India’s Southern Railway has been refusing the right to mobility to persons with disabilities by not extending the concession in train fares, activists said on Wednesday.
Besides operating only a limited number of trains in the pretext of the coronavirus pandemic, the officials have removed the coaches designed for persons with disabilities. Some train coaches are kept locked, and persons with disabilities are put to a lot of hardship, said S. Namburajan, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled and Caregivers, Hindu reported.
Participating in a protest in front of Madurai Railway junction, as part of a State-wide programme, Mr. Namburajan, said that those trains that were being operated were named ‘special trains’ and their fares were increased exorbitantly. “In the name of special trains, people with disabilities are not given concessions,” he said.
Stating that such moves were against the mobility of persons with disabilities, he said that Southern Railway was acting in violation of the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and violated the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
Over and above this, the railway officials put persons with disabilities, aged, children and women to avoidable difficulties by not operating the lifts and elevators on the railway platforms. “People with heavy luggage have to lug them with great trouble,” he said.
“Our right to mobility is further restricted with the high fuel price. We demand that the Centre extend the 50% price concession for 25 liters of petrol a month that is being given by the governments of Puducherry and Chandigarh, across the country,” Mr. Namburajan said.
