A protest by the Telangana State Committee of the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) at the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation’s Bus Bhavan in Hyderabad has brought renewed attention to demands for free public transport, commercial reservation and recruitment for persons with disabilities.
The protesters submitted a representation to RTC Executive Director Venkanna during the demonstration, according to Telangana Today. The demands included free RTC travel for persons with disabilities, implementation of a 5% reservation in RTC-owned shopping complexes and the filling of backlog posts for persons with disabilities within the corporation.
M. Adivayya, state general secretary of the NPRD, sought priority for persons with disabilities in the allocation of shops located in RTC-owned shopping complexes. The demand links access to public assets with livelihood opportunities, extending the protest beyond transport concessions to the use of commercial spaces controlled by the state transport corporation.
Former Nalgonda MLA Nandyala Narasimha Reddy, who spoke at the protest, said the state government was neglecting persons with disabilities, whom he described as among the most marginalised sections of society. The protesters also accused the Congress party of not fulfilling an Assembly election promise to provide free travel facilities for persons with disabilities.
Free or subsidised public transport can affect whether residents with disabilities can reach workplaces, educational institutions, healthcare facilities and government offices. In a large city, the issue is not limited to the cost of a ticket. It also involves the availability of accessible vehicles and stops, the ability to travel independently and the reliability of the system used for everyday journeys. The material supplied for the report does not specify the proposed eligibility criteria, routes, documentation or financial model for the requested concession.
The demand for a 5% quota in RTC shopping complexes raises a separate question about how public-sector commercial properties are allocated and whether existing reservation commitments are being implemented. The NPRD also called for backlog posts for persons with disabilities to be filled in the RTC, but the report does not provide the number of vacant positions, the departments involved or a recruitment timetable.
The representation was submitted directly to the RTC executive director, placing the corporation at the centre of the immediate response. The report does not state whether the RTC or the state government issued a formal decision on the demands after receiving the representation. Protesters said the agitation would continue until the state government fulfilled the promises they cited.
The episode brings together three areas of urban administration: affordable mobility, access to public commercial assets and implementation of employment reservations. The next steps will depend on whether the RTC and the state government respond to the representation, clarify the status of the election promise and disclose timelines for examining the proposed travel facility, shopping-complex quota and backlog recruitment.
