Suresh Prabhu showed a small ray of hope for differently-abled citizens by offering Braille-enabled coaches for the visually-impaired. However, not everyone is happy.

The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled called the Rail Budget disappointing and said that “none of the major concerns of persons with disabilities have been addressed”.

Prabhu announced that newly manufactured coaches will be Braille-enabled and the Rail Coach Factory will also explore the possibility of building wider entrances for the ease of differently-abled passengers.

Other demands of the group included tactile markings to guide visually-impaired individuals to entry points, bridges, stairs and platforms; and provision of Braille signage on entry/exit points and on railing of foot over-bridges. The group also criticised the vision behind wider doors saying, “This would be meaningful only if issues like the reduction of the gap (height) between the platform and the compartment, manoeuvring space inside the compartments and accessible toilets are also addressed”. Prabhu announced an allocation of ₹120 crore for “lifts and escalators major stations to facilitate easy movement of the elderly and differently-abled”, though such plans have been repeated. Further, Prabhu has announced a facility of “online booking of wheel chair” for senior-citizen and persons with disabilities. However, the service, which was till now free, is now on a “payment basis”.

The Railway Budget has tried to address another vulnerable group — women. Prabhu announced that the Nirbhaya Fund would be used to augment security of women. Prabhu, however, announced only one measure — installation of surveillance cameras in selected mainline coaches and ladies’ compartments of suburban coaches — besides setting up of a toll-free number for complaints.

Unmanned crossings

To address the problem of accidents on unmanned level crossings, the Minister said the government’s “ultimate objective is to eliminate all unmanned level crossings by construction of road over bridges (ROBs) and road under bridges (RUBs).”

“I am happy to announce that in the next financial year 970 number of ROB/RUBs and other safety-related works to eliminate 3,438 level crossings at a total expense of ₹6,581 crore have been sanctioned,” Prabhu said.

The Research, Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) is designing new systems to prevent fire and prevent coaches from climbing over each other during accidents, Prabhu added. The government will install train protection warning systems and train collision avoidance system on select routes.

Related Topics