Petition in Madurai High Court
Sundara Vimalanathan from Thanjavur has said in the petition filed in the Madurai High Court: I am a disabled person. I am touring across the country for the welfare of people with disabilities like me.
Through this, we can learn about the many challenges faced by disabled people on a daily basis. I travel to various places only by train. PwDs are provided with separate seat at fare concession on reservation basis in all trains.
An ID card is issued to the differently abled to avail these benefits. In the year 2022, the process of online verification of ID card has been implemented at Chennai railway station. Many railway stations in the country have a digital system for checking ID cards for persons with disabilities.
This digital procedure is yet to be implemented in railway stations like Trichy, Madurai and Salem in Tamil Nadu. People with disabilities like me are severely affected by this. Complaint was made to the authorities but no action was taken.
He has mentioned in the petition that they have requested to order the implementation of online verification of identity cards for disabled persons in railway stations including Madurai, Trichy and Salem.
Investigation
The hearing on this petition came up for hearing before the Chief Justice R. Mahadevan and GR Swaminathan.
Train service is bad
At that time, the judges questioned why this system was not implemented in Trichy, Salem and Madurai when it was implemented in various parts of India. Passenger service in various trains is poor. They alleged that the coaches were not properly maintained.
The advocate appearing for the railway said that the old coaches are being removed and new modern coaches are being installed in the trains. He said it will be fully renovated soon.
Hole, broken box
For that judges, new modern coaches are installed in the trains only for northern states. A large number of trains running in Tamil Nadu are equipped with broken and damaged coaches. They said that this situation should change.
Adjournment The judges adjourned the hearing to July 8, ordering the railways to respond to the case.
