The Civil Aviation Minister said that there is zero tolerance towards such behaviour and no human being should have to go through this kind of situation
Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said he will himself investigate the incident at Ranchi airport where a specially-abled boy was barred from boarding an IndiGo flight to Hyderabad – ANI
Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia Monday said he himself will investigate the incident in which a specially-abled boy was barred from boarding an IndiGo Ranchi-Hyderabad flight as he was in a “state of panic”.
Day after the incident came to fore, Scindia took to Twitter and said, “There is zero tolerance towards such behaviour. No human being should have to go through this!”
The aviation minister said that after investigating the matter himself, “appropriate action will be taken.”
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also asked IndiGo for a report.
Earlier on Monday, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights said that appropriate action is being taken in the matter. In a tweet in Hindi, NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo said, “An incident of misbehavior with a specially-abled child by staff of IndiGo at Ranchi airport has come to fore. Cognizance is being taken for appropriate action.”
On Saturday, 7 May, the specially-abled boy was restricted from boarding IndiGo Ranchi-Hyderabad flight after which his parents had decided not to take the flight.
The incident came fore and soon became viral after an eye-witness, took to social media, sharing details of what had happened at the Ranchi airport on Saturday.
In a post, Manish Gupta wrote, “The Indigo staff announced that the child would not be allowed to take the flight. That he was a risk to other passengers. That he would have to become ‘normal’, before he could be travel-worthy. And the staff then went on to state something on lines of ‘behaviours such as this, and that of drunk passengers, deems them unfit to travel.”
The airport witnessed scenes of uproar after the announcement as other passengers of the IndiGo Ranchi-Hyderabad flight said that they did not have any problem with the child and his parents travelling in the same aircraft. Also, there were doctors among the passengers, who asked the ground staff to consult the airport doctor.
Another traveller, Abhinandan Mishra, who was present at Ranchi airport at the time of the incident said that the child had an uncomfortable car ride to the airport and it appeared that he was stressed on arrival at the boarding gate.
He further recalled that the boy’s parents, however, brought the situation under control with some food and love. However, at the time of boarding, IndiGo manager warned the family that the child would not be allowed to get on the plane unless he acted ‘normally’.
The flight manager also reportedly announced that the specially-abled child is a flight risk and compared the condition to that of drunken passengers, deemed the child unfit for travel.
After the incident gained momentum, IndiGo said, “In view of the safety of passengers, a specially-abled child could not board the flight with his family on 7 May, as he was in a state of panic.”
The ground staff waited for him to calm down till the last minute but to no avail, it added.
IndiGo said that it made the family comfortable by providing them a hotel stay and they flew the next morning to their destination.
“We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers. IndiGo prides itself on being an inclusive organisation, be it for employees or its customers; and over 75,000 specially-abled passengers fly with IndiGo every month,” IndiGo added.
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