Govt agrees to give rail concessions to acid attack victims, tells SC

The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it has agreed in principle to formulate a policy for granting railway travel concessions to acid attack survivors to enable them to travel to well-equipped hospitals in cities for periodic treatment.

The top court asked the Centre to consider the issue of granting travel concessions to acid attack survivors “liberally”.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana took note of the submissions of Additional Solicitor General Archana Pathak Dave, appearing for the Ministry of Railways, and asked her to file the draft policy on record within six weeks.

At the outset, the law officer said that a meeting has been held and it has been decided in principle that the acid attack survivors can be given railway concessions.  She said the Centre proposes to extend the benefit under the “patient category” as it has reservations about placing acid attack survivors in a separate category among persons with disabilities.

“I can inform that they will put the acid attack victims in the patient category… because they have some reservations about putting them under the disabled category as others in that disabled category are not given railway concessions,” she added. “Putting them in the disabled category, that has now been statutorily resolved, with the amendment through another petition before us,” the CJI said.

“They are in the disabled category, but we will give them concession under the patient category because they require it for the purpose of going to the doctor and for their treatment. We are still deliberating, but under the disabled category, because we are not giving this concession to all disabled persons, then the other categories would also come and say that the concession should be given to them as well,” the law officer said.

She said the Railways will not be able to differentiate amongst each disabled person. “We will give them, but under the patient category. How and how it would be given, those modalities, I would seek some time,” the law officer said.

The CJI said that the relief should be given in a time-bound manner.

On July 16, the bench had sought the views of the Centre on the plea seeking concessional air-conditioned class rail fare for acid attack survivors to enable them to travel to well-equipped hospitals in cities for treatment.

It had asked Dave to take requisite instructions from the Ministry of Railways on the issue.

Dave had earlier said that there are 21 categories of persons with disabilities (PwDs) and the railways is already providing travel concessions to them. She said the railways is also contemplating providing an emergency travel quota for all categories of PwDs.

The counsel, appearing for PIL petitioner Atijeevan Society, which has sought railway reservations for acid attack victims, said such survivors have to undertake multiple visits to super-speciality hospitals for treatment for almost four to five years.

He said that persons who have been forced to ingest acid face difficulty in getting medical certificates to seek a railway reservation.

Moreover, they are asked to get such certificates from the treating hospitals to claim reservation, which is difficult, he added.

The bench asked the law officer to see whether acid attack victims can be included in the category of patients like thalassemia and cancer to ensure that they can also avail the concession in rail tickets to get treatment.

The bench asked the law officer to take instructions and listed the plea for further consideration.

Earlier, the bench had issued a notice to the Centre on the PIL seeking a separate reservation quota and concessional railway fares for acid attack survivors.

“Due to the nature of the burn injuries, persistent itching, and especially after undergoing surgery, acid attack survivors often need to travel by train in AC coaches. However, they cannot afford the high cost of AC tickets for frequent travels and due to the existing framework, they can neither avail themselves of the earmarked quota otherwise available to PwDs nor the concessional railway fare facility,” the PIL said.

It said their rehabilitation necessitated multiple reconstructive surgeries, advanced ophthalmic interventions and prolonged post-operative care, which are available only at a handful of elite tertiary institutions in metropolitan cities like Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad.

It pleaded for inclusion of acid attack survivors within the PwD category to make them entitled to a concession in rail fare.