Twenty-eight-year-old visually-challenged Mayank Pandey never felt so helpless and hapless when his mobile phone was stolen last week in the DTC  bus  he was travelling in and his appeal  to shut the entry and exit door  to block the way of the thief were not answered by  the driver and  the conductor  even as he caught and held on to the  pickpocket for a while.

The staff of the bus (DL 1 PC 8232 route no 192) instead of helping the young student of the Delhi University, let the thief flee. 

The phone which had his key tools to help him assist in day-to-today activities was stolen barely five days before his law exams were due. The incident happened on the bus route no 192 on January 27 towards Keshav Nagar from GTB Nagar bus stop for Burari around 9.20 pm.

Though Principal secretary (Transport) of Delhi Government Asish Kundra has forwarded Mayank’s complaint to the concerned DTC department for further probe, the victim is a frustrated lot. He rues that in the absence of his phone (Redmi Note 5 Pro), how will he give his exams to be held on February 5th.

Being visually impaired, Mayank is totally dependent on the mobile phone which he calls his assistant. “In that phone I have very important study material for my current exam LIKE_All India Bar exam. It had all accessible apps and software related for a visually impaired person like me,” he said. “It had many disabled friendly artificial intelligence to help me execute day to day work. Moreover, I have my exam on February 5, how will I give the exam? he rues.

The incident also belies the Delhi government’s claims to have very secure bus service with marshals and CCTV installed in each bus.  “When this incident happened with me there was no marshal on duty in the bus and when I asked for the CCTV footage from the conductor, he casually replied that bus cameras are not working,” recalls the victim.

Mayank’s friend Pooja, a low vision person, who was accompanying him said that the incident reflects that bus staff are not sensitive towards the need of the commuters particularly persons with disabilities like us. 

Though The Mukherjee Nagar police has registered a case (FIR no 154) in the mstter,  for unknown reasons they have skipped the name of the bus staff whose callous attitude let the thief flee the spot with the phone.

Besides police and the Delhi Government, Mayank has also approached the Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) for justice in the matter.