ON June 26, the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) submitted several suggestions to the railway minister, Sadananda Gowda, regarding the facilities needed by the disabled persons in the railways. It was the ministry that had invited suggestions from the public in the run-up to the rail budget 2014-15. N the occasion, representatives of various organisations working among the disabled in the country and affiliated to the NPRD, drew the minister’s attention to the problems facing the persons with disabilities while travelling with the Indian Railways. Most of these issues had been raised with the ministry earlier, but to no avail. According to the NPRD, some urgent issues calling for redressal were as below. 1) Extend concession to all trains: The railways have been providing concessions to certain categories of disabled persons in mail and express trains, which now has been extended to Rajdhani and Shatabdi also. But no concession is provided in local and passenger trains and in Garib Rath. The demand is that concessions be provided on these trains also. 2) Validity of disability certificates: Currently, a separate certificate has to be obtained for availing railway concession. The railways should accept disability certificates or cards as valid proof of the disability of the concerned person and do away with the requirement of a separate certificate. 3) Travelling without escorts: Except for blind and the hearing and speech impaired persons, currently all other disabled persons have to invariably travel with escorts if they have to avail concession. This restricts their right to travel.  All disabled persons who are capable of travelling independently like persons with locomotor disabilities, should be allowed to travel with or without escort. 4) Concession to mentally disabled persons: People with mental illness, though categorised as disabled as per the Persons with Disabilities Act 1995, are not provided concessions in the railways. Concession should be extended to all those classified as disabled in the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Right and Full Participation) Act 1995, the National Trust Act and those disabilities included in the disability rights bill pending with the parliamentary standing committee. 5) Concession on Tatkal tickets: The concession given on other tickets should also be extended for bookings made under the Tatkal scheme by the disabled. 6) E Booking Facility: The repeated promises of extending e-booking facility to the disabled should be honoured. The Railway Board had promised in the Delhi High Court to start a pilot project in this regard. This is yet to be implemented. E booking facility should be extended to persons with disabilities. As in the case of senior citizens, the TTE can ask for proof (disability certificate) during the course of the journey. 7) Coach for the disabled:  Many a time the coach meant for the disabled is occupied by other travellers, railway employees and even RPF personnel. Placement of this coach has also not been consistent --- sometimes it is placed at the end of the train and sometimes it is placed next to the engine.  It should be ensured that the coach is placed next to the guard’s coach and a disabled sensitive attendant be provided in these coaches to ensure that none other than disabled persons and their escorts are allowed. 8) Accessibility: The 1995 act mandates that railway stations and coaches must be made barrier free. Its implementation, however, has been disappointing. The United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which India has ratified, also mandates that persons with disabilities have “access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation,” etc. Railway stations too are not accessible. Ramps are rare and are, wherever available, limited for entry into the foot overbridges.  Platforms are inaccessible. The gap (height) between the platform and the coach varies from station to station. There is not enough space for mobility inside the coaches. Toilets cannot be used by persons with certain disabilities. Inter-platform transfers pose a big challenge. The NPRD has therefore made the following suggestions: (i) The Railways should go in for universal design. (ii) Ramps or lifts should be provided wherever necessary. As against escalators which are not disabled friendly, elevators can be used by persons with disabilities. (iii) Floor tiles everywhere should be non-slippery (iv) Tactile marking should be made on the platform to guide blind persons to the exit, bridges, stairs, ticketing counters etc. Tactile markings should also be provided on the edges of the platforms. Platform numbers should be labelled in Braille both at the entry/exit points as well as on the railing of the foot overbridge. (v) To guide persons with low visibility stations should also have coloured markings and contrasts to guide low vision persons to ticket counters, platforms over bridges etc. Coloured markings should be made on the edge of platforms including tactile markings to warn passengers with low vision of the edge of the platform. (vi) All coaches should have Braille embossed signage. (vii) Battery operated cars now provided at some stations should be made available at all major stations and platforms. (viii) Provision of sign language interpreters must be made at stations. 9) Sensitising the railway staff:  The disabled people encounter a lot of problems at railway counters. There is a need to sensitise all personnel working in the railways, especially those dealing directly with travellers, on issues connected with disability. 10) Disabled hawkers: The vast majority of the disabled people in the country are poor. Denied employment, many of them do odd jobs, one of them being hawking petty items on board trains to sustain themselves and their families. Disabled persons should be given licence to sell such items on trains. 11) PCO booths: The railways had earlier allotted PCO booths to persons with disabilities. However, now these PCOs have become redundant with the large-scale use of mobile phones. Many of these PCO booths have been disbanded by the railways. These PCO booths may be converted into convenience stores for which licences can be given to disabled persons to vend essential goods required by passengers. The railways are selling unreserved tickets through private agents. Licences may be given to those operating such booths within railway premises to sell such tickets and the licence fee may be waived. 12) Last but not the least, usage of terms like “Orthopaedically Handicapped/Paraplegic persons,” “mentally retarded,” “deaf and dumb (both afflictions together),” to denote certain disabilities, should be discontinued. Instead, the more correct terms like “persons with locomotor disability,” “intellectual disabilities,” “hearing and speech impairment” (both conditions together)” should be used. The NPRD has expressed the hope that the ministry would consider these issues favourably. The organisations affiliated to the NPRD are Vikalangula Hakkula Jatiya Vedika (Andhra Pradesh), Viklang Adhikar Manch (Gujarat), Haryana Viklang Adhikar Manch (Haryana), Jharkhand Viklang Morcha (Jharkhand), Karnataka Rajya Angavikalara Mattu Palakara Okkota (Karnataka), Differently-Abled Welfare Federation (Kerala), Platform for Rights of Disabled (Odisha), Association for the Rights of Differently-Abled & Caregivers (Tamilnadu), Vikalangula Hakkula Jatiya Vedika (Telangana), Vikalangula Nirudyogula Vedika (Telangana), Development Society for Deaf (Telangana), Andula Hakkula Vedika (Telangana), Vikalangula Vidhyarti Vibhagam (Telangana) and Paschim Banga Rajya Pratibandhi Sammelini (West Bengal).