BHUBANESWAR: Notwithstanding the provisions of a 23-year-old legislation which batted for making the public places in the country accessible to the differently abled, the ground reality in the state capital portrays a sorry state of affairs.
An analysis of the public places and offices in the city revealed that many such places lack the basic infrastructure to be disabled friendly. This is despite the presence of laws mandating the government to make cities better equipped for this under privileged section.
A number of public offices in the capital are either completely devoid of any supportive infrastructure for the disabled or has very little to offer. Such a condition makes usual commutation a nightmarish experience for the disabled. This is despite the central government fecilitating commutation for the disabled through its Accessible India Campaign.
The apathy towards disabled people was immense in public offices like Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and State Museum to name a few. In the BDA office, a disabled person would not be able to reach lift thanks to the number of stairs at the entrance of the building. Apparently, there was no other supportive infrastructure to assist the disabled at the office.
It was a similar story at the BMC office too. There were no facilitative services to assist the physically challenged at the office. It is virtually impossible for a physically challenged individual to reach any department of this office.
The situation at the State Museum was no different. Despite the presence of a lift, there was no support system to facilitate the entry of the disabled without the help of another person.
“We have been told that laws have been passed and guidelines framed to make public offices disabled-friendly. However, we cannot any of these changes being manifested on the ground. There are very few places in the city like Rabindra Mandap which offer us the opportunity to have easy access to buildings. Facilities in the public offices disappoint us everytime.” said Rama Biswal, a locomotor disabled youth from the city.
Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 was passed 23 years ago. This legislation was meant to augment the commutation of the disabled besides ensuring their capacity building. It batted for making public places, offices and modes of transportation disabled-friendly.
According to the 2011 Census, 1,244,402 people in Odisha live with some form of disability in various age groups. The indifferent attitude of the government towards this vulnerable section needs to change if we are to see an improvement in their condition.
Nidhi Sinha, OP