The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it has agreed in principle to formulate a policy for granting railway travel concessions to acid attack survivors to enable them to travel to well-equipped hospitals in cities for periodic treatment.
On July 16, the bench had sought the views of the Centre on the plea seeking concessional air-conditioned class rail fare for acid attack survivors to enable them to travel to well-equipped hospitals in cities for treatment. Dave had earlier said that there are 21 categories of persons with disabilities (PwDs) and the railways is already providing travel concessions to them. “Due to the nature of the burn injuries, persistent itching, and especially after undergoing surgery, acid attack survivors often need to travel by train in AC coaches. However, they cannot afford the high cost of AC tickets for frequent travels and due to the existing framework, they can neither avail themselves of the earmarked quota otherwise available to PwDs nor the concessional railway fare facility,” the PIL said.
The top court asked the Centre to consider the issue of granting travel concessions to acid attack survivors “liberally”. She said the railways is also contemplating providing an emergency travel quota for all categories of PwDs.
