Thiruvananthapuram: Disabled seek friendly' infrastructure

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: People in wheelchairs organised a rally to the Secretariat during World Disability Day on Saturday raising several demands including disabled friendly public infrastructure and a hike in pensions. “The public buses have seat reserved for disabled, but wheelchair bound people cannot board them barring city Volvo buses or low floors ones due to their design. Only new public buildings have ramps, but the bathrooms are not. Not all railway stations have ramps,” said S. Sreekumar a paraplegic.

As per Binu Saleem, a member of All Kerala Wheelchair Rights Federation (AKWRF), not even the medical colleges and general hospitals have bathrooms that are suited to the needs of those with spinal cord injuries. “Patients with spinal cord injuries have to go to hospital more often and spend a long time there during rehabilitation, but toilets are not suited for our needs,” he said.

The 18th chapter of Kerala building rules makes disabled friendly infrastructure mandatory in all offices, parks, theatres, hospitals and shopping centres. While most wheelchair bound patients are bedridden most of times, the pension that a wheelchair person receives is only as much as an elephantiasis patient. “We receive Rs 1,000 as pension. This will not be enough for even commutation needs as we need special vehicles and helpers to move around. Many cannot work and are supported by family,” Mr Binu said.

The federation wants monthly pension to be increased to Rs 5,000. Apart from this they want two special rehabilitation centres along the lines of those in CMC Vellore to be established in the state. Unlike popular concepts, some patients do not have strong limbs to even push wheelchairs. A battery operated wheelchair will cost around Rs 2 lakh while the normal ones used by most patients cost Rs 10,000. AKWRF, a registered organisation of wheelchair bound people was formed from links established through social media. Their march in front of Secretariat was inaugurated by district panchayat vice-president Shailaja Begum.