KOCHI: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation’s (KSRTC’s) decision to issue lifetime passes to the physically challenged has drawn flak from the Corporation’s employees. An order issued by KSRTC Managing Director Mohan Lal on Monday stated that the physically challenged will be relived of the burden of approaching the KSRTC to renew their passes now and then. However, the order is only applicable to those who apply for the passes from the beginning of June. The KSRTC employees have vehemently opposed the move citing certain impractical clauses in the order. They said it would lead to widespread misuse of the cards. “If a card is issued to a five-year-old boy for lifetime, his photograph will remain the same for the rest of his life. This would lead to blatant misuse of the concession,” they said.According to the MD, the order was passed after a directive was issued by the Transport Department in order to avoid unnecessary burden on the handicapped persons, who have to otherwise make numerous visits to the KSRTC offices to get their cards renewed on a three-to-five-year basis.The order also stated that the disabled persons should approach the concerned Unit Officers of their nearby KSRTC depots to get their passes.The KSRTC officials said the decision was taken after Transport Minister Aryadan Muhammed received mass petitions filed by various organisations working for the welfare of for the disabled. According to them, the concession cards are available to physically-challenged persons with 40 per cent disability, mentally challenged persons with 50 per cent disability, hearing-impaired persons with 50 per cent disability and visually-challenged with 100 per cent disability.“The physically-challenged get a 70 per cent concession while travelling on the KSRTC buses. The mentally challenged are granted a concession of 50 per cent along with free travel for the person who is accompanying them. So is the case for the visually challenged,” an official said.
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