STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: A large number of patients and senior citizens travelling by trains on daily basis to different destinations from Jammu Railway Station generally search for some help to climb the steep stairs or to walk through the road to enter the railway station complex.
Many a times these people along with their loved ones have to struggle their way to reach platforms and in case of boarding a train from Platform No 2 or 3 their hardships are multiplied in the absence of wheel chairs at the complex.
On ground, investigation by the STATE TIMES correspondent revealed that only one wheel chair is available at the railway platform , which remains locked inside Room No 15 of Railway Platform No 1. Another wheel chair is kept ready at the portico near X-Ray scan ning machine.
There is no sign board placed at any place which guides needy passengers to fetch a wheel chair from Room No 15. No information regarding wheel chair was available with the railway officials present at the inquiry booth. Only handful of railway porters are aware of the fact that the keys of locked down wheel chair is kept inside one of the locker in Room No 15 and in case of any requirement they can fetch the same for needy passengers.
Now the question arises that various organisations have been donating wheel chairs to Station Manager from time-to-time for use of disabled passengers and others where are they vanishing?
According to official sources, “On June 6,2016 Awadhesh Kumar Singh, Deputy General Manager, State Bank of India, Administrative Office Jammu, had donated six wheel chairs to Railway Station Jammu.
On this occasion DRM, Ferozepur Division, Additional DRM and Station Superintendent and Asstt General Manager, Naresh Gupta, Davinder Seth and I M Dhar from State Bank of India, were present.
Similarly on August 28, 2015 a registered NGO, organised a function at Platform No 1, Railway Station Jammu, outside the office premises of Station Manager and handed over three wheel-chairs to Senior DTM Railways Jammu Division R N Meena.
Local shopkeepers at the railway platform told STATE TIMES, “We have seen senior citizens and patients visiting the railway platform either on their own wheel chairs and in some cases if wheel chairs were arranged for them by the station authorities the same were taken away by the needy passengers instead of returning them at the railway platform for other passengers.
Ironically the e-wheel chair services launched by the Railways Ministry does not cover Jammu Railway Station for advance booking of wheel chair facility.
