Title - Railway officials, cops refuse to help differently-abled man

In yet another incident of apathy towards the physically challenged, a visually-impaired passenger was on Saturday denied assistance to enter a coach reserved for the differently-abled attached to the Vaigai Express. As a result, the 21-year old victim Manikandan, was forced to travel in a crowded unreserved compartment from Chennai to Madurai.A hassled Manikandan lamented, “Even undertaking a train journey is a humiliating experience for people like us.”Manikandan, a B.Ed student in Chennai, had reached the Egmore railway station along with his escort around noon on Saturday to board the the train, which departs at 2.20 pm. However, despite repeated pleas with the staff and railway police, he was not provided any assistance to board the coach for differently-abled persons attached at the end of the train. Even the station master refused to help.“We ran from pillar to post to find the location of the coach which was attached towards the end of the train. We had to find our way even as hundreds of passengers were rushing in and out of the station due to the pooja holidays,” recalled Manikandan.The train driver told them to check with the station master. “He told us that we can board a coach allotted to the police with their permission in case we were unable to board the special coach on time,” Manikandan added.

By 1.30 pm, Manikandan managed to reach the tail end of the train and explained the situation to the police personnel and requested to be allowed to travel in their coach.

“The police personnel denied permission. They did not even bother to help us sort out the issue. They simply asked us to leave immediately,” he said.

Manikandan approached the station master, but in vain. “We waited till 2.15 pm for help but no one came to our aid. Then we rushed to the unreserved compartment. We learnt that other differently-abled passengers had faced similar issues,” said Manikandan. Even in unreserved compartment, nobody  offered a seat,  forcing him and his escort to stand and travel.

This is not an isolated case. H Hema (29), a differently-abled international fencing sportsperson from Coimbatore said,“Most of the time, the railway authorities do not attach the differently-abled coach.” Recalling an incident she said,“We were forced to wait till midnight to board a differently-abled coach in the Chennai Special Express,” Hema added.

M Kamaraj, co-ordinator of Thiramai, a movement working for differently-abled, said Sections 44, 45 and 46 of Persons with Disability Act 1955 mentions that transportation system should be differently-abled person friendly but this is often violated.