Around 50 cities have been chosen for the scheme, and Bengaluru would be featured in as an ‘A’ city
Disabled employees of KPTCL express their anger against state government for not fulfilling their demands for several years at the inauguration of World Disabled Day at Sri Kanteerava Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday (Photo: Satish B.)
Bengaluru: Although NGOs have helped many disabled people get placement in various corporates, their mobility remains a concern as most buildings and public spaces are not disabled-friendly. Activists point out that only 30-35 per cent of government buildings and 20 per cent public spaces are disabled friendly.
However, Bengaluru could soon be more accessible to the disabled if the Union Government’s ‘Accessible India’ programme takes off.
Around 50 cities have been chosen for the scheme, and Bengaluru would be featured in as an ‘A’ city.
As part of its campaign the Union Government has started auditing 27 airports and 75 railway stations in the country to identify areas that need to be improved upon to make them disabled friendly by July, 2016.
K.V. Rajanna, Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, said, “The new buildings are inculcating the required infrastructure for the disabled, but the old ones do not have it. The problem is more acute with public places. For better resource allocation, we are writing to the government to conduct fresh survey of disabled people in the state. According to the last 2011 census, it was 13,43,000, which is not the real picture and the number may be higher.”
Anuradha Patil, manager of Leonard Cheshire Disability said, “So far, nothing has been initiated by the government to take the needs of the disable into consideration.
The footboards of BMTC buses are so high that disabled people find it hard to climb. Getting inside the bus is further struggle. They cannot use the footpath as most of them are uneven.”
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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