India's "Freedom rides" (Chennai's shocking insensitivity-NDTV)

Title:
India's "Freedom rides" (Chennai's shocking insensitivity-NDTV)

Description:
Disabled man charged extra for wheelchair on MTC bus 12 Feb 2009, 0000 hrs IST, Shalini Umachandran, TNN CHENNAI: 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. "The wheelchair serves as my legs. How can they charge extra for it?" says Rajiv, who has cerebral palsy and is 80% disabled. Rajiv had to pay an extra Rs 10 for his wheelchair. "We do not charge extra for wheelchairs, calipers and other appliances. In fact, conductors are supposed to get down from the bus and help disabled people," said MTC general manager M Babu. "We will look into the incident and take strict action," he adds. Those working for the rights of the disabled say they receive many complaints about MTC staff. "The MTC director sent us a letter in 2005 assuring us that the disabled would not be charged for aids and appliances," says Simha Chandran, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Handicapped Federation and member, disabled welfare board. He wrote to MTC after they received many complaints about conductors collecting luggage charges for aids. "We told them that under the Persons With Disabilities Act, 1995, aids and appliances are not to be considered luggage and charged extra," he says. Rajiv says there is often a communication gap between officials and crew. "It's probably not the conductor's fault. He might not have been aware of the rules." But MTC's Babu says, "Our staff have been trained to be sensitive to the needs of special people. We will conduct an enquiry and the person will be suspended. This should not occur again." The conductor of the bus refused to let Rajiv, coordinator of Vidyasagar's disability legislation unit, travel to Kotturpuram unless he paid "luggage charges" for his wheelchair.

Author:
disabilityrightstn

Tags:
wheelchair, disability, bus, conductor, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, 2009, cerebral palsy, handicap, polio, rights, disabilityrightstn, DRA,