Bengaluru: "I've been groped and manhandled three separate times by porters. They were helping me board the train because Indian trains are not wheelchair accessible," said Virali Modi, disability rights advocate in a petition addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
She told Deccan Chronicle, “Indian trains have for years, continued to cause duress to disabled passengers. There isn't a ramp, to help the person on a wheelchair board the train. The doors are not wide enough for the chair, which means people have to lift the disabled person."
Moreover, the gap between the train and the platform is large enough for a person's leg to get stuck. As it was impossible to manoeuvre a wheelchair inside the compartment and I had to be lifted and placed on the berth, by porters, she added.
The nightmare for the disabled does not end here. Tanesh, Director, Enable India, an NGO working with the disabled, said the problem becomes even worse when it comes to toilet access.
"The disabled person will have to sit and move on the floor of the toilet. How will they wash themselves? Where is the dignity for them? PM Modi talks of an accessible India. I don't see it," Tanesh said.
Undignified alternative
"I used to and still do wear diapers in the train, which is very embarrassing. It gets soiled and I have to wait till the lights are off to change them. I get scared that someone will see me changing. There is light coming in from the windows. Where is the privacy?" questioned Virali, who is also a motivational speaker, writer and Miss Wheelchair Runner Up 2014.
Poor accessibility
"You are at platform 1. The train arrival is changed to platform 3, for which there is a staircase. Accessibility is not just about the disabled. What about senior citizens, pregnant women?," said Tanesh, adding that, inclusion does not happen with a bank account, it involves bringing everyone into the social structure by providing all amenities.
A long way to go
“The Disability Bill, has made no progress," said Virali, whose #MyTrain Too campaign has gone viral, touched 93,290 and counting.
Her email sent to PMO's office was forwarded to the Ministry of External Affairs, which then closed the case as it was not relevant to them.
“Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu re-tweeted my petition, saying he has taken note and is working on it,” she said.
