A RAMP FOR THE FUTURE
Activist and budding actress Virali Modi’s petition has finally got the Indian Railways moving to become disabled-friendly
Groped, manhandled and humiliated while travelling in Indian trains, 25-year-old Virali Modi spoke out last month against being treated as a “piece of luggage” because she is in a wheelchair. Now, people are starting to listen.
Following a petition she addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, railways minister Suresh Prabhu and minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi demanding that the Indian Railways be made more disabled-friendly, on February 20, Chennai Central became the first station to introduce foldable wheelchairs that fit inside a coach. Stations in Thiruvananthapuram and
Kochi also introduced portable ramps, in addition to wheelchairs.
Virali, who was molested at Mumbai Central, understands that her personal story of sexual abuse helped draw attention to the seriousness of the issue. And she credits the backing she got from Twitter users, including stand-up comics Aditi Mittal and Tanmay Bhatt, for her success in garnering over one lakh supporters for her petition. “I feel that now the government is actually listening. In 2015, they began the Accessible India Campaign... disability is no longer something to be ashamed of,” she says.
An aspiring actress and model who was a runner-up at the Miss Wheelchair India 2014, Modi now lives in the US. But she often travels to Mumbai for work and for the stem cell therapy she is undergoing at the Neurogen Brain and Spine Institute.
Virali’s suggestions include revamping existing trains to create enough space between berths and in the passageways, and larger bathrooms that can accommodate wheelchairs. “It’ll be expensive. But if the government is willing to spend Rs 3,000 crore on building a statue, I don’t think my request is such a stretch,” she says.