Travails of special needs travellers

By Rachana Ramesh | NT

Bengaluru: I n an incident that has raised many questions over the handling of air travellers with special needs, IndiGo airline has denied boarding to a child with disability on a Hyderabad-bound flight at Ranchi airport on Saturday.

But many in Bengaluru said it was not the first incident at an airport, while sharing their personal travel experiences. Kiran Nayak, a trans disability activist and the founder of Karnataka Vikalachetanara Sangatane, an organisation working with persons with disabilities in Chikkaballapur since 2012, has had similar experience while choosing to travel by air.

Recently, he was additionally charged Rs 3,000 for his wheelchair during his trip from Delhi to Mumbai. “Even during the routine security check, I am asked to stand up and if I do not comply, I am asked to strip. As a trans person with a disability, how can I do this? They look at us as terrorists,” he sighs.

Due to such discrimination and lack of compassion, Kiran’s latest flight on April 14 was delayed by four hours. “I am glad such incidents are being recognised and there is a public outrage. Our issues are never brought into the light,” he said.

“Even if the staff takes care of us, it is only until we reach our seat. Nobody comes to check on us, to see if we would like to use the washroom or are just comfortable,” he said. “The public toilets in the airport have a separate section for the disabled, except for this, we have nothing,” he said.

Prabha, the receptionist at The Association of People with Disability based in Bengaluru has a locomotor disability requiring her to use a wheelchair. Hailing from Tamil Nadu, Prabha lives in a hostel in Bengaluru. She uses the bus to visit her hometown but says it’s quite a challenge. “I require one person with me at all times to make sure I am okay and that I reach my hometown,” she said.

Padmini Chennapragada, an advocate for sports governance within India’s disability sports federations, said the lack of proper response from the Indian government shows how the bureaucratic framework of this country understands disability rights.

“The government promotes the use of the word ‘Divyangjan’. What was so divine about this child in the wheelchair? We come off as very anti-establishment folk but the disability rights movement is getting buried because of this rhetoric,” she said.

“Families of children with disabilities are fed up with this charade. They (airlines) want the money of the disabled customer, but the laws that are enacted to protect their rights are not on their radar. The fact that these laws had to be enacted in the first place portrays the dire need,” she said.