Taking serious note of a physically challenged person being refused permission to fly, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday is understood to have issued a notice to Air Sahara asking it to explain the incident.
NGO activist Rajiv Rajan, a cerebral palsy patient, was denied entry into the aircraft in Chennai on Monday by the airline which demanded that he should travel with an escort or produce a “fit to fly” certificate.
Rajan, a sub-committee member of the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities was to attend a meeting in Delhi.  While Air Sahara refused to comment, NGOs demanded guidelines and a disability policy by the government and various airlines.
Upset over the airline’s treatment, Rajan has decided to approach the consumer court and file a PIL against Air Sahara. Rajan said he told the airlines staff that he was a frequent flyer, but they didn’t relent. They even called in the police to send him out of the airport.
Refusing to budge, Rajan asked the airline staff to get in touch with his NGO, Vidya Sagar, which works with children and young adults with neurological impairment. After this, the carrier offered to fly him by a different airline.
However, SpiceJet which was approached, refused to issue him a ticket, saying it did not have an interline agreement with Sahara.
So Rajan could not visit Delhi to attend the meeting which was scheduled to discuss and plan national level training for local level committee members across the country.
Vidya Sagar’s director Rajul Padmanabhan said: “This is a gross violation of a person’s basic human rights. This is an apartheid of a different kind.” Disability Rights Group convener Javed Abidi, said: “This conduct amounts to violation of Rajan’s rights to a life of dignity, equal opportunities, non-discrimination and  freedom of movement.”