Supreme Court Seeks Report From NALSAR Centre For Disability Studies On Making Public Spaces Accessible To Disabled Persons

In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking to make public buildings accessible for the disabled, the Supreme Court directed the Centre for Disability Studies, NALSAR University of Law to make a report on steps to be taken to make public buildings and spaces fully accessible to persons with disabilitiesThe bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra stated that the report shall be made on how to make all states and centre buildings, airports, and railway stations as well as public transport carriers, government websites, and ICT ecosystem fully accessible to persons with disabilities and shall be submitted to court in 6 months.The counsel for the petitioner highlighted that the Supreme Court had passed an order on 15 December 2017 passing certain directions along with timelines to make public spaces and buildings more accessible for persons with disabilities. The counsel was referring to the order of the court in Rajive Raturi v Union Of India passed by the bench of Justice AK Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan.She added–"After that, the states filed compliance affidavits and those affidavits were found inadequate. In fact as per the timeline provided under Section 45, the exercise should have been completed last year." She added–"The audits have been done and buildings have been identified but they have not said anything beyond that."The bench noted that there had to be an updated status report for it to proceed with its directions. The counsel suggested that the exercise could be done by the Centre for Disability Studies, NALSAR University of Law, which had already carried out a similar exercise in the past. Accordingly, the court held–"It is necessary that a comprehensive exercise is carried out to assess the situation on the ground. We accordingly direct the Centre for Disability Studies, NALSAR University of Law to submit a report on the steps required to be taken in accordance with the guidelines of the Accessible India campaign to make all states and centre buildings, airports, and railway stations as well as public transport carriers, government websites, and ICT ecosystem fully accessible to persons with disabilities. The report shall be compiled and presented to this court within a period of six months."In Rajive Raturi v Union Of India, the bench had passed following orders–i) Making the gates to public places accessible by incorporating necessary accessible standards. More specifically, they must be made wide enough to allow wheelchairs to pass easily and must provide enough space for the wheelchair to turn around after entering inside.ii) Stair must be marked with a broad yellow line to allow the visually impaired to understand the difference in gradient.iii) At places like airports, railway stations, etc passengers must be clearly informed about the details of their flight/train such as the gate number for boarding, etc via public announcement systems (this practice is, surprisingly, gradually declining).iv) A minimum of 3-5 parking spaces near the entrance must be reserved for persons with disabilities. This must be clearly indicated by showing the international symbol for disability i.e. the wheelchair symbol.v) All unnecessary obstructions must be removed, and all access ways must be well lit. Moreover, clear signposts, along with their Braille equivalents should be put up.vi) Elevators must have clear Braille signs and auditory feedback. The buttons of elevators must be accessible from a wheelchair. Pictograms must be put up near elevators and other important places such as toilets.vii) Employees working at public places must be provided necessary training to enable them to understand the unique set of challenges that persons with disabilities face. They should be informed about the best practices for dealing with these challenges.viii) Wheelchairs and mobility scooters should be available at every public place.The bench had also issued the following directives and had set deadlines to meet them:Making 20-50 important government buildings in 50 cities fully accessible by December 2017Making 50% of all the govt. buildings of the national capital and all the state capitals fully accessible by December 2018.Completing accessibility audit of 50% of govt. buildings and making them fully accessible in 10 most important cities/towns of states/UTs not covered in targets (i) and (ii) by December 2019.Complete accessibility audit of all the international airports and making them fully accessible by December 2016.50% of all railway stations to made fully accessible by March 2018.10% of government owned public transport carriers are to be made fully accessible by March 2018.At least 50% of central and state govt. websites are to meet accessibility standards by March 2017. At least 50% of the public documents are to meet accessibility standards by March 2018.Bureau of Indian Standards to embed disability aspect in all relevant parts of revised...

Supreme Court Seeks Report From NALSAR Centre For Disability Studies On Making Public Spaces Accessible To Disabled Persons

Padmakshi Sharma

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