Armed with powers under Aircraft (amendment) Act 2020, DGCA levies penality of Rs. 5 lacs on IndiGo Airlines for denying boarding to child with disabilty at Ranchi Airport

Dear colleagues,

Please refer to our earlier post  "On Mothers Day, a Special mother harrassed by an insensitive and arrogant Indigo Manager at Ranchi Airport, India" 

The ground staff's refusal to allow the child from boarding the aircraft on the ground that he was a safety risk had drawn widespread criticism, prompting the aviation regulator to launch a probe. The Union Minister for Civil Aviation Shri JM Scindia had himself ordered a probe into the incident saying, "There is zero tolerance towards such behaviour. No human being should have to go through this! Investigating the matter by myself, post which appropriate action will be taken."

Subsequently, the regulator DGCA constituted a 3-member team to conduct a fact-finding probe. The findings of the committee prima facie indicated inappropriate handling of passengers by the IndiGo staff thereby resulting in certain non-conformances with the applicable regulations.

The DGCA probe found the IndiGo ground staff “deficient” in their handling of the passenger with disability and lacking in sensitivity and thus ended up exacerbating the situation. 

These findings are based on a fact-finding exercise carried out by a three-member committee constituted by the DGCA which visited the Ranchi airport, met the family members of the special needs child , an eyewitness and met IndiGo officials too.

This had led to DGCA issuing a "showcause notice" to the airline through its authorized representative to explain as to why suitable enforcement action should not be taken against them for the non-conformances (as a requirement of the law), thereby providing an opportunity to the airline for personal hearing as well as for making written submissions till 26th of May 2022.

“A more compassionate handling would have smoothened the nerves, calmed the child and obviated the need for the extreme step resulting in denied boarding to the passengers.” DGCA’s Director General Arun Kumar said in a press statement. 

"Special situations deserve extraordinary responses but the Airline staff failed to rise up to the occasion and in the process committed lapses in adherence to the letter and spirit of the Civil Aviation Requirements (Regulations)," the statement said, adding that the competent authority has decided to impose a penalty of ₹ 5 lakh on the airline.

This is importnat since it is for the very first time for any airline in the country to be fined by the DGCA on this ground since the recent amendments in the Aircraft (amendment) Act 2020 gave the powers to DGCA to levy fines without approaching a civil court for non compliance of Rules issued under the Aircraft Act. 

The DGCA has also said that it will also make amendments to the Civil Aviation Requirement on “Carriage by Air of Persons with Disability or Persons with reduced mobility” to ensure written consultation with the airport doctor on the state of the passenger’s health as well as the opinion of the Pilot-in-Command on allowing such a passenger on board before he or she is denied boarding.

The DGCA also wants airlines to revisit their standard operating procedures and training processes for dealing with people with disabilities.

Related news: The Hindu

On Mothers Day, a Special mother harrassed by an insensitive and arrogant Indigo Manager at Ranchi Airport, India

Dear Colleages,

The airlines may be talking big, but their employees bring all the efforts back to square one. Indigo has worked hard to gain respect of passengers with disabilities for their accessible facilities and timely departures, but if the below account shared by a sensitive fellow passenger who saw what unfolded at the Ranchi Airport on 07th May 2022, is to be understood in right context, it only indicates that disability sensitivity trainings are not happening correctly and not all is good with Indigo too.

A Facebook post on how the staff of IndiGo airlines barred an adolescent with special needs from boarding a plane along with his parents at the Ranchi airport on Saturday has created an uproar on social media forcing the airline to issue a statement clarifying why its staff did so. The Facebook post originally shared by Manisha Gupta who witnessed the incident has now gone viral. 

"The Indigo staff announced that the child would not be allowed to take the flight. That he was a risk to other passengers. That he would have to become 'normal', before he could be travel-worthy. And the staff then went on to state something on lines of 'behaviours such as this, and that of drunk passengers, deems them unfit to travel," the Facebook post written by Manisha Gupta said.

 

 AN INCIDENT OF DISCRIMINATION AND SHAME AT THE RANCHI AIRPORT 

Yesterday (07th May 2022), at the Ranchi airport, an adolescent with special needs, was in great distress. He had had a very uncomfortable  car ride to the airport. By the time he had gone through security check and reached the gate (almost an hour ahead of boarding), he seemed to be in the throes of hunger, thirst, anxiety and confusion. 

His parents obviously knew how to handle his meltdown - with patience, some cajoling, some stern-ness, many hugs etc. And the other passengers were stopping by to ask if they needed any help or support. 

This caught the attention of the #indigoairlines  staff, who walked upto the trio, and warned them that he would not let them board, if the child did not quieten down and become 'normal'.

By the time the boarding began, the child had been fed. He had had many sips of juice and water. His parents had successfully given him his medicine and he seemed ready...except for some big displays of general teenage assertiveness.

Then we witnessed the full display of brute authority and power. 

The Indigo staff announced that the child would not be allowed to take the flight. That he was a risk to other passengers. That he would have to become 'normal', before he could be travel-worthy. And the staff then went on to state something on lines of 'behaviours such as this, and that of drunk passengers, deems them unfit to travel.'

He was immediately gheraoed by other passengers. They opposed him resolutely. They assured the staff that as co-travellers, they had no objection to the child and his parents boarding the flight. Several went on to the Indigo airline website and challenged the Indigo manager to calibrate his decision with corresponding statements in the rule book. 

There was a delegation of doctors who were taking the same flight. They asked the ground staff to get the airport doctor and let him/her take a call on the fitness of the child to travel. They offered to provide full support to the child and his parents, if any health episode were to occur mid-air. "We are doctors traveling with this child and his family. Now let him board," they said.

Other doctors, teachers, government officials emerged from the widening ring of passengers. They held  up their mobile phones with news articles, Twitter posts on supreme court judgements on how no airline could discriminate against passengers with disabilities.

"This child is in uncontrollable. He is in a state of panic," the Indigo manager kept shouting and telling everyone. But all we could see was a young adolescent, sitting very quietly on a wheel chair, terror-striken by how he was being called out as a risk to the normal world. "The only person who is in panic is you," a woman passenger retorted.

 "I am a government official and I can tell you that it is this child's right to travel. You cannot discriminate against him," a senior passenger said. "This is my decision and you cannot do anything about it," the manager said very sharply.

'Why don't you confer with the captain?' ' Please call your manager'. 'His normal is not the same as your normal'. 'Look, he has travelled many times before on flights. He was a just having a bad day, he is fine now.' ' Yes, please let him travel'...

Threats, pleas, dialogue, negotiations, hands folded in request --- nothing  from the parents and circle of passengers worked in the face of that one person who had made up his mind last evening to fully exercise his power to exclude those who did not belong to his world of 'normal',  and  'fit' people.

Then, at the end of it all, the Indigo flight from Ranchi to Hyderabad departed, leaving behind three courageous Indians at the boarding terminal, who probably fight everyday for love, respect and dignity. The security guard locked and secured the boarding gate with an iron padlet and chains, even as the mother pleaded from the other side of the glass door. The other passengers, including us, slowly dispersed to catch our own flights. 

It was late night. Ours was probably the last flight out. As I stepped into the chute to board, I caught a last glimpse of this family -  a father, mother and child on a wheelchair, standing alone in a large, empty and deserted terminal, ring-fenced by airport staff and security. 

As I write this, all I remember is that in those 45 minutes of argument, temper, rage and contestation, the three had not once lost their dignity or raised their voice or spoken one irrational word. Not for a moment did they come across as unbeaten.

"Do you know what it means to be a parent?," the mother had asked the airline manager. "Do you think as a mother, I would ever let my child harm himself or anyone?"

What unfolded last evening at the Ranchi evening was a snapshot of  us . Us as a 'no country for mothers. Us as a 'co country for children'. No country for mothers who are different, No country for mothers who are raising children who are different.

#indigoairline - you are a disgrace to this country.

#mothersday2022

Another account by a Doctor traveling on the same flight as given to the Quint.

'As a Doctor, I Urged The IndiGo Manager to Let The Special Needs Child Board'

The nicest thing to come out of this sad story was the sensitivity of people.

DR SUMIT RAY

Updated: 10 May 2022, 1:02 PM IST

(Dr Sumit Ray is a senior consultant in critical care medicine. He was waiting at the Ranchi Airport when IndiGo barred a child with disabilities to board a flight to Hyderabad. The following is an as-told-to account, recorded and written by Sakshat Chandok.)

I was waiting at the Ranchi Airport on 7 May when I heard that a special needs child was crying. He was irritable and hungry as he had just come from a long, uncomfortable car ride, and his parents were looking after him.

He also had a cast on his arm, and was probably in some pain and discomfort, which made him restless and added to his woes.

Since he was a child with multiple disabilities, he took some time to calm down. When he finally did, it was time for their flight to start boarding passengers.

At that time, a manager from IndiGo said that since the child was "crying and panicking", he couldn't allow him to board the flight. He has to become "normal", the manager asserted.

Since the child was stopped from boarding, many passengers took it up with the the IndiGo representative. They explained to him that the child has special needs, and that he was restless earlier but had calmed down later. And after the child had stopped crying, he was sitting calmly on the wheelchair for 25-30 minutes.

There was also a team of six to seven doctors who were also boarding the same flight as the child and his parents. They said that if there is any problem on board, they would take care of it. "He's a child on a wheelchair," the doctors told the manager, adding, "He cannot be a threat to anybody.”

IndiGo Manager Was Unempathetic and Particularly Aggressive

The IndiGo manager was arguing with everybody. "You don’t understand. The child is panicking," he said, asserting that people who are under the influence of alcohol or behaving like the child would not be allowed to board.

Everybody got angry with him, but still people were very polite. The passengers on his flight and on other flights came together to explain to him, cajole him, but to no avail. They also urged him to call his senior, to which he said, "I am the senior person."

At that point I questioned him, “Do you even understand what the child’s problem is?” To which he replied that he knew it. So, I asked him what the child suffered from. “That’s not important. He was panicking," the manager retorted.

We asked him whether there was a doctor in the IndiGo team, to which he said that there wasn’t one. Then I suggested to him to call the airport doctor to examine the child.

Some people even asked him to talk to the captain of the flight. He said, “No, I know better.”

I also said that as doctors, we know that the child is not going to be a threat to anybody. But he just refused. He was aggressive and unempathetic.

Lacking in Training

I’m not trying to blame any airline. IndiGo has a fair reputation of taking care of people with special needs. But obviously there is something lacking in their training.

And it’s not just training. The manager was particularly difficult. Even the policemen who were there, who have no authority to allow a person on the flight, were asking the manager to let the child board.

He repeatedly said that the child had to become “normal”, to which we said that normal for him is different compared to what it might be for you. He was totally unwilling to listen or understand. He didn’t even know what disability meant.

He knew that most passengers would have to leave to catch their flights sooner or later, so he delayed the entire process to ensure that the child does not board the scheduled flight.

It is absolutely essential that we sensitise staff, particularly those who are dealing with people with special needs at different sites of interaction.

Sensitisation in different areas has certainly helped to create more awareness. In this particular situation, what the media, disability sector activists and others have done, has made people aware of special needs to a great extent.

IndiGo claims that they are good with people with disabilities, and I’m certainly not countering their claim. But in this situation, there was a failure on the part of the system.

According to me, the airline should have flown the child on the next direct flight. They should have an SOP in such a situation, as per which they should become more aware and receptive. Secondly, if so many people are saying something that is in disagreement with the airline’s representative, he needs to involve his seniors.

Sensitivity of People The Only Good Thing to Come Out Of This Sad Story

The nicest thing to come out of this sad story was the sensitivity of people. There was not a single person apart from the manager who said that the child should not be allowed to board.

Every passenger on the boy’s flight said that they had no problem with the child flying in the same plane. Most people in the airport didn’t know what kind of special needs the child had. But they had the empathy and understanding that he required a special kind of care.

It was just this manager and his ego that did not permit the child to board. “You are stuck now because of your ego,” almost everybody told him, but he didn’t listen.

DGCA constitutes 3 member fact finding committee 

After outrage over an incident of alleged discrimination against a child with disabilities by IndiGo airlines, India's aviation regulatory body, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on Monday, 9 May, constituted a 3-member team to conduct a fact-finding probe. The team will visit Ranchi and Hyderabad to conduct the investigation.

"The fact-finding team will visit Ranchi &Hyderabad and collect appropriate evidence within one week from today. Based on the outcome of the said inquiry, further action shall entail," DGCA said in a statement.

This comes hours after Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, on Monday, 9 May, said in a tweet, "There is zero tolerance towards such behaviour. No human being should have to go through this! Investigating the matter by myself, post which appropriate action will be taken."

NCPCR Takes Cognisance of the Incident

Meanwhile, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Priyank Kanoongo said in a tweet, “An incident of misbehaviour with a specially-abled child by staff of IndiGo at Ranchi airport has come out. Cognisance is being taken for appropriate action.”

Source: The Quint

Indigo boy, my child — Travelling with autism (Indian Expresss)

Shubhra Gupta writes: How long will it take for us to realise it is not just about him, that we all need the wind beneath our wings?

Disabled woman, 80, made to strip at Assam airport - Reports Times of India

Guwahati | 25 Mar 2022 | Kangkan Kalita | Times of India

An 80-year-old Nagaland woman in a wheelchair was allegedly made to pull down her undergarment during security check at Guwahati airport on Thursday after her surgically embedded hip plate caused CISF personnel on duty to suspect something was amiss.

Her daughter, anthropologist Dolly Kikon, later tweeted that the CISF team also harassed the woman’s caretaker when she wanted to lodge a complaint. “It’s disgusting! My 80-year-old disabled mother was forced to pull down her undergarment and get naked. Why?” Kikon wrote.

@CISFHQrs
My 80 year old disabled mom was made to strip at the CISFsecurity check at Guwahati airport. The security personnel wanted "proof" of her titanium hip implant and forced her to undress. @himantabiswa @guwahatiplus @GuwahatiAirport
Is that how we treat seniors

— Dolly Kikon (@DollyKikon) March 24, 2022

Airport officials admitted the CISF personnel could have been more sensitive. “Minutes after the incident was reported, airport officials and CISF officers spoke to the lady and the person who was with her. They left for Delhi by a GoAir flight, apparently in a happy mood. The tweet was made before the issue was resolved,” said chief airport officer Utpal Baruah. Later, Kikon said senior officials, including the CISF DIG, had reached out to her.

Airport sources said several instances of gold being smuggled through passengers in wheelchair, including in their rectum, had made CISF personnel extra cautious.

Source: Times of India

Wheelchair user, a Professor denied boarding on Air India flight- at Kolkata Airport

Defauting Airline: Air India

Name: Prof. Kaushik Majumdar, from the Indian Statistical Institute 

Date of Incident : 07 March 2022 (Monday)

Aiport: Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore

Traveling between: Bangalore to Kolkata

Complaint: Airline denied the boarding to wheelchair using flyer, as the airline felt that the wheelchair runs on four batteries instead of two - which was claimed to be the DGCA Requirement.  The dry cell batteries are usually safe unlike wet batteries and are allowed to be carried on the aircraft usually. The same airlines has carried it in the past for the same customer.

Brief:

A senior professor suffering from post polio paralysis was denied boarding on a Kolkata-bound Air India flight at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Monday morning, over his wheelchair. “Even after security clearance, I was denied boarding the flight with my wheelchair, because runs on four batteries instead of two, which is claimed to be the DGCA requirement,” Prof. Kaushik Majumdar, with the Indian Statistical Institute said. 

Prof. Majumdar said he had been travelling on Air India using the electric wheelchair for many years now. “I had faced a similar problem in 2017, but even after that I have travelled many times without any hassles. I contacted the Air India office on Friday, where employees recognised me as I fly frequently. They said there won’t be any problem, but that was not the case on Monday. The captain of the flight Mr. Sandeep Marwah declined to allow the wheelchair to be loaded in the aircraft (in the cargo hold as usual), for the four batteries were too dangerous. The wheelchair is designed to travel by air without removing the batteries. The batteries were maintenance free dry lead-acid cells (sealed),” Prof. Majumdar said. 

“I was made to wait for over an hour and finally was denied boarding and my boarding pass was taken away. As all others were allowed to board, I was made to wait and finally denied boarding,” Prof. Majumdar complained. “There is ambiguity in the rules on the batteries aspect, leading to different people interpreting the rule differently,” he said. 

However, in a statement they released Monday evening, Air India said: “When he was asked to dismantle the batteries of his wheelchair conforming to DGR regulations regarding carriage of restricted items, he could not remove the same and insisted on having the wheelchair with the batteries with him in the cabin, flouting all laid down rules, clearly documented in our website and explained to him repeatedly. As there was no other alternative, the passenger had to be disembarked to adhere to safety requirements,” it added, denying any ill treatment or harassment on their part. “It may be noted that there was an identical situation involving the same passenger at Bengaluru airport in 2017, wherein the rules prohibiting his battery operated wheelchair from being taken inside the aircraft were explained to him,” Air India further said. 

Source: The Hindu, Bangaluru

Air4All, new aeroplane seating system by PriestmanGoode holds hope for air travellers with reduced mobility to stay in their wheelchairs during entire travel.

Dear Colleagues,

This is so great to hear that PriestmanGoode has designed a aeroplane seating that allows air travellers to stay in their electric/ powered wheelchairs and travel with dignity. 

Unveiled as 'Air 4 All-, an aeroplane seating system that will allow powered wheelchair users to remain in their own wheelchairs for the entire journey. Developed by PriestmanGoode in a consortium with campaign group Flying Disabled and aircraft safety company SWS Certification, the concept is designed for commercial flights and is currently being developed into a prototype.

The concept design looks like a standard airline seat, but the bottom flips up when required to make room for a wheelchair, with a guide track to help position the chair and an attachment system that securely fixes it in place. The best thing is, the seats function as regular airline seats, if there is no wheelchair that require access. 

Picture: PriestmanGoode says Air 4 All will allow airlines to give powered wheelchair users equal access to safe, comfortable and dignified air travel, while letting the companies retain their seat count.

"The biggest barrier in the past has been that giving greater space to passengers in wheelchairs would have reduced seat count and resulted in a loss of revenue for airlines," said PriestmanGoode chairman Paul Priestman.

"Air 4 All solves this problem and has the added benefit of enabling airlines to retain the design of their cabin on every seat, ensuring brand consistency and a cohesive brand experience for all passengers," he continued.

"Air 4 All will facilitate a smoother boarding and disembarking experience for PRMs [passengers with reduced mobility] and will also significantly reduce the number of wheelchairs that are damaged through poor handling."

PriestmanGoode's vision is for Air 4 All to work similarly to the Isofix/LATCH standards for child safety seats in passenger cars, with various wheelchair models becoming certified for flying. Both the airline seats and wheelchairs will need to be fitted with the consortium's patented installation and attachment system for Air 4 All to work.

Another partner on the project, wheelchair manufacturer Sunrise Medical, will undertake the task of creating powered wheelchairs that are fit to fly, as well as retrofitting old models. Eventually, the system will be opened up to all airlines and wheelchair manufacturers.

"In the same way that child seats for cars can be made by many different manufacturers and used on any type of car, our aim for Air 4 All is that it's universal," Priestman told Dezeen. "At PriestmanGoode we design many trains, trams and buses and for all these modes of transport there are strict requirements to provide positions to allow people to travel on board whilst seated in a wheelchair."

"It is wrong that currently onboard aircraft there is no such provision," Priestman continued. "I believe the Air 4 All system has provided a solution that will at last correct this and allow wheelchair users to travel as they should like everybody else."

The prototype of Air 4 All is expected to be ready in December 2021. The initial design is for a narrow-body aircraft with two rows of two seats. It converts the front-row seats and creates a capacity for up to two wheelchairs per row.

PriestmanGoode says it is working with a subsidiary of a major airline to bring the product to market, and the long-term vision is to extend the system to other modes of travel such as rail and metro.

Flying Disabled founder Chris Wood has been campaigning for accessibility in aviation since 2015 and said the consortium was "actively working with all the necessary parties" to ensure its solution was harmonised and fit for purpose.

"Air 4 All is the first system that has been developed jointly by a design agency, a certification body and with input from the disabled community," he said. "With a leading global wheelchair manufacturer as well as the subsidiary of a major airline on board to develop the product, it's a truly collaborative project."

PriestmanGoode is an industrial design studio specialising in transport design. Among its other recent concept designs is an autonomous taxi modelled on London's Brutalist architecture and a pandemic-proof aircraft passenger cabin with dirt trap-free surfaces.

Our take:- For this project to be a success and its quick adoption by the stakeholders particularly the airlines and the users-groups, the consortium has to ensure that the cost of certified model of the powered wheelchair remains affordable so that maximum users can adopt this and airlines find it a win win situation. 

The success of this project is therefore hidden in maximum flyers with reduced mobility adopting the certified wheelchairs, else the airlines will end up continuing the present system in light of legal requirements. The Governments could also come forward to support travellers with disabilities/ PRMs with subsidies. In addition, the airlines could also think of partnering with frequent fliers and support them with this technology since adoption of this would definitely bring gains to all the parties.

The other issue is, whether onboard accessible toilets can accommodate the current wheelchair on the toilet seat. Without this facility, it would be difficult to claim full accessibility and dignity to the flyers with reduced mobility and this definitely can't work for long haul flights.

Source: Dezeen dot com

Civil Aviation Ministry issued Draft guidelines to ensure ease during air travel for disabled people - Business Standard

The Civil Aviation Ministry on Tuesday issued draft guidelines for aviation sector stakeholders such as airlines and airports to ensure disabled people can travel at ease

NEW DELHI : The Civil Aviation Ministry on Tuesday issued draft guidelines for aviation sector stakeholders such as airlines and airports to ensure disabled people can travel at ease.

Actor and dancer Sudha Chandran had last week, in a video posted on social media, narrated her ordeal of how she was made to remove her prosthetic limb every time during a security check at any airport.

According to the draft guidelines, airport operators must make special arrangements to facilitate screening of persons with special needs so that the process is carried out efficiently "keeping the dignity and privacy of the passenger in mind".

During the screening of prosthetics, the airport security -- which is handled by the CISF at most of the airports -- might use X-ray, explosive trace detection devices or visual checks according to their requirement, it mentioned.

The passenger -- who has a prosthetic limb -- will first pass through the door frame metal detector and should then be taken to a private screening point and made to sit comfortably, it noted.

This passenger will then receive additional screening including a pat-down, the draft guidelines said.

"A prosthetic appliance which does not have any foam padding cover under which any weapon or explosive can be concealed and in which the steel rod of the appliance is clearly visible may be screened by visual inspection and ETD checks only, without removing it."

However, in rare cases, where there is sufficient justification including profiling of the passenger, X-ray screening may be resorted to, it stated, adding the justification for subjecting a prosthetic limb to X-ray screening shall be recorded by the screener in a register.

Prosthetic appliances that are covered in foam padding and in which the steel rod is not visible must undergo X-ray screening, it mentioned.

The draft guidelines also said that passengers who have external devices including insulin pumps, hearing aids, cochlear implants, spinal stimulators, bone growth stimulators and ostomies will not have to disconnect them for X-ray screening.

Under most circumstances, a passenger can conduct a self-pat-down of these devices followed by ETD screening of his or her hands, it added.

Disabled passengers should inform the airline about their complete requirement 48 hours before the scheduled departure so that the carrier can make necessary arrangements, it mentioned.

If a passenger wants to check-in their wheelchair at the airport, the airline must ensure that the wheelchair is duly taxed and sent to the baggage make-up area with a service partner to avoid any damage, it noted.

Passengers should check with the airline on the specific requirements of bringing service animals on flights. A low floor coach or a ramp should be used for comfortable boarding or debarring of wheelchair users, the draft guidelines mentioned.

"Airlines should ensure that a disability awareness training is conducted for new hires and ensure periodic refreshers are conducted for all staff to reiterate policies and standard operating procedures on customer assistance with different types of disabilities," it mentioned.

The Civil Aviation Ministry has given three weeks for people to send their comments and suggestions on the draft "Accessibility Standards and Guidelines for Civil Aviation", after which final guidelines will be issued.

Source: Business Standard 

CISF issues apology after Sudha Chandran shares airport ordeal due to her prosthetic limb

After actor and dancer Sudha Chandran shared her ordeal at the airport due to the ‘grilling’ that was conducted because of her prosthetic limb, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has issued an apology on social media. They have promised that they will look into the matter and will “examine why the lady personnel concerned requested Ms. Sudhaa Chandran to remove the prosthetics.”

Responding to Sudha’s complaint where she also tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, CISF wrote, “We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused to Ms. Sudhaa Chandran. As per protocol, prosthetics are to be removed for security checks only under exceptional circumstances.”

They added, “We will examine why the lady personnel concerned requested Ms. Sudhaa Chandran to remove the prosthetics. We assure Ms. Sudhaa Chandran that all our personnel will be sensitised again on the protocols so that no inconvenience is caused to travelling passengers.”

In an Instagram video shared on Thursday, Sudha Chandran shared that every time she travels for her professional assignments, she is grilled by the security agencies. Despite her request to the airport authorities to conduct an ETD (Explosive Trace Detector) for her artificial limb, they ask her to remove it every time. Sudha Chandran lost her leg in an accident. But she returned to acting and dancing with a prosthetic limb.

The actor also urged PM Modi to issue a card to people with prosthetic limbs just like senior citizens who are issued a card. “Good evening, this is a very personal note that I want to tell to our dear Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji, this is an appeal to the central government, I am Sudhaa Chandran, an actress and dancer by profession, who has danced with an artificial limb and created history and made my country very proud of me,” she said in her post.

“But every time that I go on my professional visits, each time, am stopped at the airport and when I request them at the security, to the CISF officers that please do an ETD (Explosive Trace Detector) for my artificial limb, they still want me to remove my artificial limb and show it to them. Is this humanly possible, Modi ji? Is this what our country is talking about? Is this the respect that a woman gives to another woman in our society?” she asked.

Sudha Chandran is a popular face on Indian television. She became a household name after playing the role of Ramola Sikand in Kaahin Kissii Roz. She has been a part of Ekta Kapoor’s hit TV show Naagin as well.

Source: Indian Express