(MENAFN- Live Mint) Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw weighed in amid the ongoing debate around the growing demand for wheelchair assistance at airports. She reacted to a viral video which showed Indian passengers in a long line for wheelchair assistance at an airport.

The video claimed that Indian passengers, especially on India-US flights, misuse the wheelchair service to access priority at the airports.

Viral video of Indians in wheelchair at airport

The viral video is reportedly from a Chinese X user. It showed a long queue of passengers, seemingly Indian, who are seated in wheelchairs. Airport staff are seen assisting them. The original post also claimed that Indians travelling seek wheelchair assistance to enjoy priority services such as early boarding, end-to-end support. Indicating that Indian flyers usually exploit the service, the post read in Chinese, as per Hindustan Times:“The departure lounge for US-India routes is filled with Indians in wheelchairs. Because disabled passengers enjoy priority boarding and full-service transportation, the proportion of disabled passengers on some routes is as high as 80%.”

The same clip was later shared by another user on the micro-blogging site. Now going viral in India, it claimed that about 30% of passengers on India-US flights opt for wheelchair assistance, according to the popular airline, Air India.

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“Air India says 30% of passengers on India-US flights ask for wheelchairs. Most are able bodied travelers scamming the priority boarding system. Real disabled passengers get left short,” the post read.

Reacting to it, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw offered a solution. Reposting the video, she suggested that airlines should start charging a fee to avoid being exploited.“They should charge an additional ₹5000 per airport n then they will see how many genuine passengers there are,” Shaw wrote.

Netizens react to Kiran Mazumdar Shaw's post

Her post has received mixed reactions from the netizens.

A user wrote to her in the comments,“It is not about walking it is about the process. Most Indian parents don't know English and don't know where to go so their children book wheelchair so they can go to security clearance, terminal change and baggage collection area without tension. See all the people above are old (sic).”

"It's the doting children in the US and India organizing this for their parents so they do not have to deal with transfers. The chair is meant for the disabled. Some are aged parents with real problems. But most are fit. But when do rules come in the way?! Disabled is just a word! And it's only $100. Maybe, the parents might say, "this is shameful, I am only 55 and can walk." But convenience, however shameful, cannot go unused is the general approach (sic)," added another.

One more commented,“The only reason it is free right now is that you can't charge money for a wheelchair to genuinely disabled people and make air travel permanently more expensive especially for them. Solution needs to be on the lines of making a distinction on eligibility.”

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