The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the staff at airports should be sensitised to be more compassionate towards persons with disabilities (PwD) and necessary training should be imparted to them at regular intervals.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Pankaj Mithal made the observation while disposing of a petition filed by a wheelchair-bound woman, who was repeatedly asked to stand up for her security check at the Kolkata airport.

"We dispose the writ petition by laying more stress on the need to sensitise the staff at the airports to be more compassionate towards the PwD passengers. Necessary training should be imparted at regular intervals and shall include assisting the passengers in the issues they face at airports," the bench said.

The top court noted that a detailed order has already been passed by a bench headed by former Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, in which the Centre was directed to implement the mandatory accessibility standards within three months for improving access to public spaces for persons with disabilities.

"Creating a minimum floor of accessibility cannot be left to the altar of progressive realisation," the court had said.

The apex court was hearing a plea filed by Gurugram resident Arushi Singh, who said she was asked to stand up thrice by a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel during her security clearance at the Kolkata airport.

The woman's counsel had referred to the lack of female security guards and support staff at the airport to help wheelchair-bound passengers.

"When she was travelling, she asked for assistance. But no one came. During the screening, she was asked multiple times to stand up. They asked why she cannot stand up for a few minutes," her lawyer had said, adding that the passenger was 75-per cent disabled.

Security at airports is provided mainly by two agencies -- the CISF and the state police.

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