Cab Service in Jaipur- Jaipur City Cab Jaipur

My disability is not my identity,” 24-year-old Preeti Singh says, with astounding firmness. A resident of jaipur, Singh has been in the news for calling out cab providing service provider Uber for the “humiliating” behaviour of some of its drivers. In a post that is now being widely shared, Singh wrote about the plight and humiliation she faced on July 17 owing to her condition. She availed Uber's service twice on the mentioned date, and both times the drivers expressed visible reluctance. In her own words, “the drivers weren't happy about keeping the wheelchair in their cars”.

As harrowing as it might sound, one of them even expressed his 'fear' aloud – his car is going to get dirty, he had said. A CA student, Singh eventually asked her brother to clean the car when she reached her destination, as she did not want the driver to say those words again to anybody. Since then the cab hailing company has reached out to her and assured her of necessary actions.

Uber has a zero tolerance policy towards discrimination of any kind. We have been in contact with this rider to offer our support,” a Uber spokersperson told indianexpress.com. They also maintained that the drivers are being retained and retrained to make them more sensitive to the special needs of the riders.

The statement may sound reassuring, but Singh's humiliation is not a one-off case. Similar incidents have occurred in the past, not only with her but also with other people with disability. In her post, Singh too states the same when she says the recent incident “is not new”.

“I've tried complaining/suggesting about this issue in my earlier emails,” she writes. Referring to the complete lack of infrastructure to aid a person with disability, Singh's post also throws light on the glaring irony that plagues the present situation. “In jaipur CNG cars are a compulsion (mostly) but such is not the case with carriers. There is no place in the boots, there are no carriers and the drivers don't want to keep it on the seats! Even when they do, most of the times it comes as a favour or such way they make me feel about it!” she writes.

Shakthi Vadakkepat, a tech analyst and disability activist, feels the same. “When a cab driver sees a disabled person, they feel they are doing favour by letting them in their cab,” Vadakkepat says. The 44-year-old, who has to travel a fair amount owing to his line of work, maintains that things refuse to look better irrespective of the city he is in. One of his most humiliating experiences, he recounts, was when, a little over a year ago, a driver had stood in front of him, made a few calls and then just refused to go. It was the driver's first trip for the day and he did not want such an “unlucky start”. Vadakkepat remembers missing his flight and consequently a lot of work. It has been quite some time, but the wounds have refused to heal and the situation does not seem any better. However, there is not one single cab service provider that one can point to and blame. The service provider that Vadakkepat referred to is Bengaluru-based. Similar woes are echoed by Nipun Malhotra, CEO of Nipman Foundation that works in the areas of health, dignity and happiness for the physically disabled. “No public transport has the adequate infrastructure to help a physically disabled person. The conductors are not trained and there are no ramp facility,” the 29-year-old says. This indifferent attitude towards the disabled community led him to fend things for himself. Malhotra customised his car according to his needs, but incurred an expenditure of around five lakhs. It goes without saying that not many can do that, and if one might ask, why should one?