Even as Jet Airways launched an inquiry into the allegations of harassment of a disabled woman by the airline staff, the aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has reiterated existing guidelines about the Carriage by Air of Persons with Disability or Reduced Mobility, under which no airline should refuse to carry persons with disability or reduced mobility and also incorporate appropriate provisions in online form for booking tickets so that required facilities are made available to such passengers.
While the DGCA is also probing the incident, a Jet Airways spokesperson said the incident on board the Delhi-Raipur flight has been reported at the Mumbai headquarters of the airline. "Company headquarters is investigating the issue by approaching concerned airports and will revert with the findings on the matter," he said.
Ms Anjlee Agarwal, working with an organisation to provide accessibility to people with reduced mobility, was bodily lifted by four male porters at the Raipur airport while de-boarding as they reportedly refused to provide a wheelchair. At the Delhi airport, she was asked to sign an indemnity bond before she was allowed to board.
On her part, Ms Agarwal will lodge a complaint with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the DGCA and all bodies related with disability rights.
This is not the first time that a disabled person has been harassed by a private airline. " It is astonishing that even after so long; the airlines still follows the same procedure and are insensitive towards disabled people. It is very outrageous and inhuman, Sminu Jindal, MD, Jindal SAW & Chairperson, Svayam told The Hindu.
"In 2008, during my flight to Bangkok, I was asked either to sign an indemnity bond or deplane. And the recent incident with Ms. Ghosh, who was asked to boot off by the pilot thinking that she was mentally disabled, again highlights airlines' apathetic attitude towards disabled passengers,’’ she said.
The issue is not about us being treated like this, but how airlines still refuse to provide basic assistance and dignity to physically-challenged passengers. What’s more shocking is the lack of basic sensitivity, she added.
Nilesh Singit, another differently abled person pointed out that the indemnity form that people with disability are made to sign must be addressed as such people have the same rights when flying and were entitled to same relief and covered by insurance for any mishap or emergency.
Narrating his experience of last year when travelling by Spicejet to Hyderabad from Delhi, he was asked to fill the indemnity form, which he refused. Though the airline gave him a boarding pass and allowed him to board, but a few minutes before take off he was signed to force the form by threatening that the captain would deplane him if he did not sign.
Reacting to these incidents, Javed Abidi of the Disabled Rights Group has suggested that the DGCA and the Chief Commissioner of People with Disabilities should give an exemplary punishment to those guilty by levying a hefty fine and even suspending the pilot who refuses to fly disabled people.
He said the National Trust for Welfare of People with Mental Retardation, Cerebral Palsy and Multiple Disabilities under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment should use the funds to create awareness in the airline industry, from the check in counter staff to the ground personnel to the crew to the pilots.
Meanwhile, condemning the incidents, the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) has said it amounted to violation of the rights of the passengers travelling by air by the "callous and insensitive behaviour’’ of the airline personnel for no other reason except that they were passengers with disabilities.
The ignorance of the airlines personnel cannot be an excuse for the deficiency in service suffered by the passengers, and the trauma that they were forced to undergo, the AIDWA said in a statement while demanding immediate action against those responsible for the incident.
"Moreover, the law to protect the rights of people with disabilities must be widely disseminated and properly implemented. The law should also be amended to penalize transgressions, so that those who suffer from violations can seek appropriate legal remedy,’’ the statement said.
This story has been edited to correct the mistaken impression created in an earlier version that the DGCA has issued fresh guidelines on disabled passengers.
