Chennai: Disability rights activist denied use of battery-operated vehicle at Central Station

On Tuesday night, TMN Deepak, founder-president, December 3 movement, was headed to Tiruchi. Since he had to catch the train from platform 5 at Chennai Central, he requested the driver of the battery-operated vehicle to take him there. He was refused. 

Deepak has posted the incident on his Facebook page stating, "Discrimination rendered to me has been reported in The Hindu. Will this make railways to be more responsible to people with disabilities and a common man????? Will fight relentlessly....."

According to a report in The Hindu, Deepak was denied use of the vehicle as it had been reserved for the Governor that night. He was then forced to walk half a kilometre to board the train. The report added that Deepak has filed a complaint at the Tiruchi’s station manager’s office. 

Some media has stated that the Governor’s office apologised to him. However, The Hindu reports that Raj Bhavan has stated that the Governor was ‘apologetic’ about the event but no official apology note was issued.