IT is a shameful thing to see the parking areas allotted to people with special needs in malls and establishments enclosed by iron chains. It is also shameful to see a signboard asking people with special needs to dial a certain number so that a security guard will come to make sure that he or she is entitled to the space. With this procedure, we are not providing any service to people with special needs but instead we are making them feel their disabilities. We are also unnecessarily wasting their time. I would understand if disabled customers are asked to dial the number if they find the parking lot occupied so that security guards would come to help them find other parking areas. Are we too weak to apply the law that prevents normal people from occupying the spaces assigned to people with special needs? I now have doubts that the fencing of the parking areas for people with special needs with iron chains is a clear indication that our society is violating their rights. It is rather an indication that our laws are unable to protect the rights of the disabled. It is not right to ask a person with special needs to dial a certain number so that a security guard will come to see if he or she is disabled and has the right to the parking space. Instead we could have supplied all the persons with special needs with unified smart cards to open the doors of the parking lots automatically for them. Any government department may implement this simple aid as part of its social responsibility. Protecting parking areas for people with special needs with automatic blockades that can only be opened by a smart card is a civilized practice that will send a message to normal people that spaces for disabled people are forbidden to them. In my opinion, barring parking lots to people with special needs is a sign of backwardness and a clear indication that we do not respect the rights of this segment of society.
