‘No wheelchair, was hauled like luggage’: Disability rights activist alleges harassment at Guwahati airport

Guwahati, December 13

Disability rights activist Arman Ali on Wednesday alleged that instead of using an ambulift, he was manually lifted by four people at Guwahati airport for alighting an aircraft, in violation of the PWD Act and DGCA guidelines.

The airport authorities, on the other hand, claimed that ambulift, among other facilities for Persons with Disabilities (PWD) is available, and they are yet to receive a formal complaint from Ali.

“Upon arrival at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati from Delhi on Tuesday, no wheelchair was brought on board and I was manually lifted by four people and brought down the stairs,” Ali, the executive director of non-profit organisation National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), told PTI.

‘I felt like being lifted like a baggage… this treatment is inhumane and compromises the dignity and safety of differently-abled individuals,” he said.

Ali said not bringing a personal wheelchair on board and subsequent manual lifting and bringing down the stairs not only violated DGCA guidelines but also the Rights of People With Disabilities Act, 2016.

“In Delhi, I had used the aerobridge like all other passengers but in Guwahati, the aerobridge was not available and so the staircase had been put in place for passengers to disembark. For wheelchair-users or passengers with reduced mobility, they are supposed to have an ambulift and not carry them manually,” he added.

A spokesperson of the Guwahati airport said several facilities for passengers with reduced mobility (PRM) are in place, including wheel-chairs, dedicated parking space, separate entry with ramp, separate washrooms, ambulift for boarding and deboarding and special seats in security hold and check-in areas.

“We have not received any formal complaint from him (Ali),” she said.

The spokesperson claimed the PRM desk at the airport has handled 613 differently-abled passengers in October and 526 in November this year.