Fast-food places may be popular for general public but fail to provide same comfort to the physically-challenged.
KARACHI: I am amazed and bewildered at how international franchises can open up in Pakistan without following global standards. When someone in a wheelchair enters any fast food chain abroad, not only is the entrance wheelchair-friendly but every restaurant offers other facilities such as wheelchair-friendly washrooms and so on. However, this trend is nowhere to been seen in Pakistan; be it the world famous Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, KFC, and now Hardee’s.
Elsewhere in the world, these franchises cannot even think of opening their outlets without making their premises easily accessible for people in wheelchairs. However, they can do so in Pakistan as there is no one who can make them follow the law or any moral obligation. I, along with my friends, was very excited to go to Hardee’s and I went all the way from my house in DHA to North Nazimabad. However, when I reached the place, I was extremely disappointed to see that I could not enter the outlet as it had a steep flight of stairs right at the entrance. So I had to return home without eating.
While I appreciate that some branches of Pizza Hut, McDonald’s and Hardee’s in Lahore are wheelchair-friendly, steps should be taken to make all branches that way. Such international fast-food places may be popular hangout places for the general public but they fail to provide the same comfort to physically-challenged people.
Farhat Rasheed
Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2011.
