The Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) revised rules for disabled air travellers that required a doctor’s opinion to permit them to fly is an “insult to injury” as it conflated disability and ill-health, and must be rolled back, demanded disability rights groups.
The aviation safety regulator on Friday amended its Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on Carriage by Air - Persons with Disability. While the rule said that disability can't be ground for denying boarding to a passenger, it stated that if the airline perceives that a passenger's health can deteriorate during a flight, it must seek a doctor's opinion on whether such a person is fit to fly or not.
"The DGCA's rule penalises those who are atypical in appearance, communication or behavioural expression by requiring additional screening by the average lay person or medical professional who has not been exposed or sensitised to disability or even diversity of the human experience," said the Freedom of Movement Coalition (FMC), a pan-India group advocating for equity in transport.
The amendment is inappropriate in its conflation of ill health and disability, and a fitness certificate discriminates and targeted people with disability, when no such requirement was being imposed on the general population who may be sick, the group pointed out.
Rajiv Rajan, Executive Director of Ektha, an organisation for persons with disabilities, said the revised rules once again underlined the lack of trust towards disabled people.
"We would never want to harm ourselves or anyone else flying with us. Our families who know atleast something about our conditions wouldn't let us fly either, if they know we are unfit to fly," Mr. Ranjan told The Hindu.
“The reality is that “disruptions” or “safety” incidents during a flight could be more likely babies crying due to ear pain, someone having a cardiac crisis or a drunk passenger being offensive or belligerent. Are we going to make all passengers undergo a breathalyser and BP test or encourage co-passengers, staff and crew to be flexible and accommodative of differences,” the FMC asked.
The NGOs said that the government should have instead reviewed lapses in policy implementation for passengers with disabilities, including being carried up the stairs on a wheelchair, inaccessible shuttle vehicles, inappropriate wheelchairs, loss and damage of wheelchairs, and long waits.
