With an aim of creating an inclusive society, the Office of the Commissioner for Persons
with Disabilities has launched a wheelchair-accessible e-rickshaw service
Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) can now travel at ease around Goa thanks to the initiative of the Office of the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities. The wheelchairaccessible e-rickshaw service was launched at the hands of the Chief Minister of Goa, Dr. Pramod Sawant and Subhash Phaldessai, Minister of Social Welfare, River Navigation, Archives and Archeology. Transportation and accessibility has been a distant dream for PwDs and their families. Now this service will facilitate movement of PwDs with ease and can also accommodate two more persons to accompany the wheelchair user. The Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Guruprasad Pawaskar believes that “Wheelchair accessible e-rickshaw service is a step ahead in making Goa accessible for persons with disabilities. We are working efficiently on taking initiatives to create an inclusive society and have appealed to the families and caregivers of PwDs to use this service”. An impetus through the first-of-its-kind Purple Fest that was hosted in Goa, these e-rickshaws which were first seen at the Fest in January 2023, and have been commissioned in Goa to ease travel woes of PwD during the event. Reducing transport barriers and allowing wheelchair users to move out of their homes, has been a distant dream for PwD and their families. But, a wheelchairaccessible e- ickshaw service, launched is like a breath of fresh air. An author, poet and artist living with cerebral palsy Frederika enezes states that the wheelchair accessible e-rickshaws is one of the nicest things to have happened to someone like her – a wheelchair user. It signifies independence as far as travel within the state is concerned. She applauded the Office of the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Goa for the tremendous support extended towards PwDs in Goa through the service launched in Goa. Till date about 197 PwDs have benefited from this service launched recently. All drivers are sensitised on the safety of the mobility impaired.
