Date:12/06/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/06/12/stories/2004061211550700.htm

Tamil Nadu

Fresh guidelines coming for rail concession to disabled

By S. Vijay Kumar

MADURAI, JUNE 11. The Southern Railway is contemplating issuing fresh guidelines to the reservation staff on procedures to be followed for granting travel concession to the physically-challenged.

With complaints pouring in of rejection of "valid concession claims", the general manager's office has sent a circular to all divisional headquarters, asking them to submit a report on the number of medical certificates to which the Accounts department raised objections.

The circular said numerous complaints of refusal of concession certificates/orders by reservation/booking clerks were received at the railway public grievances cell.

The reason attributed to the refusal was that the Accounts department was objecting to the concessions granted to some persons on the ground that their ailment was not covered under orthopaedic disability.

For instance, the reservation staff recently granted a concession ticket to M. Harikrishnan (48) of Madurai, who had a certificate issued by a Bangalore-based government hospital certifying that he had 50 per cent disability due to osteoarthritis.

However, the Accounts department held that concession could not be given for this disability, and recovery of money from the booking clerk was ordered.

Similarly concession tickets issued to S. Suryakanth (44) of Gulbarga in Karnataka, who produced a certificate stating he had 75 per cent of "attacking epilepsy" and that he could not travel without an escort, were rejected.

For, epilepsy was not an orthopaedic disability.

The clerk who issued the tickets was asked to "bear" the fare difference.

There are umpteen such cases, which have caused discontent among the reservation staff in the Madurai division.

Apart from being wary of fake medical certificates, the ticketing staff have to carefully consider whether the disability suffered by the passengers is entitled to concession or not.

"We have no idea of medical terminologies and their classification. The enquiry-cum-reservation clerks are not exposed to the various kinds of orthopaedic disabilities. Moreover, the writings on medical certificates are usually not legible. How can we be held responsible and made to pay for ineligible claims," asks a reservation official.

To put an end to the confusion, the Southern Railway will conduct a proper study to prepare a booklet with dos and don'ts for issuing concession tickets.

The revised guidelines are also expected to focus on how the staff can identify fake medical certificates, which are allegedly being used by a section of passengers for claiming concessions regularly for long-distance travel.