Railways again allots top berth to disabled activist

NEW DELHI: Almost three months after she was allotted an upper berth while travelling by train from Nagpur to Delhi, para-athlete turned social worker

Suvarna Raj

was forced to go through a similar ordeal on Thursday.

Raj booked a train from Nizamuddin to Nagpur. She said she had informed about her disability at the time of booking but was still allotted an upper berth under RAC (reservation against cancellation). Upon entering the three-tier AC compartment, Raj realised that she had been allotted an upper berth. She approached the TTE but failed to receive any help.

“He told me, ‘kya kar sakte hai (what can I possibly do?)?’ I eventually had to ask a co-passenger who agreed to switch seats with me. A lot of seats in the train were empty but the TTE didn’t help me. Despite the incident a few months ago, nothing has changed and we are still being allotted seats on the upper berth. When will this change? It could have been a similar situation for me had I not come across a helpful co-passenger,” Raj told TOI.

She was referring to the previous incident when she was forced to lie on the floor for most part of her journey. Raj also tweeted to the railway minister while on the train, asking him if anything had changed for people with disability.

Pradeep Raj, Suvarna’s husband and a

disabled

rights activist himself, said that despite assurances from the ministry in the past, very little has been done to change the online booking system.

“Seats have been reserved in 3AC but you cannot book them online and have to go to the counter to buy tickets. Even the disabled seats in the general compartment have to be booked at the counter. Why add seats for the disabled if they cannot be booked online? The system needs to be changed so that you automatically get a lower berth for someone who is disabled,” said Pradeep. The duo had also recently met railway minister

Suresbh Prabhu

as well.