Gaya, a prime junction on the East Central Railway’s Grand Chord section, has little mercy for differently abled passengers.
Only two wheelchairs serve thousands of passengers boarding 86 long-distance trains, including four Rajdhani Expresses and mail trains apart from around 40 passenger ones. Only one wheelchair is available at a time to carry disabled persons up to platforms on rotation, while the other is kept in reserve.
Sources said voluntary organisations donated wheelchairs but the Gaya Junction administration has no answer on their status.
On March 18, Satish Kumar, a retired veterinary doctor, had to board the Bhubaneswar-Delhi Rajdhani Express at Gaya Junction, scheduled to leave at 11.13pm. He was going to Delhi for treatment of diabetes, high blood pressure and hypertension owing to which he is unable to walk or stand for long. To reach platform number one, he needed a wheelchair.
However, when his son, Manish, approached the deputy station superintendent’s office, he was told that there was only one wheelchair at Gaya Junction and even that had taken away by a coolie.
Other such passengers travelling on the long-distance express, mail and passenger trains on routes like Gaya-Patna, Gaya-Kiul, Gaya-Dhanbad and Gaya-Mughalsarai have to face similar problem. Four Rajdhani Expresses — Howrah, Bhubaneswar, Ranchi and Sealdah — touch Gaya Junction daily.
Kumar was lucky to get the wheelchair when his son contacted the Mughalsarai divisional railway manager (DRM) Anup Kumar and Gaya Junction station manager Nagendra Kumar.
Sources said voluntary organisations donated wheelchairs to Gaya Junction from time to time. “A Lucknow-based organisation, Mangalam, had donated a wheelchair around four years back,” said Gaya-based orthopaedic surgeon R. Kumar, the secretary of the organisation. Another NGO donated two wheelchairs around two years ago, said Magadh University professor Ranjit Kumar Verma.
DRM Kumar said he would conduct a probe to find out about the wheelchairs donated by the organisations.”
