Accessible Indian Railways … Never to be a Reality?

 Accessible Indian Railways … Never to be a Reality?

[Flashback - 2005]

D.N.I.S. News Network dated  15/12/2005 

- "Following an affidavit filed by the Indian Railways in the Madras High Court in a hearing on a Public Interest Litigation, an audit team from Disability Law Unit (D.L.U.), South, Vidya Sagar, has found false the claims made in the affidavit about disabled-friendly services at Chennai Central and Egmore stations.

A report prepared by the team, constituting Rajiv Rajan, Dhana Sekar and Manjunathan, says that most of the statements made in the affidavit are incorrect. They visited platforms 6 to 9 where five trains were stationed at the time of visit. These were Thiruvanthapuram-Chennai Mail, Thiruppathur-Chennai, Elagiri Express, Hyderabad-Chennai Chaminar Express, Mysore-Chennai-Thirupathi Express, and Coimbatore-Chennai Cheran Express.

"It was astonishing to note that none of these trains out of which three are connecting links between major cities of South India had no special compartment for disabled people as mentioned in the affidavit. It was also found that disability sign is being used in the normal compartment," the report says.

Another point mentioned in the affidavit is that the wheelchairs have been modified to allow easy entry into the coaches but what the access auditors saw at the Chennai Central was shocking. "Leave alone any new adaptation, the wheelchair had no front wheels," it adds.

"It will be difficult for even a non-disabled person to get into the so-called disabled-friendly coach, as it is in no way different from the normal compartment at least at the doorsteps, excepting for a wider door. It is also interesting to note that the coach is not connected with other coaches in the train. In fact it is an extention of the luggage wagon," the report further adds.

The report also claims that no facility is available to lift a person on wheelchair into this coach. The disabled-freindly coach is actually an unreserved compartment and can accommodate only two disabled people and their escorts. There are incidents when more than 20 disabled people with escorts have travelled by the coach, which has the capacity of carrying only four.

"If this is the case of the two major stations at a place where the regional head quarters is situated, what about other places? What will be the accessibility condition in small places? Can anyone from the railways dare to answer these questions?" concludes the audit report."

A person with disability on wheelchair had to cross the track on wheelchair, and the wheels can get caught between tracks. To travel long distance by train in the late 90s, a person with disability would have to starve for 2-3 days as trains and stations lacked accessible toilets. Also, train berths were too narrow for a person with disability who involuntary movement. So, he would lie on the floor of the train, which can be very painful because of the train’s movement. Getting into the train was another nightmare as it is even now. Just a slip and the person would be under the train between the platform and the wheels.

There was no way a person with disability could get out of the station without crossing a number of railway tracks. Wheelchair’s front wheel used to get caught in one of those tracks. Escaping with minor injuries was considered to be fortunate enough.

Disgusted with the experiences of train travel and with the support of a couple of lawyers, I filed a PIL in 2005 urging the railways to make the stations and coaches accessible.

---

[Fast-forwarding to Oct 2021]

There are some sporadic changes in railway stations, facilities such as ramps were built in almost all the stations, I believe accessible toilets were also built in major stations and that is when the railways came up with the idea of a special coach for the people with disabilities. To give a little bit of credit to the railways, inside the special coach was kind of accessible but the same story continued to get into the train, which was next to impossible.

Railways are supposed to be one of the largest revenue generators for the government. This implies that lack of funds is not the reason. Given this, we are left to wonder what is stopping this largest network from being accessible.

Unfortunately though most of the issues mentioned above still remain unresolved despite Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which india ratified in 2007.

There are still no accessible ways to enter or exit the  coaches. No accessible way to cross the track whatsoever. No braille forms or documents. No sign language interpreters

Vande Bharat 'Express still excludes persons with disabilities totally. A 100% Made in India train (with '100%' Indian priorities for  passengers with disabilities!)

While persons with disabilities have 'graduated' from luggage rake to driver trailer coach, there's only 1 space reserved for a wheelchair user in a passenger train of 1128 seats when at least 2 seats per coach must have been reserved and made accessible for persons with disabilities.

It is important to note here that the rakes of these trains are made as a part of "Make in India" campaign and the moto of the government has been "Sab ka Sab ka Vikas". Are persons with disabilities not a part of this motto? 

Govt of India is doing so much for sabka saath sabka vikas. Why are the rolling stock not based on universal design? Why not dedicate at least two seats per coach to wheelchair users or mobility impaired people?

Sab ka sat sab ka Vikas is only for non "divyang jan" ? 

"Titles are enough for children" - is this the view of Government of India? Are persons with disabilities citizens of India or are we refugees in our own country?

Is the view of government "many persons with disabilities are not considered to be a person before the law and hence can not vote, so why should we do anything for them?" Well, remember your attitude towards persons with disabilities is the reason for us being denied the right to franchise also.

If a person with disability cannot enter a railway station, get from one platform to another and get into the train itself, what is the use of the disability compartment? Or what is the use of reserving berth for persons with disabilities irrespective of the class? When will the railways wake up to the calls of 15 per cent of the population of India?

A Road to Nowhere with MTC Chennai from November 2005 to till date

A Road to Nowhere from November 2005 to till date 

It was with great hope that a Public Interest Litigation was filed at High Court of Madras on 23.11.2005 after ad due process of deliberations with the respective authorities for making MTC buses accessible for persons with disabilities.

The Honorable High Court expanded the scope of the petition to Public Buildings in one its early hearings.

Fast forwarding to 06.04.2016 after a long series of back and forth with affidavits and counter affidavits and a number of meetings The Honorable High Court gave an interim order saying 

"5. We are of the view that any steps to be taken for the benefit of the persons with special needs has to be inclusive in character. The idea cannot be to have separate buses, but buses which are used daily by passengers meeting the requirement of Persons with special needs. It is not possible to pre-determine the route to be travelled, the destination to be reached etc., by introducing buses only for certain routes which are disabled friendly. The objective has to be, over a period of time, to make sure all the buses in use meet the requirement of people with special needs. This can only happen if procurement of such buses which are meant to cater to the people with special needs, as otherwise what has happened would continue to happen – introducing of new buses in the fleets which still do not meet the requirement of the people with special needs.

6. We thus direct that any new buses to be introduced in the fleets must meet the requirement of the people with special needs and as per the norms in consultation with the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities.

7. In determining whether a bus is disabled friendly, inter alia, it has to be ensured that there is easy access for boarding and alighting." 

Raising rays of hope for persons with disabilities in Chennai. 

Chennai's 2021 population is now estimated at 11,235,018 and according to the government of Tamil Nadu. There is a disability rate of 1635 per 100 000 population. There are 1,83,695 persons with disabilities as per the statistics given above. The fact is that disability statistics in India is calculated vary poorly. The WHO says 15% of any given population is persons with disabilities. The estimated population of persons with disabilities in Chennai is 16,85,253 as per The WHO statistics. 

Buses bought/allotedq by MTC/State transport corporations after the above order 

"Eight State Transport Corporations (STCs), which have been saddled with aged buses, are set to get 2,000 new buses in the next six months" The Hindu 22nd February 2018

"The new red buses launched by the Metropolitan 

Transport Corporation in three phases since October 2018, replacing nearly 10% of the aging fleet, are a big hit among commuters in the city.Despite able to seat eight people fewer than the old buses that have 46 seats, the 300 new buses, with broader seats and better leg space, are drawing more commuters and generating more revenue, shows official data." 15th May 2019 new Indian express

"The new buses were part of the 500 buses flagged off by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami here on Wednesday. The buses were built at a cost of Rs. 154.24 crore. Of the 500 buses, 235 buses are allotted for MTC" 15th August 2019 New Indian express

"Though no electric buses have been allotted to MTC under the FAME scheme, the State government will be purchasing 500 electric and 2,213 Bharat Stage VI buses, at a cost of ₹1,580 crore, through funding from KfW of Germany" DT NEXT 23.11.2019

"The government, in the interim budget on Tuesday, sanctioned `623 crore for the first phase of the project, which will involve buying 2,200 diesel buses and 500 electric buses. “A majority of the e-buses will be for MTC, Chennai, and the rest will be deployed in Madurai and Coimbatore cities,” said a senior transport department official" Times of India 24.02.2021

in normal circumstances this is enough and more reasons to file a contempt of court but some how we missed the proverbial bus may be because it is against the buses.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ratified by India in 2007 says 

"1. To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas. These measures, which shall include the identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility, shall apply to, inter alia:

a) Buildings, roads, transportation and other indoor and outdoor facilities, including schools, housing, medical facilities and workplaces;

b) Information, communications and other services, including electronic services and emergency services."

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 with clear deadline for implementation says

"Section 41 in The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016

Title: Access to transport.

Description: (1) The appropriate Government shall take suitable measures to provide,— (a) facilities for persons with disabilities at bus stops, railway stations and airports conforming to the accessibility standards relating to parking spaces, toilets, ticketing counters and ticketing machines; (b) access to all modes of transport that conform the design standards, including retrofitting old modes of transport, wherever technically feasible and safe for persons with disabilities, economically viable and without entailing major structural changes in design; (c) accessible roads to address mobility necessary for persons with disabilities. (2) The appropriate Government shall develop schemes programmes to promote the personal mobility of persons with disabilities at affordable cost to provide for,— (a) incentives and concessions; (b) retrofitting of vehicles; and (c) personal mobility assistance."

"6. The State seeks time to indicate a road-map. However, it is necessary that the State be restrained from acquiring any further bus for the public transport system which does not conform to the specifications indicated in the notification of September 20, 2016 referred to above. In other words, the State will not acquire any new bus for use thereof as part of the public transport system unless such bus meets the standards indicated in the notification of September 20, 2016." Says the Honorable High Court of Madras 

Despite all this the MTC yesterday said in court that they they don't have the resources to implement any of these laws and court orders. Forcing the Honorable High Court to give an order saying 

"2 Appropriate measures should have been taken much earlier so that things would not come to such a pass. Though it can be appreciated that the pandemic has caused a severe loss and city roads may still not be viable to receive low platform heavy duty vehicles,

there has to be much more acquisition of disabled friendly buses and investment in appropriate roads since the law has been in place for a considerable period of time. At the same time, some latitude may be

offered so that the larger public interest is served and the blanket embargo on acquisition of buses does not completely disable the public transport system

3. The State seeks time to indicate the road-map that has been referred to in one of the previous orders. The State also seeks time to furnish appropriate figures so that some time may be afforded to the State to go in for a mix of disabled friendly and ordinary buses for a

limited period before all buses acquired from a particular date will be as required by law to be disabled friendly."

"The state government of Tamil Nadu, in its revised budget for FY2021–22, has allocated INR6.23 billion under the KfW assistance programme for the procurement of 1,000 new buses. It has also allocated INR7.03 billion as subsidy for free travel on buses for female and third-gender passengers as well as passengers with limited mobility on buses operated by the state transport authority. It has also allocated INR7.50 billion as diesel subsidy to insulate against price increase.

 The state government has announced plans to launch the Chennai City Partnership Programme, in partnership with the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The programme aims at revitalising the Chennai Urban Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA). The state government has also announced plans to prepare the detailed feasibility report for an upcoming metro project in Madurai, one of the largest cities in the state." Global Mass Transit 13th August 2021 

 Still MTC does not have money to make buses accessible!

This being the case of Physical Access with MTC, Are their services any in terms of access? The following 2 instances are enough to answer that question as well 

"When Rajiv Rajan boarded a bus at Parrys on Tuesday evening, he didn't expect the conductor to make a fuss about his wheelchair. The conductor of the 21G deluxe bus refused to let Rajiv, coordinator of Vidyasagar's disability legislation unit, travel to Kotturpuram unless he paid "luggage charges" for his wheelchair" Times of India 22nd February 2009

"In a shocking case, a person with disability, who was invited to participate in a demonstration and trial of accessible MTC buses, toppled backward from the ramp when she tried to board the vehicle, and hit the back of her head on concrete floor. The incident stirred panic at the function, as other persons with disabilities felt the prototype was a threat to their safety." New Indian Express 8th November 2019

We have purposely copied and pasted in most of the document from credible sources so that nothing we say can be sensibly denied 

16 years of legal battle in 2 PILs, an UN Convention a National Law to "Protect" The Rights of Persons with Disabilities are not enough to stop discrimination against persons with disabilities. Like there used to be whites only buses during the pre independent days now there are able bodied only buses. 

Where do we citizens with disabilities in India go to protect our rights? 

Or is it that we are not the citizens of this country? 

Does anyone care in Chennai for its 17 lakh odd citizens with disabilities?

Will any one us be able to see an accessible MTC fleet of buses?

Is there anyone listening to all this?

Thank you for being there

A journey that started on 10th May 1995 has reached 25 years today 

from Junior Accounts Assistant 

To Social Worker (experiential expert)

From Leassure and Sports Unit Coordinator 

To Advocacy Unit Coordinator

From Advocacy Unit Coordinator

To Assistant Coordinator of another form of the same and 

To the Coordinator of DLU South 

From State Coordinator of NDN

To Regional Coordinator of NDN

To Director DRI, HRLN

From Trainee 

To trainer of Trainers 

From Founder General Secretary of Ektha 

To Executive Director of Ektha 

To Founder Trustee of Equals Center for Promotion of Social Justice 

From General Body Member of Vidya Sagar

To South Asia Representative at the board of APDPO, United  

To Representative if the Disability Sector in the Core Group of a National Cross Sectoral Confluence, Vikalp Sangam 

From member of Local Level Committee under the National Trust 

To member of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act Drafting Committee 

From advocating for Disability Rights 

To Trainer in Para Sports, Boccia

To organiser of State and National Tournament

It has been tremendous journey of of 25 years 

It would never have been possible alone

Thank you mentors 

Poonam aka, Mrs Poonam Natarajan

Usha aka, Mrs Usha Ramakrishnan 

Rajul aka, Mrs Rajul Padmanaban

Dipti aka, Miss Dipti Batia 

Mr Chithambaranathan

Mr Javed Abidi 

Mr Lobithas 

Thank you my dream team at DLU South, Vidya Sagar 

Mr Dhanasekar 

Miss Smitha Sadhashivan 

Mrs Meenakshi B.

Mrs Shanthi Srinivasn 

Mr Devi Chakravarthi 

Mr Guru Prasad

Mrs Deepa Kalaivanan 

Mr Amarthyo

Mr Vincent 

Miss Jennifer Fatogun 

Thank you long time colleagues in South India 

Mr Deepak Nathan 

Mr Srinivaslu 

Mr Paul Ramanatan 

Mr Simmachandran 

Thank you 

The Chennai DRA Team I am not taking names here as the list endless

Thank you Ektha team 

Mr Dhanasekar 

Mr Dheepakh PS 

Mr Prabakaran A

Mrs Lakshmi Bala 

Mr  Sathish Kumar

Mr Sunderaman Kannan 

Mr Amarnath Prabakaran 

Mr Balu Mahendran 

Miss Kalvina Rajendran 

Mr Ajay Balakrishnan 

Thank you Equals team

Miss Amba Salelkar 

Miss Sudha Ramamurthy 

Mrs meenakshi B 

Miss Algammai

Thank you sponsors volunteers and other supporters 

Without even one of you the journey would not have been as complete and memorable as it has been 

Impact of corona and lock down on persons with disabilities 4 Radha Ramesh

As we all cope with lockdowns and social distancing ,we ,the rehabilitation professionals at Vidya Sagar are concerned about  the persons with disabilities and their families.

Social distancing will be a huge difficulty in practice for people with disabilities and their caregivers .

       How do we monitor and ensure hygiene and safety of persons/children with disabilities who have high restrictions in participation .They have to depend on caregiver for all their needs.The caregiver could be their own parent or sibling or a family member or a paid attendant. 

Lack of awareness among parents and primary care givers is a major concern. 

This is a serious concern as it would affect the health of the person with disability and would have a long term impact .

This type of long isolation holidays may lead to other complications such as deterioration of physical condition due to lack of services like physio therapy, occupational therapy etc.

When students with disabilities return back to school they would have to put in double the effort -coping with physical therapy and academics .

The team from Vidya Sagar is constantly in touch with parents sharing concerns and extending emotional support in this stressful hour .

We are sharing strategies and sending activities to the parents to be done with or by the students. 

We also request them to use this time for family bonding, focusing on choice making and decision making opportunities for the person /child with disability and make them part of the family and participate in executing the daily activities.

Food for our beneficiaries staying in remote villages is another concern. Getting their monthly maintenance allowances. The government advance of 1000 for the next 3 months has not yet been received by many people. Most for the village people solely depending on this maintenance allowance for their daily expenditure

Radha Ramesh ,

Parent of two adults with disabilities who have high restrictions in participation 

&

Director ,

Vidya Sagar.

impact of corona and lock down on persons with disabilities 3 Rajkumar M

As a person with Beckers Muscular Dystrophy, the current duty of Corona virus is making me to think as below.

Being a person with disability i should be careful by not venturing out from home to save me otherwise it will be a very worst thing for me to get quarantined at hospital as managing myself will be difficult. 

Socialising was a best stress reliever for a person with disability but being holed up at home for 13 days & working from home brings little stress.

Another fear is that if my family member or care taker gets affected, how can I cope up with my life.

The best reliever of stress and making myself relaxed is the presence of social media.

Rajkumar M

Person with disability based in Chennai 

&

Plant Lead Engineer working in a reputed MNC

Impact of corona and lock down on persons with disabilities 2 Dhanasekar A

I Don't remember of this outbreak initially, today a pandemic COVID 19. As a person with disability with my capabilities I don't see it a major concern. 

What really is the concern here? With the imposition of Section 144 pan India my worry is how would Parsons with Disabilities get their essential services on a daily basis. Here I am talking  about persons with disabilities who have high restrictions in participation. How does a person get the services of an escort for buying essentials? Will he be allowed to go out? A million dollar question. 

As we have always been reiterating there a need for including the issues of persons with disabilities during planning and implementation of disater management. 

The positive factor here I see is spending of quality time with family members and without shadow of doubt safety of one and all.

Dhanasekar A

Disability Rights Activist 

impact corona and lock down on persons with disabilities 1 Dheepakh PS

When the Central Government announced a lockdown, for 21 days from last night (24.3.20- from midnight), it was 8 pm, so how do we go to the ATM, where the machines are not accessible and withdraw money in just under 4 hours? Even if it is one of the services which is open, without security guards around, it is not safe for us. An accessible and mobile ATM would solve this issue. 

What about care givers for people with severe disabilities? How do they find a way out? These are questions which have to be looked into,  before taking such decisions. 

The effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic which has thrown all our work routines  into a dizzy, suspended sporting events across the globe, has taught me an important lesson. Never to procrastinate things and leave it until they are too late. 

As a Person with Disability,  who commutes a lot, this curfew is indeed a difficult thing to follow, but have to do it for the benefit of all of us. 

My biggest concern is about essentials, albeit I have stocked enough for the time being, there's a sense of what-if popping up every now and then. 

Mobility as a person with disability is certainly taken a beating and though am fortunate to have shops nearby but am thinking of those for whom there are environmental barriers and attitudinal barriers imposed by the society when trying to access those. 

While people are running helter skelter to stock up, there is every possibility that the Person with disability might be left out in the crowd?

Am not questioning the government s decision to lockdown but asking them to keep PwDs in mind too, when they come across such circumstances.

Dheepakh PS 

Person with Disability 

&

Journalist working with a prominent Daily