No. Period. When IndusInd Bank Cyber City Metro station denied entry to six 'shabbily dressed' kids, commuter Shivanya Pandey took to Twitter and Facebook to demand justice for the unfair treatment.
On May 1, when IndusInd Bank Cyber City Metro station denied entry to six "shabbily dressed" kids, a commuter took up cudgels on their behalf and posted the entire episode on social media.
Shivanya Pandey, a daily commuter from Chhatarpur to her office in Gurgaon, reacted sharply to the incident and demanded CCTV footage from the IndusInd Bank Cyber City Metro station.
Officials of the Rapid Metro, however, claim that entry was denied because the kids did not have money to buy tickets — and not because of the way they were dressed.
Speaking to City Spidey, Pandey said, “If I have wrongly interpreted the Metro staff, why can’t they communicate with me? Everybody could see that the kids were not even allowed inside the premises. The guard refused them entry. They hadn't even reached the ticket counter. You cannot judge people by their clothes. That's really inhuman.”
Pandey chose Facebook and Twitter to speak her mind.
She has also written to Union Minister For Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi, as well as the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. “I have been given assurance that action will be taken against whoever discriminated against the kids,” said Pandey.
The Rapid Metro spokesperson on May 4 said, “As per the guidelines, the criteria for travel in the Metro system has been laid down by the Metro Act. Commuters must be able to pay the necessary fare either by token or by card, as well as fulfil security guidelines. In this case, these requirements were not met. This is to repeat that the Rapid Metro does not differentiate between any citizen, and our teams are trained to treat all commuters equally — and with respect.”
On the same day, Pandey wrote on her Facebook page that she had just spoken to the concerned person at the National Commission For Protection of Child Rights, and that she has been assured there will be sensitisation, and directions given to Rapid Metro staff to not let such things happen in future.
Kudos to Shivanya for acting as a progressive citizen.
