Woman in Wheelchair Claims Kolkata Airport Security Staff Demanded She Stand

Dear Colleagues,

Here is another goof up reported by a wheelchair user traveller. Ms. Arushi Singh, a traveler who uses wheelchair for mobility has alleged that she was asked to "stand up" by a security personnel at the Kolkata airport on 31st January 2024.

Sharing the incident on her X account on Feb 01, Ms. Singh said that she ws asked by a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel to stand up thrice during the security clearance.

"First she asked me to get up and walk two steps into the kiosk. Told her I can't as I have a disability. Inside she again asked me to stand up. I said I can't. She said sirf 2 minute khade ho jao (stand up for just two minutes). I explained again that I have a disability by birth," Ms. Singh, who is a law student according to her X bio, alleged.

Yesterday evening during the security clearance at Kolkata airport, the officer asked me (a wheelchair user) to stand up, not once but thrice. First she asked me to get up and walk two steps into the kiosk. (1/1)

— Arushi Singh (@singhharushi) February 1, 2024

This appalling lack of empathy has left me "shaken and furious", she expressed, adding that there have been instances in the past too, and shows that Kolkata airport has "learnt nothing" from them.

"Does the CISF manual on airport security ask to insult people with disability," she asked.

"Given that most wheelchair assistants were helping passengers, the officer in question did not feel the need to help me out of the kiosk when the security clearance was completed. Moreover, there was a 20-minute delay before wheelchair assistance was provided," she claimed.

There is an urgent need to re-look at the treatment of passengers with disabilities by the Kolkata airport authorities, Ms Singh added.