Mumbai: Differently abled body writes to MMRDA: ‘Provide employment, separate ticket window’

Among their demands is that they should receive a 75 per cent concession
on tickets and their reserved seats should be more prominently
marked and should also be more accessible

09.05.2018
In a letter submitted to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) on Wednesday, they demanded that these jobs should be granted without consideration of their educational qualifications.

Members of the Divyang Sena sought a four per cent reservation in jobs for the differently abled on the existing and upcoming metro corridors of the city. In a letter submitted to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority(MMRDA) on Wednesday, they demanded that these jobs should be granted without consideration of their educational qualifications.

“These projects have been implemented by the Centre and state government and it is a mandate to give jobs to the differently abled as well. But that is not happening here. Due to their handicaps many of them are not able to complete their education, which must also be considered,” said Prasad Salvi, Divyang Sena president.

Among their demands is that they should receive a 75 per cent concession on tickets and their reserved seats should be more prominently marked and should also be more accessible.

“There are seats reserved in each of the Metro compartments for us but they are not easily identifiable. We are not able to access the seats due to the crowd. They need to make the symbol more prominent,” said Nitin Gaikwad, secretary of Divyang Sena from Maharashtra, who is also differently abled.

They also want the Metro stations to have a dedicated ticket window for the differently abled, manned by one of them. “It will only make sense if the counter is manned by a differently abled. The railways has a separate line for us, which makes things more convenient,” added Gaikwad.

Their demands also include that the announcements on the platform should be in a format easily understandable by them. To improve their employment opportunities, they want a few stalls to be reserved for them to run business at every station.

MMRDA spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar said, “We will look into their demands and take action as per law.”
According to the Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL), which operates the existing Metro One between Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar, the metro stations are equipped with some facilities for the differently abled, like keeping the gap between the platform and the train floor minimum to allow wheelchair-bound or visually-impaired commuters to get inside easily without getting their feet trapped.

“For the visually challenged and hearing/speech impaired the trains are equipped with passenger visual display system and regular audio announcements which informs passengers about the approaching station, door side or safety while alighting or catching the train,” reads a statement by MMOPL on their features for the differently abled.
The Automatic Fare Collection gates have a special section for allowing wheel chairs to pass easily.

Reliance Infrastructure-promoted MMOPL spokesperson said, “At each of the Mumbai Metro stations, we have our Customer Care Executives who assist differently abled customers to get their ticket. The reserved seats for differently abled are prominently marked in each of the compartments…”