It was a programme to honour the differently abled but what was witnessed by many at the event triggered an outrage.
At the programme organised in Sector 16, Panchkula, the differently abled could be seen dragging themselves up the stairs. What shocked the attendees more, as seen in a photograph published in The Tribune, was that some of the guests present on the stage merely stood as onlookers as the differently abled struggled to reach them.
The Tribune reports that there were no proper arrangements for the differently abled at the event held at Aggarwal Bhawan. Though the organisers claimed that a ramp facility was available and volunteers had been deployed to help the differently abled, the problems faced by the very people who were to be honoured were conspicuous.
Eyewitnesses said they did not spot any ramp either at the entrance of the building or the stage. Even those honoured at the event they could not “spot the ramp facility” and “there was no one to guide us properly”.
Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki was the chief guest on the occasion. Others present were former Union Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, Panchkula MLA Gian Chand Gupta and WWE wrestler The Great Khali.
Volunteers were seen lifting the differently abled to the main stage where they were given tricycles and wheelchairs by the dignitaries. The Tribune photograph being circulated on social media shows a differently abled woman dragging herself up a flight of stairs to the stage as the dignitaries look on.
The organisers said she had refused help from the volunteers who had offered to lift her up to the stage.
Programme organiser Surinder Goel, who is the president of Agar Kranti Manch, claimed that those who did not take help of the volunteers and climbed the stairs did so out of their own will.
However, people who witnessed the ceremony wondered why the dignitaries themselves did not come down from the stage to hand over the gifts to the differently abled.
“They were jittery. The differently abled did not feel confident at being carried this way and were afraid they might fall,” a guest, who did not wish to be named, told Thestatesman.com.
Barrier-free environment
The Persons with Disability Act specifically calls for “barrier-free environment” in all architecture for the ease of the differently abled as defined in the Act. A barrier-free environment necessitates the removal of certain types of construction that only able-bodied persons can use and the construction of such architecture, such as ramps and specific door types, for the safe and free movement of persons with disability.
As per Census 2011, there are 2.68 crore ‘disabled’ persons in India.