08 May,2011 08:23 AM IST | | Akela
Two Railway Police Force officials ask handicapped RTI activist to vacate a public bench, saying it is reserved for them
A disabled persons' rights activist suffering from 80 per cent disability was asked to vacate a bench at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus station on which he was resting, by the Mumbai Railway Protection Force. Three officials told RTI activist Samir Zaveri, who wears prosthetic legs after he lost both his limbs in a rail accident, to vacate the bench he was sitting on, saying it was meant for RPF officials. The public bench donated by the Mehta Trust, has a handwritten note on a paper stuck on the wall above it that states that it is meant for use by the RPF only.
On May 5, at 1 pm, 45 year-old Zaveri sat down to rest on the bench located near the railway reservation office. A few RPF officials who were eating lunch on the nearby bench asked him to leave. Even though Zaveri told them he was disabled, they refused to let him stay. An eyewitness said the RPF men were rude to Zaveri.
"They said, 'Dekhte nahin kya ki uspe notice laga hai, sirf RPF staff ke liye (Can't you see the notice on the bench reads, for RPF staff only)'," said Dharmendra Mishra. "I told them I am disabled, I lost my both legs in a rail accident. I cannot stand for long. But the RPF officials ignored my pleas.
They rudely asked me to vacate the bench," said Zaveri. Aghast at the behaviour of the RPF officials, Zaveri decided to lodge a complaint. He went to the stationmaster and station manager's office, but neither were available.
The complaint book, meant precisely for such issues, was missing too. Zaveri finally lodged a complaint on the public grievance website of the railways (MiD DAY has a copy of the complaint).u00a0When contacted, Shakil Khan, senior inspector, RPF, said, "There is no bench at that spot. The RPF department has nothing to do with that bench. I am unaware of the incident. If Zaveri, who knows me, has any complaint, he should meet me."
