RAMANDEEP KAUR | NT BUZZ
To make travel easy and convenient for persons with disability (PwD), the Office of the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities introduced a wheelchair-accessible e-rickshaw service during the Purple Fest, to pick and drop persons with disabilities. And after months of its launch, the service is finally operational at three locations.
Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities Guruprasad Pawaskar says the wheelchair accessible e-rickshaw service is a step ahead in making Goa accessible for persons with disabilities (PwD). “We are working aggressively on taking initiatives to create an inclusive society. I urge families and caregivers of PwDs to use this service.”
The e-rickshaws have been specially designed and managed by Ezy Mov (a wheelchair accessible transportation firm, established in 2015), as part of the Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan. Chief executive officer Ezy Mov Bennet D’cunha says, “We offer a diverse fleet of vehicles, i.e, taxis and electric rickshaws which have hydraulic wheelchair lifts/ramps. Over the last seven years, we have completed 3,00,000 plus error-free rides and have collaborations with various renowned hospitals and municipal corporation / disability commissioners to provide trustworthy accessible transportation solutions in India.”
Mumbai was the first state where they launched the service. Now, they have started trials for the mobility impaired community of Panaji, Porvorim, and Taleigao areas. “The response and feedback for the accessible e-rickshaw have been amazing. People are finding it extremely economical too,” says D’cunha, adding that during the Purple Fest, 197 PwDs benefited from the service. They have had 33 rides from May since they officially started in Goa. All their drivers are sensitised on the safety of the mobility impaired, i.e, etiquette, boarding and ascending, and driving techniques. In total, three persons can travel in the e-rickshaw. This includes two caretakers and one wheelchair user.
Their centralised call centre (based out of Mumbai and the Interactive Voice Response facility manages enquiries of all states), he says, gets more than 40 to 50 calls enquiring about the service. Currently, five wheelchair e-rickshaws are being operated in three areas of the state. They aim to have 50 accessible e-rickshaws to cover the entire state in one year. “We have received tremendous support from the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Goa, and are extremely positive that Goa will set the trend for the rest of the states to initiate this service.”
In the next three months, Ezy Mov will be creating a new innovation wherein existing auto-rickshaws plying on the road could become wheelchair-accessible rickshaws. “Work is currently going on and discussions with transport officials are on. This will be a revolutionary disruption that would bring accessible transport at par with normal transport,” says D’cunha, adding that in Phase 1, they plan to do it in Mumbai, Goa, Bengaluru, Delhi and Pune.
(The operating hours are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. To use this service one can call: 9029090880.)