At
old Delhi Rly station, it’s a fight for the disabled
At
the station, the special waiting room for the disabled
remains locked, officials refuse wheelchairs and porters
fleece the needy.
New Delhi: It might have won a place
for itself in the Guiness Book of Records, but when
it comes to providing basic facilities for the disabled
and senior citizens Old Delhi railway station leaves
a lot to be desired.
Starting
from the special waiting room for the disabled to getting
a porter and a wheelchair, you have to haggle, stand
in queues for clarification and run from one office
to another. You get off at the main station building
and get ready to be fleeced. There is no notice that
tells you about the charges for hiring wheelchairs.
Ask a porter and he will quote his price.
One
such victim, Rakesh Sinha, paid a porter Rs. 80 to get
a wheelchair for his eight-months pregnant wife. He
did not even know that the official rate was Rs.25.
“Is it? I didn’t know. The porter said it was Rs.
80. So I gave him the money. The rates are not written
anywhere. How will people know?” he asked. To top
this, the special waiting room for the handicapped is
locked.
Enter
the main building and an obscure sign at the station
master’s office reads: “Wheelchairs available at the
office”. Ask about the wheelchairs and you are told
that they are available at “the stand”. What about
the waiting room for the handicapped? Why is it locked.
“Ask at the stand,” comes the reply.
The
stand is the small inquiry office where you deposit
money for retiring rooms and wheelchairs. Two rickety
wheelchairs-one with both the front wheels missing –
are chained to a pole. The railway official apprises
you about the rates and when you tell him that porters
are demanding more. He says non-challantly: “Tell them
the rate is fixed.”
And
what about the locked waiting room? “We don’t know why.
You could complain at the station master’s offices,”
he replies.
So
it is back to the station master’s office. The staff
insists it is not their job. Outside again, there is
an argument. This time it is Vandana, whose father
has a difficulty in climbing stairs. He just had an
operation. She knows about the rates as she has been
traveling and insists on paying Rs.25.
Source: The Times of India
Date: 23rd June 2004.
|
