Making it fit for the physically-hit

KOCHI: It’s no longer a company affair. For, Biju Varghese is now the proud owner of a  unique licence ‘the Automotive Research Organisation Certification’, a right usually reserved for companies to make alterations in any car!  By developing a technology that enables physically-challenged persons to drive cars with ease, Biju has become the first person in  India to receive such a licence.He has the licence to alter 13 cars: these include Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Hyundai Motors India Ltd, Toyota Kirloskar Motors Private Ltd, Honda Siel Cars Ltd, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, General Motors India Ltd, Tata Motors, Fiat India Automobiles, Hindustan Motors Ltd, Skoda Auto India Ltd, Ford India Pvt Ltd, Volkswagon and Nissan.At present, he has received an order for `1 crore.The 39-year-old Erumely resident who met with an accident in 1997, was paralysed waist down. Biju, who had been working as an electrician,  thought of devising a technology which would help him drive cars without anybody’s help. According to this technology, there are cables attached from the clutch, accelerator and brake to an equipment near the hand brake of the car. This device would enable the physically-challenged to make use of the accelerator and clutch with their hands.  “Also, the cost of the technology varies. People with one functional leg, would only need a cable connection for the brake and clutch,” he says. In 2007, he was awarded by the then President A P J Abdul Kalam for the ‘Best Investor of India’.  “It was indeed a privilege for me to receive an award from a person of his stature,” he says.The Persons With Disablities Act-1996 provides equal opportunities to the physically-hit but the right to travel was the biggest challenge. “This technology would enable such people to move around without anybody’s help. It will also encourage the physically-hit to go for work,” Biju affirms.Now an order has been passed that all RTOs should sanction this technology and issue licences to all the physically-challenged people who pass the test.