“I was completely healthy and used to drive motorcycles, cars and was average sports player. At the age of 16, I started limping and used to get tired walking long distances. My family doctor advised me to see a neuro physician. After diagnosing, he told me I have an incurable disease called muscular dystrophy,” says Prasad Phanasgaonkar, of Samartha Travels, Mumbai.
Muscular dystrophy is an inherited group of muscle disorders, which cause a slow but progressive degeneration of the muscles. Muscular dystrophies are a group of inherited conditions, which means they are passed down through families.
They may occur in childhood or adulthood. There are many different types of muscular dystrophy. All of the muscles may be affected. Or, only specific groups of muscles may be affected, such as those around the pelvis, shoulder, or face. Muscular dystrophy can affect adults, but the more severe forms tend to occur in early childhood. There are no known cures for the various muscular dystrophies. The goal of treatment is to control symptoms. Physical therapy may help patients maintain muscle strength and function. However, the awareness among people is less.
Prasad further adds, “After muscular dystrophy trying to cope with daily life like a normal person became a struggle because of environmental obstacles for the reason that footpaths are without ramps and stairs with no bars to hold. For eight years, I stayed in a building that had no elevator. Thus, even moving out of my house to go down the building became quite difficult. I had to quit my college while studying production engineering because boarding trains and buses while traveling was risky as its always crowded and there’s lot of rush in Mumbai city.”
He further elaborates, “I had never imagined that one day I would land up in wheelchair. The transition from a normal person to disabled person was very painful at the same time it was a learning process. During this phase I learnt most of disability is in mind. I start spending a lot of time on the Internet.”
Prasad says, “Browsing through net I gained lot of information and motivation to overcome disability. A Japanese student Dr Sanae Hayashi, who is also suffering from muscular dystrophy, contacted me after reading my homepage. She came to India to research on disability and Hindu culture. She is good friend and has helping nature.” Prasad was trying to find a way to be financially independent as well as to live life overcoming physical challenges. There are government and private companies who have jobs for PWD but due to inaccessible infrastructure, wheelchair users are confined to their homes and have to look for accessible places or make their own world. During this quest Dr Hayashi one day brought information regarding self employment schemes for people with disability. The scheme is launched by the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (NHFDC) that has been set up by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India. He applied for NHFDC loan to start a car rental business. Getting the loan was not an easy task.
Prasad says, “I had to submit a lot of documents and prepare a project report about my business. I first applied for loan to the Maharashtra State Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation in Bandra (Mumbai). It is after nine months of constant efforts, I got my first loan of Rs500,000 approved. I borrowed additional Rs2,00,000 from my family to start the business. Thus, Samartha Travels was started in 2003.”
He further adds, “It was fun and exciting as my best friend Prashant Kavle became my partner and did jobs which due to inaccessibility are not possible for me. I took care of the car bookings over the phone and emails. We first started with Toyota Qualis and rented it to people. As I used to travel a lot, I had good knowledge about how car renting business works. To create awareness, we started a website. Publicity was also created by word of mouth and social networking website. Later on as the business started working well, and after repaying my NHFDC loan, we borrowed loan from private banks such as HDFC and ICICI Bank.”
Mumbai-based Samartha Travels has been providing quality luxury vehicles like Toyota Innova, Toyota Qualis, Tata Indica and other vehicle types on rent since 2003. Later on, Prasad wanted to start an accessible transport service for disabled people. So in December 2006, a wheelchair accessible car service was introduced. He adds, “This vehicle was designed on our own and was only possible because partner Prashant Kavle and sister Gauri Dandekar backed and believed in my ideas. As I had done my graduation in mechanical draughtsman, I had the idea of the design of the vehicle. Also, my late uncle who was a scientist at BARC helped me design the vehicle. We have followed universal design norms and did modifications on Tata Winger to fit Hydraulic Lift. It is a huge success among the Wheelchair users in Mumbai city.” According to Prasad, “This vehicle is only vehicle in Mumbai at present available for adult wheelchair users to travel around Maharashtra and other states of India. After running wheelchair accessible service for more than four years we have upgrade our vehicle with user inputs and can say that its best vehicle for PWD and stands far better than accessible vehicles around the world.”
The accessible Tata Winger can include over all six passengers and is air-conditioned with a music system. It has a locking system which includes belts and hooks. The locking system holds the wheelchair firmly at one place while travelling. Also, there are belts that can hold the disable person. For eight hours and 80km the cost of the service is Rs2000. If it’s above eight hours, Rs100 is charged for every extra hour and Rs15 for extra km. If one has to travel outside Mumbai then there is Rs250 to be paid for driver allowance. However, our motive is not to profit so we reduce rates also for people who cannot afford to pay the cost. The accessible vehicle has currently been rented to places such as Ahmedabad, Chennai, Indore among others. We also get calls from Delhi, Agra and other places for the vehicle. Speaking about his future plans, Prasad says, “I want to start this service in all the cities of India.”
