The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday issued a notice to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) over the death of an 80-year-old man at the Mumbai airport after he failed to get a wheelchair despite prior request to the airline.
According to reports, there were 32 passengers who needed wheelchair on the particular flight, but there were only 15 available with the ground staff. The octogenarian, who was of Indian origin with a U.S. passport, walked alongside his wife who got a wheelchair. He collapsed after walking around one-and-half km to the immigration area.
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The NHRC said that if the incident is found to be true, it raises a serious issue of violation of human rights of the victim. The DGCA should send a detailed report to the commission on the matter within four weeks, it said. The report must include the status of compensation if any, provided to the next of kin of the deceased, and the steps taken/ proposed to be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur.
Issuing the notice, the commission also observed that there has been a significant increase in the number of air passengers as well as airfare, but “the standard of facilities doesn’t seem to have improved proportionately resulting in several complaints reported in the media and posted on social media”.
