New Delhi: The Central government accepted a proposal for offering concessional travel facilities to acid attack survivors, prompting the Supreme Court to give the government six weeks to submit a draft policy on the issue, a lawyer said.
The policy will help grant concessions in railway travel to acid attack survivors who need to undertake periodic visits to well-equipped hospitals in cities, the lawyer said on Thursday.
Additional Solicitor General Archana Pathak Dave, appearing for the Centre, told the apex court that the Railway Board has in-principle agreed to grant travel concessions to acid attack victims under the ‘patient category’.
However, Dave said the policy is still being prepared, including how the concession will be given and its duration.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant directed the Centre to place on record the draft of the proposed policy within six weeks.
The petitioner told the bench, also comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana, that the existing concessions available under the ‘patient category’ have limitations.
He said that this facility was usually associated with a journey from a particular station to a particular destination. At the same time, acid attack survivors may have to travel to different cities for treatment.
He also cited the need to repeatedly obtain concession certificates from different hospitals as an additional problem, especially in the early months of an attack when treatment may be extremely necessary.
The petitioner, Atijeevan Society, also demanded consideration of an emergency ticket quota for such passengers.
“The emergency quota is required because survivors need to travel at short notice. If they don’t get these treatments in time, then it becomes a failure,” said the petitioner, a suggestion that was supported by the bench.
The Centre said that these aspects can be considered while formulating the policy, but it has objections to giving concessions under the disabled category, as it would have to differentiate between categories of disabled, said a lawyer.
The government agreed to share the proposed policy with Atijeevan Society before filing it before the Court so that the organisation could offer suggestions.
