Today, December 3, is observed as International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
New Delhi: Several rights activists in India have called for urgent steps to address the issues of accessibility of buildings, higher education, and provisions for pension for the persons with disabilities.
While the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016, has brought massive changes over the last few years and given more teeth to persons with disabilities, many departments dealing with their rights and entitlements are not much aware about the Act.
Therefore, what needs to be done is mass sensitisation, general awareness and attitudinal change towards persons with disabilities. This is required to be done at a high-level so that it harmonises with the United Nations Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities.
Moreover, the government’s Accessibility India Campaign has not been very successful, but it has created awareness among people, as many new ramps can be seen in the new public buildings. However, easy access to other public facilities is also required.
The National Policy on Disability is still in the draft stage, and needs to be first notified, and then operationalised in all sectors, including health, education, skill development, employment and tourism. The need of the hour is mainstreaming the inclusion of people with disabilities across all sectors and ministries.
Anjlee Agarwal, executive director, Samarthyam National Centre for Accessible Environments, told The Wire, “If we look at the history, there have been many changes from the medical model to the social model to the inclusive model of disability. The inclusive model has worked well in India in terms of inclusion across all the ministries and departments. It also includes considering people with disabilities not just as beneficiaries but also as people who can contribute to the society.”
Also read: India’s New Draft National Policy on Disability Is Disconnected From Reality
‘Ensure disability inclusion, provide uniform pension, and higher education’
Agarwal said she has a few demands from the government. First, disability inclusion should happen across all sectors, departments and ministries; second, the disability pension should be balanced with the inflation rate so that a person with disability who is living below the poverty line and not employed can at least get two meals a day, and get rehabilitation services out of that pension.
Third, she said there needs to be some uniformity in the amount of pension given to the persons with disabilities across all states.
“There is no synergy in the disability pension that is being paid in various states since it is a state subject. Delhi pays Rs 2,500 per month as pension whereas in Odisha or Chhattisgarh, the amount varies between Rs 800 and Rs 2,000,” she said.
The rights activist noted that while primary education is free for the children with disabilities, no such attention is given to their higher and technical education.
“So there should be a mandate in colleges and technical education [institutions] to provide them with higher education. Also, there should be no discrimination that persons who are blind cannot opt for science courses or those with hearing or speech impairment cannot go to IITs or IIMs.”
‘States not showing interest, spending adequate funds on accessibility of buildings’
Agarwal, who has conducted accessibility audits in Delhi Metro, Dilli Haat and various national monuments and government buildings, said that her final demand would the implementation of the Accessibility India Campaign.
“The decentralisation of the campaign has happened in the last two to three years. It has now become the responsibility of the states to implement the campaign and see to its monetary requirements,” she said.
She added, “The states are not showing any interest in either implementing [the Accessibility India Campaign] or spending funds on the accessibility of the public or private buildings. So what is happening is that the campaign has taken a backseat in terms of visibility and accessibility of buildings and public transport.”
As such, she said, “whatever has happened under the campaign was when the funds came from the Union Ministry [of Social Justice and Empowerment] under the Scheme for Implementing of Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 (SIPDA). But when it was passed to the states, there was no cohesion or implementation.”
“In the new buildings, there is no mandate to cover disability or penalise those violating the law,” she said, adding that “the violations are happening every day.”
Also read: Systemic Delays, Red Tape Plague Disability Rights Space in India, Say Activists and Experts
‘Make accessibility standards mandatory like fire laws for all built environment’
She demanded that “it [accessibility standards] should be made mandatory like the fire law in all the built environment, transportation eco-system and information and communication technology. And if there is a violation, then strict punitive action should be taken against that particular department and agency. Additionally, capacity building should happen for all the big implementation firms and construction firms.”
“The National Building Code, 2016, mandates the accessibility elements for different kinds of buildings, and this should be made compulsory for all the concerned players and agencies,” she said. “Likewise, for the roads and highways, the Indian Roads Congress codes on universal accessibility should be followed strictly,” she added.
Some progress made but a long way to go
Subhash Chandra Vashishth, advocate and director of Centre for Accessibility in Built Environment Foundation, said in the last five to six years, the disability space has seen several important developments.
These included the notification of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and its Rules in 2017, and the launch of the Accessible India Campaign, which focused on three major verticals of accessibility – public buildings, transportation, and the website.
“In this period, a major positive change that I see is an effort on the part of the government to mainstream the issue of disability within different ministries. Under Section 40 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, the Government of India has tasked different ministries to develop their own sector-specific accessibility guidelines. This is a huge change from the way earlier governments had looked at disability inclusion,” he said.
“Earlier, only the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment was solely responsible [for the implementation of the Act],” he said, adding that “now, there’s an effort to ensure that each ministry takes responsibility for disability inclusion and implementation of the Act with respect to the areas governed by them.”
He pointed out that some of the ministries have drafted their own accessibility guidelines, which will be implemented, and “will be enforceable once notified under Rule 15 of the RPWD Rules.”
He also said that the persons with disabilities are provided with a 10% goods and services tax concession on cars – both adapted and automatic, and manual transmission. “They will also get toll tax exemption on the highways,” he added.
Several cracks still remain
“When we listen to the users [of these facilities], [we realise] that there are still several cracks [in the implementation of the Act], he said.
“The larger need at this point of time is sensitisation of the community, both in the government and general public, as well as among the persons with disabilities and their families, about their rights. There is also a need to enforce the provisions of the law and policies on the ground and also create monitoring mechanisms.”
He further said that the “people with disabilities also need to be given a representation in politics.” He added that “this is already being done by reserving seats for them and nominating them in municipal corporations and panchayats in some states such as Rajasthan.”
He also called for the government to reach out to rural areas where a large number of persons with disabilities cannot access basic facilities, and built environment and transportation.