The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : The going gets tough for them

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Tuesday, Dec 02, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

The going gets tough for them

Varalakshmi, who does embroidery for a living, has difficulty every time she has to get into a bus. Paraplegic since birth, she has to pull herself into a bus, grasping the grip bar or at times even the steps.

“Bus drivers don’t stop for us and even if they did, it’s a struggle to get into it because it’s not convenient for people like us,” she sighs. “There were times”, she says, “when I had to sit on the ste ps as seats allotted for us are already occupied”.

L. Vinayaka, running a STD booth, says he has travelled only once or twice in the barrier-free compartment, specially reserved for persons with disabilities. Because “Our space is occupied usually by ‘friends’ of the ticket collector and we are also often bullied by the railway police. In fact, they give an impression as if some favours are being doled to us,” he charges.

Systematic exclusion

Talking about the systematic exclusion of persons with disabilities even in modes of transport such as trains, President of Vikaalang Maha Sangathan Nanduri Ramesh wondering why all rail compartments can’t be made barrier free.

“Many of us go on journeys with our families and expecting us to travel in a separate compartment while our family members sit in another is unfair,” he says.

This lack of proper access to public transport and sensitisation among the public officials is affecting the education and employment opportunities of the disabled, points out P. Sudhakara Reddy, State Project Manager, Disability Programme of Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty.

Callous

The issues are not confined to modes of transport alone. If travelling is a chore, buying ticket too has its own difficulties. “Few give way to us treating us as a hurdle in their ‘busy lives’,” says a student, Sarita at the Secunderabad Railway Station. “One day a lady even told me bluntly that our time was less important then hers”.

At every public buildings and places from theatres, shopping malls to educational institutes and workplaces, their right to free movement is discriminated everywhere, he says.

“I have to drag myself up the stairs every day. I requested my school authorities to shift the classroom to ground floor but they refused to do it for just one student,” says a student of a private school in A.S. Rao Nagar whose classroom is located on the second floor and there is no lift.

K. Sandhya, another student, says that most public places are out of bounds for people like her since even wheelchairs are not available.

“Either it is patronising attitude or plain indifference from the society around us. If such mental barriers are overcome, changes in infrastructure, transport etc will fall in place”, adds Mr. Ramesh.

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