After spraining his left leg which left him immobilised with a cast, Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor has to use a wheelchair to get around. This experience made him realise the lack of disabled-friendly infrastructure in not just everyday life but also in important buildings like the Parliament House. A bit of an inconvenience: I badly sprained my left foot in missing a step in Parliament yesterday. After ignoring it for a few hours the pain had become so acute that I had to go to hospital. Am now immobilised w/a cast, missing Parliament today&cancelled wknd constituency plans pic.twitter.com/Ksj0FuchZZ — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 16, 2022 In a tweet, Tharoor wrote, “When you need to enter Parliament in a wheelchair, there’s only one entrance with a ramp, at door 9, a good four minute trip (with the assistance of helpers) to the Lok Sabha. This temporary disability has taught me how poorly equipped we are to support people with disabilities.” Tharoor, 66, posted the tweet with a picture of him in a wheelchair. The tweet got over 27,000 likes. When you need to enter Parliament in a wheelchair, there’s only one entrance with a ramp, at door 9, a good four minute trip (with the assistance of helpers) to the Lok Sabha. This temporary disability has taught me how poorly equipped we are to support people with disabilities pic.twitter.com/X6WyS9Ivvp — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 20, 2022 Commenting on this, Kanchan Lakhani, an International Para Athlete, wrote, “Sir in the Parliament at least you got one ramp but in some places, we don't get any accessible entrance. It's a really serious issue. Government should think about the accessibility”. Lakhani wrote this tweet while resharing an earlier tweet in which she had spoken about being denied entry to the sanctum of the Jagannath Temple because she was in a wheelchair. Pramod Sagar, a disability rights activist also commented on Tharoor’s tweet. Sagar said, “Thanks, @ShashiTharoor ji, for partially understanding the problems of persons with disabilities with regard to accessibility. Now my question is, "Will you raise this issue in Parliament?" and their representation in the parliament?”. In another tweet, Sagar said, “In Rajya Sabha, there is provision for the president to nominate 12 people for their contribution to the arts, literature, science, and social services. I think a category should be added for "disabilities" or their contribution towards disabilities.”
