Ensuring accessibility for disabled persons: A more accessible house

Source: The post is based on the article “A more accessible house” published in The Indian Express on 24th December 2022. 

Syllabus: GS2- Vulnerable sections of the population 

Relevance: Issues related to the disabled population.

News: The article explains the enforcement problems faced by the Accessible India campaign. It also suggests improvement in the existing policy framework for improving the accessibility of disabled persons. 

In December 2015, the Government of India launched the Accessible India Campaign to make the built environment, ICT ecosystem and transport facilities more disabled-friendly.  

What are the issues with the Accessible India campaign? 

The accessible India Campaign lacks a strong enforcement mechanism to ensure that ambitious milestones are set and pursued to their meaningful conclusion. 

Section 45 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 states that all existing public buildings shall be made accessible within five years of the date of promulgation of such rules. The relevant Rules by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs were notified in June 2017. But the deadline has been breached. Deadlines in the AIC have also been repeatedly breached. 

What is the way forward to ensure accessibility for disabled persons? 

There should be a requirement to make every new building accessible before it is granted an Occupancy Certificate and relevant provisions of the Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India, 2021 must be integrated into local bye-laws and state planning laws.  

Municipal authorities must have capability to gauge compliance with the norms to make the built environment accessible. 

The list of empanelled professionals maintained by municipal authorities must also consist of accessibility professionals. This requirement must be codified in model building bye-laws and the National Building Code. 

Parliament must set up an accessibility committee urgently. It must be tasked with delivering recommendations in a time-bound manner on making every aspect of the Parliamentary process more disabled-friendly.  

Central and state level procurement laws and policies must incorporate accessibility criteria in public procurement. Tender documents must set out applicable accessibility standards. 

The deficiencies in the Sugamya Bharat app should be rectified so as to enable a well-meaning intervention to realise its full potential. 

The Department of Disability must take the lead in ensuring that accessibility targets are met.