Tamil Nadu: Disability rights groups protest at 30 railway stations

CHENNAI: Condemning the railway department for violating the rights of differently-abled persons, the Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled & Caregivers (Taratdac) announced demonstration at 30 major railway stations in Tamil Nadu including two in Chennai on Tuesday.  “We would focus on issues in those particular railway stations faced by the differently-abled. In Chennai, we chose Tambaram and Perambur,” said S. Namburajan, state general secretary, Taratdac.

He further added that Tambaram railway station equipped with eight platforms does not have a battery car for the differently-abled. Moreover, there are no lifts, special parking for differently-abled or information as to where the wheelchairs are available. Despite of repeated appeals, there is no railway announcement on where the coaches for differently-abled would halt.

Perambur, which also has all these issues, is coupled by non-equivalent platforms to the footpath. Buying tickets is also a major issue in the station as there are no special queues. While these are the issues for physically disabled, tactile flooring for the visually impaired are missing in almost all the stations, rued the members of the association. Another major issue is that the Indian Railway refused to accept the universal-identity card scheme currently under implementation, which enables a single ID utilization for all the departments.

So, the differently-abled people have to apply for a separate identity card issued by the railways at Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) offices, which are only in four places in Tamil Nadu - Chennai, Tiruchy, Salem and Madurai. They rue that DRM offices are not disabled friendly and the ID is very difficult to access. For the purpose, Taratdac has announced a protest in New Delhi on March 6.