted
PCO booths to persons with disabilities. However, now these PCOs have become
redundant with the largescale use of mobile phones. Many of these PCO booths
have been disbanded by the railways. These PCO booths may be converted into
convenience
stores for which licences can be given to disabled persons to vend essential
goods required by passengers. The railways are selling unreserved tickets
through private agents. Licences may be given to those operating
such booths within railway premises to sell such tickets and the licence fee
may be waived.
8. Last but not least, usage of terms like “Orthopaedically
Handicapped/ Paraplegic persons”, “mentally retarded”, “deaf and dumb (both
afflictions together)”, to denote certain disabilities, should be discontinued.
Instead,
the more correct terms like “persons with locomotor disability”, “intellectual
disabilities”,
“hearing and speech impairment” (both conditions together)” should be used.
We
hope you will consider these issues favourably.
Yours truly
(Muralidharan)
Secretary
National
Platform for the Rights of the Disabled
Contact
No. 09868768543
Email: nprd...@gmail.com
Vikalangula Hakkula
Jatiya Vedika, Andhra Pradesh
Viklang
Adhikar Manch, Gujarat,
Haryana Viklang
Adhikar Manch, Haryana
Jharkhand Viklang Morcha, Jharkhand
Karnataka Rajya Angavikalara Mattu Palakara
Okkota, Karnataka
Differently-Abled Welfare Federation,
Kerala
Platform for Rights
of Disabled, Orissa
Tamilnadu Assn for the Rights of
Differently-Abled & Caregivers
Vikalangula Hakkula
Jatiya Vedika, Telengana
Vikalangula
Nirudyogula Vedika, Telengana
Development Soicity
for Deaf, Telengana
Andula Hakkula
Vedika, Telangana
Vikalangula Vidhyarti
Vibhagam, Telangana
Paschim Banga Rajya Pratibandhi
Sammelini, West Bengal
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