Suvarna Raj, a wheelchair-bound international athlete, had to sleep on the floor of a train recently Suvarna said that there were people watching but no one showed any sympathy Suvarna had won medals at para table tennis tournaments in Thailand and South Korea
It seems Indians are still not sympathetic to the differently-abled. This time it was an international level athlete who had to face the apathy of people. Suvarna Raj, who is wheelchair-bound and who has won several medals for India in international table tennis tournaments had to sleep on the floor of a train recently.
Suvarna Raj had applied for a ticket under the physically handicapped quota requesting for a lower berth in the Nagpur-Nizamuddin Garib Rath Express. She was given a ticket for coach number GD-2. However, when she boarded the train, she was shocked to see that she has been given an upper berth. When she requested the TTE for a different seat, it was turned down stating non-availability of lower berth seats.
"I asked for a blanket, but I was denied that too. The attendant told me that the compartment has a fixed number of blankets, which had been allotted to passengers. I had paid the full fare. Still, I did not have a seat and had to lie down on the floor near the toilet." She told the Times of India.
The 34-year-old Raj was also travelling with her six-year-old son, a friend who was also disabled and the friend’s three-year-old daughter.
Talking to Hindustan Times, a railway official said, “We try to accommodate as many people we can with lower berth under emergency quota, but it is also upon passengers to show magnanimity and compassion.”
Suvarna said that people were watching, but no one showed sympathy. She asked two people, but they refused to give her seats. She said that although the coach was for the physically disabled, several individuals were fit.
Suvarna suffers from 90% disability as a result of polio infection at a younger age.
She was returning from a seminar in Nagpur on improving accessibility for differently-abled persons.
Suvarna had won two medals at the Thailand Para Table Tennis Open 2013 and participated in the Asian Para Games in South Korea in 2014.
She has brought the matter to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s notice.
