When Disabled (Divyang) Can’t Come to them, Pune police officers Go to Them!
Pune – On April 5, when Rafique Khan, who is bound to wheel-chair, and seven other disabled social workers who had come to meet Pune police commissioner Rashmi Shukla as a goodwill gesture, suffered rude treatment right from the time they entered the gates of the office in Camp. They had to wait on the ground floor for hours.
Reason : The police commissioner and many other senior officers have their cabins on the first floor, and there is neither ramp nor lift to go there.
After being made to wait for hours, the wheelchair-bound social workers were lifted by policemen to reach the first floor to meet up with city’s top cop Shukla.
Later Khan, who is also spokesperson of NGO Prahar Kranti Andolan which works for the cause of the physically challenged, and other social workers met Shukla narrated their ordeal. They demanded construction of a ramp and a lift for the disabled at the commissionerate. They had also asked for permission to come inside the premises with their vehicles and police personnel need to be sensitised about Divyang people.
Shukla instructed her officials to take note of the suggestions made by the disabled social workers. Accordingly, the public works department (PWD) constructed ramps on the front and rear of the police commissioner office building.
On July 31, the group again came to meet Shukla and congratulated for getting the ramps constructed. Police had received funds from government to provide barrier-free environment in buildings.
Going a step ahead, Shukla issued instructions, which are pasted on walls along ramps, that Divyang persons need not go on upper floors to meet senior officers, but the officers will come to meet them on the ground floor.
Also they will be allowed entry with vehicle through gate no. 3 and walking through gate no. 2 (which was open only for foreigners).
After completion of tenure, Shukla has been posted out as ADG (traffic). While going, she has left her mark for Divyang persons.
