86-yr-old told she can't ride on BEST bus with freedom fighter pass

There are no free rides in life and none know that better than freedom fighter Sumati Samant The 86yearold earned the privilege of riding free of cost on trains and buses by pledging her blood sweat and life for her nationrsquos freedom decades ago Samant even has the paperwork to prove it in the form of a freedom fighter card which was given to her by the state government on June 22 1987 in recognition of her contribution to the nationalist movementu00a0 Insulted Samant shows her freedom fighter card which she was awarded 26 years ago PicSayed Sameer Abedi But such laurels seem to be of little significance for the lossmaking BEST undertaking and its employees The octogenarian was humiliated on a BEST bus last week with a conductor snatching her card and accusing her of lsquofleecingrsquo the transport body Evidently he had no idea that a freedom fighter card allows its owner to avail of the bus services free of cost ID crisis Samant shows the card that allows her to travel for free in nonAC BEST buses and trains in recognition of her contribution to the countryrsquos freedom struggle PicSayed Sameer Abedi Since she was awarded the card 26 years ago Samant has had access to free public transport whether itrsquos on BEST buses or local and express trains When she stepped out of her home on July 27 to head to her brotherrsquos house she didnrsquot expect things to be any different Samant said ldquoI boarded the BEST bus 521 at 845 am to go Kingrsquos Circle When the conductor approached me for bus fare I showed him my freedom fighter card He snatched my card and started shouting at me saying something like lsquoTumchya sarkhi loka asla dhande kartat ani BEST la nuksaan hota People like you show such things and because of that BEST runs in lossesrsquordquo She added ldquoAll the people on the bus started looking at me like I was a thief Another BEST bus employee who was travelling in the bus showed me his pass and said that only employees or their family members carrying BEST bus passes can travel for free He insisted that people with freedom fighter passes canrsquot travel for free I have traveled till the Konkan region using the same pass Till date I have never been stopped It is shocking that the conductor who is in his 40s doesnrsquot know the rule When I told him to take me to the BEST bus depot or Matunga police station he promptly kept my freedom fighter card in his pocket refusing to return itrdquo Not ready to give up her card so easily the plucky woman devised a strategy to get it back ldquoI asked him to show me the card for a second so I could check which one it was and when he held it out I snatched it back from him since I cannot afford to lose the card My pension depends on it I got down at the bus stop near Gandhi Market and immediately went to Matunga police station and registered an NC against the conductor On July 29 I went to the Wadala BEST bus depot and registered another complaint there against the arrogant conductorrdquo Sumatirsquos son Dilip said ldquoI was not present at the time the incident happened If not to a freedom fighter the conductor should at least have spoken politely to a senior citizen It is also shocking that BEST bus drivers donrsquot know about this rulerdquo With inputs from Shashank Rao Did you know As per an announcement made in September 1990 freedom fighters with valid IDs can travel for free in nonAC BEST buses and trains Not the first time Another freedom fighter faced similar humiliation on July 11 while travelling on route 443 from Marol to Andheri East The bus was halted for 15 minutes when he refused to pay the fare showing his card A bitter altercation ensued It was only after a copassenger agreed to pay the fare for the freedom fighter that the bus resumed its journey The Other Side BEST spokesperson V Bagul said ldquoFreedom fighters holding a valid freedom fighter identity card issued by the Central government the state government or the Goa government are permitted to travel in a nonAC BEST bus for free This incident is unfortunate and an enquiry will be conductedrdquou00a0