RAMP UP INDIA
Paralysed from the neck down due to an undiagnosed infection at the age of 15, Virali Modi’s experiences of travelling in railway stations put her on the path of social activism to make railway stations disabled-friendly. As a result, at least eight railway stations in India have recently achieved this target, making life comfortable for a few lakh commuters.
Born in Mumbai and raised in the US, Modi travelled to India in 2010 for treatment, which was much cheaper than in the US. While here, the behaviour of the porters at the Mumbai Central Railway station left her shocked. She assumed there would be a ramp for disabled passengers, just like in the US, but was disappointed. “My mother hired two porters to lift me with my wheelchair and put me on my berth,” says Modi. “They took advantage of my situation, groped me and touched me inappropriately, leaving me in tears.”
She faced similar situations thrice in four years while travelling by trains either for treatment or while visiting relatives in Gujarat. Her paralysis was partially cured after a series of treatments in Navi Mumbai but her lower body remained paralysed.
Able to use her hands again, Modi began writing blogs narrating her experiences and received tremendous response from the lakhs of people reading and following her blog. In 2015, she filed an online petition urging the Indian Railways to make arrangements for makeshift ramps at the railway stations for the disabled. She also filed a complaint on the railway ministry’s website only to be told that they had forwarded her complaint to the ministry for external affairs, “Probably, because I’m a non-resident Indian,” says Modi.
She started a hashtag, #MyTrainToo, on social media and, after months, received a response from a railway official in Kerala who understood the issue. “That gentleman worked as a catalyst. He got ramps installed in six railway stations in Kerala, including Tiruchirappalli and Thiruvananthapuram,” says Modi. Subsequently, the railway authorities equipped two trains, in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, with foldable ramps and wheel chairs inside the compartments to make them disabled-friendly. For Modi, the happiest moment came when the railways installed a ramp at the Mumbai Central railway station.
Now, Modi has started another campaign, #FlyWithDignity, to ensure that the Central Industrial Security Force personnel behave appropriately with disabled people at airports. “I have received communication from their headquarters saying that they have started training their staff,” she says.
Thanks to her campaign, Indian Oil Corporation, too, has installed a ramp at one of its petrol pumps near Bhiwandi. ■
“WE ARE ORDINARY PEOPLE WHO JUST WANT TO ENJOY LIFE. PLEASE DON’T USE TERMINOLOGY LIKE DISABLED OR ‘DIVYANG’ FOR US”