Title - Railway station remains an unfriendly place for elderly and disabled

Every day, elderly and physically challenged passengers at the Pune rainway station can be seen struggling to climb the steep ramp of the foot overbridge to reach the platforms. Meanwhile, the battery-operated vehicle, which is supposed to ferry them to the platform for free, lies unused.

The vehicle remains parked near the accounts department office where passengers who need it cannot see it. The driver is never around. Calls on the helpline number (8600974444), printed on the vehicle, are either never picked up, or the person at the other end informs the caller that the services are unavailable at that hour.

The vehicle had come into service after the Ministry of Railways in 2009 received proposals to run free round-the-clock services to carry disabled and elderly persons on railway platforms and it decided to allow private parties to run these battery-operated vehicles. The idea was initially tried out on a pilot basis at a couple of railway stations in south India.

In accordance with the policy formulated by the ministry, the service is free of cost and the private player is not supposed to charge any money either from the passengers or the Railways. Also, the vehicles are only supposed to carry the physically challenged and the elderly. To help private players earn some revenue, the Railways allowed the operators to advertise on the vehicles. The Railways provides electricity free of cost to charge the vehicle.

However, on multiple visits to the station, Newsline found that the vehicle remains parked in front of the accounts department throughout the day. It also found that several senior citizens and their families were struggling to reach the platforms 3 and 5 on the foot overbridge. When asked, Sudhindra Saraf, who was accompanying his grandfather, said, "We are not even aware of any such service. If there is such a facility available they should publicise it through ads and announcements over the public address system."Harsha Shah of Railway Pravasi Group said that the vehicle is proving to be of no use for the elderly and the physically challenged."Apparently, the drivers employed are relatives of the railway officials who are engaged in some other private job and don't bother to carry out the duty of facilitating the transport of the intended beneficiaries in the project. Even if, by sheer luck, you find the vehicle, the driver will refuse to help you, saying that the vehicle can't be operated in the heavy passenger traffic on the overbridge," said Shah.

Shah said battery-operated vehicles at other stations in the country were fully functional and were available for the needy 24 hours a day.

"However, at Pune station the service is only available on the days when higher authorities like the general manager are visiting the station," he said.