Barrier Free – Page 2

March 11, 2014

Ms. Sminu Jindal shortlisted for Loreal Paris Femina Women Awards 2014

We are glad to share that Ms. Sminu Jindal, Founder, Svayam – National Centre for Inclusive Environments & MD, Jindal SAW Ltd. has been nominated by Loreal Paris Femina Women Awards in the category of “FAVOURITE FACE OF A CAUSE”, which is a Reader’s Choice Award.

She, as you know is herself a wheelchair user & has taken up the cause of accessible and barrier free infrastructure for all and particularly the persons with disabilities, the seniors, children and the women.

To vote Please click the link below and vote for Ms. Sminu Jindal:

https://www.facebook.com/feminawoman/app_1410445975881464

Voting closes soon, so please vote ASAP!

Here is the process of voting:

Click on the link and login with your facebook username and paasword.
A window will appear saying Loréal Paris Femina Women Awards will receive the following info: your public profile, friend list and email address, click on okay.
A second window will appear saying Loréal Paris Femina Women Awards would like to post to Facebook for you, click on okay or skip as you desire.
Once again, like the page, and you will be directed to the Reader’s Choice Award.
Click on the category of Favourite Face of a Cause.
Now, click on Vote written below Ms. Sminu Jindal’s name.
Now the screen will appear to say “Thank you for your vote” and one vote will be added.

May we request you to help us garnering votes to bring to fore the issue of accessibility that she has been working to promote tirelessly.

Looking forward to your support. Remember every vote counts!

Team Svayam

December 9, 2013

The Woman of Steel

Women at Work: The Woman of Steel

November 12, 2013, 9:00 AM

Sminu Jindal was in a car accident when she was 11-years-old that meant she has had to use a wheelchair ever since. This didn’t stop her continuing her education and graduating from New Delhi’s prestigious Shri Ram College of Commerce and going on to do a management program from Fore School of Management, at Delhi University.

In 1993, fresh out of college, Ms. Jindal then 22-years-old convinced her father O.P. Jindal to let her join his steel business. He set her the task of turning around a factory that was on the verge of closure, a mission which she successfully accomplished.

Today, Ms. Jindal, is the managing director of Jindal Saw Ltd., India’s biggest manufacturer of steel pipes, running a company with revenues of about $1 billion annually .

In the latest in our “Woman at Work” series, Ms. Jindal spoke to The Wall Street Journal about having to prove herself repeatedly, feeling dumb, and using her reduced mobility to her advantage.

Edited Excerpts:

The Wall Street Journal: What’s the steel industry like for a woman?

Sminu Jindal: It is a very macho industry. If I just put it in a one line, men are allowed to be macho, women are not given a chance but we can be equally macho. When people talk about steel they think women can’t lift steel, but men [at my level] don’t lift it either. We just manage people who lift it.

I honed by skills in the area I was good at, thankfully my family supported that. I concentrated on stuff that I liked the best.

I believe passion runs you. If you have a passion then you can learn a thing, but then if you don’t have a passion, or a flair for that thing, you will never learn no matter how many classes you attend. It will still be your weak point.

WSJ: What are the particular strengths you think women bring to your line of work that perhaps men lack?

Ms. Jindal: I feel we are born as mothers, so we are already preprogramed to nurture people beneath us, sometimes to be like a rough bad mom, which people don’t like. They’d rather have an easy going mom; disciplinarian mom and nurturing at the same time. I think that is one quality that a woman definitely brings on the table.

WSJ: When you first entered the industry in 1993 what was the attitude towards you as a woman? Has this changed now?

Ms. Jindal: I wish it would change now. People no longer say women can’t be in this industry, but women have to prove their capabilities again, and again, and again.

I think women also need to go through a change of mindset in about how we bring up our children. I have two boys; I hope I will do a good job.

WSJ: What have been the challenges for you in making it to the top?

Ms. Jindal: It is a macho business; everybody thought I would not be able to lift steel. I wasn’t able to lift steel, but I handle people well. That was my forte. I have my people happy working with me, they look forward to working with me, they draw inspiration when I am for hours in the plant and they feel as able-bodied they should be more diligently working. So in terms of motivation, I guess, I provide them tons.

WSJ: Does the Indian context affect the experience of women in your business?

Ms. Jindal: Indian or not, women are not encouraged to be on the shop floor. You still see women as mid-level managers…rarely as chief executives…but I am yet to come across five women engineers who work in a plant. That’s what I want as a positive change.

There is no job which a woman can’t do.

WSJ: Have you had to employ particular tactics to make it to this position? What would those be?

Ms. Jindal: I use my wheelchair as an opportunity to spread the message of accessibility. We just need to think and dream big…it happens. That’s something I have worked on and lived my life on, dreaming big that you will be there one day.

WSJ: At what stage do Indian women decide to stop working?

Ms. Jindal: Women do that because family pressures sometimes becomes too much. There is too much expectation at home due to which they are unable to concentrate on their careers. They take sabbaticals 10 years just to make sure that their kids are grown up enough for them to go out again and work. But it is not fair on them because they learn how to be a manager completely when they are at home. They are managing so many fronts with not a battery of people like we have at work.

WSJ: What mistakes do women often make at the workplace?

Ms. Jindal: They try to be super at everything. It’s okay to fail; it’s okay not to achieve this super status at work and super human at home; it’s okay. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. That’s the biggest learning at the end of it all. It is more important to get up, dust yourself and move again. All the super human stuff, sometimes is self-imposed but it also comes from a lot of peer pressure. Its peer pressure that actually drives people to do certain things that is against their will.

WSJ: Tell us about your best and worst experience as a woman at work.

Ms. Jindal: The worst time is when, in spite of my successes, I have to prove again that I can do it. Pressure always remains. Trust me, sometimes I feel that I was 90% dumber than other people but as a man I would have still been considered a success. Honest. That is the worst feeling.

I believe my best was when I put up a good team that works towards the same objective, with the same synergy and no politics.

WSJ: What is the one thing would you change in India to make it easier for women to succeed?

Ms. Jindal: I want India to be more accessible. The biggest challenge that I face even today is accessibility. Something as tiny as that…traveling from one place to another. There would be so many like me out there if things were accessible for people to travel to places, catch a public transit, go to a place of recreation or work, and lead a happier life. That’s a challenge that I am currently trying to work, Svayam, [part of Sminu Jindal Charitable Trust a New Delhi-based nonprofit working to promote dignity for people with reduced mobility] being one of them.

Source: Wall Street Journal

August 2, 2013

New York City adopts new symbol of Access

Moving forward from a static and ubiquitous “handicapped” symbol – a blue and white logo of a person leaning back in a wheelchair known as the international symbol of access , which has been under fire from disability activists who feel the logo paints disabled people as passive – the New York City has adopted a new international symbol of access.

The Old Symbol

The old symbol of access was approved by the International Standards International Sign of Access adopted by ISO is considered as passive by disability activists

International Sign of Access adopted by ISO is considered as passive by disability activists

Organization (ISO), and the symbol is generally placed wherever access has been improved for people with disability issues. It was first designed by Susanne Koefoed in 1968 – although she didn’t give the symbol a head. That was added a while later by Karl Montan.

The Accessible Icon Project

The project has been pushing for an update to the symbol, one that is more modern, and that depicts a more active figure. According to the group, the original design focused too much on the wheelchair, rather than the person who’s sitting in it, and depicts that person as stiff and passive.

They say this is representative of the treatment that many people with disabilities have faced. “People with disabilities have a long history of being spoken for, of being rendered passive in decisions about their lives,” expresses the the group on its website.

“The old icon, while a milestone in ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) history, displays that passivity: its arms and legs are drawn like mechanical parts, its posture is unnaturally erect, and its entire look is one that make the chair, not the person, important and visible.” it says further. It wants to introduce a new design, one that is active and engaged, with a focus on mobility and movement, but still in line with other ISO-approved pictograms.

The new Icon of access

The new design has been created by designer Sara Hendren, who has engaged in a little guerrilla marketing over the years, including illegally stickering over the original design with this new one.

In the beginning of their project, Sara Hendren and Brian Glenney stuck their new design over existing handicapped signs around Boston.

Hendren’s new design looks more like a person wheeling him or herself independently. Hendren says the real goal of the campaign isn’t just to replace the existing symbol with her new design – it’s to get people thinking.

There’s a much bigger question to ask about who is abled and who is disabled and what we think about dependence and need,” she said. “I’m just trying to start a discussion where we reevaluate our assumptions and our attitudes.’

The new logo is a more active logo designed by activists at Gordon College in eastern Massachusetts. The NYC will start displaying the logo all over the city starting this summer.

“It’s such a forward-moving thing,” said Victor Calise, commissioner of the New York mayor’s Office for People With Disabilities.

The movement initially started when the group behind the new logo started placing its stickers over old handicapped signs around the Gordon College campus, and eventually stickers of the final design were distributed throughout nearby Boston. While getting the logo around has largely been a “stealth operation” up to this point, visibility from the biggest city in the country should help it gain more traction.

That will make a splash,” said Wayne Sailor, co-founder of disabled advocacy group TASH and professor of special education at the University of Kansas. “I predict it will be a real trendsetter.”

New Sign of Access that more "active" — New suggested Signage of Access that is more “active”

Icon Graphic Elements of New Access Sign

1 – Head Position

Head is forward to indicate the forward motion of the person through space. Here the person is the “driver” or decision maker about her mobility.

2 – Arm Angle

Arm is pointing backward to suggest the dynamic mobility of a chair user, regardless of whether or not she uses her arms. Depicting the body in motion represents the symbolically active status of navigating the world.

3 – Wheel Cutouts

By including white angled knockouts the symbol presents the wheel as being in motion. These knockouts also work for creating stencils used in spray paint application of the icon. Having just one version of the logo keeps things more consistent and allows viewers to more clearly understand intended message.

4 – Limb Rendition

The human depiction in this icon is consistent with other body representations found in the ISO 7001 – DOT Pictograms. Using a different portrayal of the human body would clash with these established and widely used icons and could lead to confusion.

5 – Leg Position

The leg has been moved forward to allow for more space between it and the wheel which allows for better readability and cleaner application of icon as a stencil.

Sources: The Verge; LaughingSquid; npr; Accessible Icon Project

March 19, 2013

National Tourism Award for Best Disabled Friendly Monument for WHS Fatehpur Sikri

National Tourism Award for Best Disabled Friendly Monument for WHS Fatehpur Sikri

New Delhi, 18 March 2013

Picture of Cover page of Citation Book for National Tourism Awards 2011-2012 — Cover page of Citation Book for National Tourism Awards 2011-12

The Fatehpur Sikri group of monuments in Agra has bagged the prestigious National Tourism Award 2011-12 for “the best maintained and disabled-friendly monument”.

The award was given away at a function here on Monday by President Pranab Mukherjee and presided over by Minister of State for Tourism K. Chiranjeevi.

Six years back the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Svayam, an NGO working in the field of accessibility, joined hands to make the world heritage sites accessible to all the elderly and the disabled.

It’s a proud moment to share the fact that yet again our efforts have been recognized and feted by not just the stakeholders but the Union Tourism Ministry, Government of India by conferring this award for making the Fatehpur Sikri Group of Monuments accessible.

Picture of Svayam Founder Ms. Sminu Jindal receiving the award at the hands of Hon'ble President of India Mr. Pranab Mukherjee — Svayam Founder Ms. Sminu Jindal receiving the award at the hands of Hon’ble President of India Mr. Pranab Mukherjee

Svayam conducted an access audit of Fatehpur Sikri and shared the access strategies with ASI for making the heritage site inclusive and welcoming for everybody while addressing different demographic needs. ASI implemented the audit recommendations with Svayam handholding the entire process. The access provisions like ramps, signage’s, accessible toilet units, accessible ticket counters, dedicated parking facility, defined access route etc. make the heritage site of Fatehpur Sikri a well maintained and disabled friendly monument.

an image of Citation for Best Maintained and Disabled Friendly Monument - Fatehpur Sikri Group of Monuments Agra showing a huge ramp constructed at the Buland Darwaza — Citation for Best Maintained and Disabled Friendly Monument – Fatehpur Sikri Group of Monuments Agra

Svayam founder- Sminu Jindal said the awards and recognition highlight the need for making these places accessible and address the leisure requirements of varied demographic needs. “Monuments are common heritage properties and it is heartening to see ASI’s initiatives in carrying out Svayam’s audit reports to make Fatehpur Sikri accessible to people with reduced mobility,” she added.

Here is the media coverage of the event:

(a) Breaking Tourism News : Fatehpur Sikri Group of Monuments bags Best maintained and disabled friendly monument’ with joint efforts of Svayam & ASI

(b) The Hindu : Fatehpur Sikri Monuments bags Tourism Award

October 23, 2012

Footpaths in Delhi are too high to be used

A giant step backwards

City’s Footpaths Too High To Be Used, Violate All Norms

Indrani Basu TNN

New Delhi:

Imagine having to raise your legs up to a feet or more to take a footpath. If the state public works department (PWD) has its way, walking on the pavement in Delhi may become quite a task, thanks to mindless construction by the public works department. And no, there is no way anyone can be penalized for the faulty construction.

In a gross violation of the street design guidelines, the PWD is constructing 19-inch high footpaths in Kirti Nagar. The norm is of six inches. When a TOI team visited the area, it found that the agency had built most of the footpaths along Satguru Ram Singh Marg at this height without placing any slanting kerb ramps for easy access. Also, wherever there were ramps, those were too steep. In some areas, as many as three steps had to be constructed to provide access to a footpath.
As per street design guidelines issued by DDA planning body UTTIPEC in 2010, height of a footpath cannot exceed six inches; the footpaths must have a ramp of the slope 1:12 and must have tactile paving both at the beginning and along the footpath.

When TOI spoke to engineers in charge of the construction on the stretch, they shifted the blame on the area municipal commission of Delhi (MCD). “These roads were earlier with MCD . The MCD had constructed high drains on this road, and the footpaths have to be built on top of that. As a result, the footpath is high,” said an engineer.
“However, we will also be relaying the road, which will add four inches to the current height of the road,” assured the engineer. However, UTTIPEC guidelines state that in case a road will be re-carpeted after a footpath is built, reduction in footpath height till 100 mm (four inches) is permitted, but under no circumstances should a footpath be higher than 150 mm (six inches).
TOI found that none of these footpaths have tactile paving (yellow footpath tiles that act as warning and guiding blocks for the visually impaired), and access ramps are either missing, too steep or replaced with steps that cannot be used by those on wheelchairs. “All UTTIPEC street design guidelines have to be followed for all new construction. Engineers are well aware of this as we have had numerous meetings on this under the chairmanship of L-G Tejendra Khanna,” said UTTIPEC director Ashok Bhattacharjee.

However, a senior official said, “Forget UTTIPEC guidelines, even basic IRC guidelines are not being followed. The footpath being constructed in Kirti Nagar is just one of the glaring examples of public road structures that serve no actual purpose and have resulted in wastage of large amount of public money.”

While UTTIPEC has brought this matter to the notice of the L-G in a written complaint, there is currently no penalization provision in place to punish the road owning agencies.

Source: Times of India

May 14, 2012

Svayam will conduct Access Audit of Heritage sites under Aurangabad Circle of ASI

Dear Colleagues,

Below is the feature from Times of India, Pune by Ms. Neha Madaan, a well known feature writer who has been closely following such issues.

After audit, Ajanta, Ellora caves may become more accessible

Neha Madaan, TNN | May 14, 2012, 12.56AM IST

PUNE: Svayam, a Delhi-based NGO, that works to make public places accessible for the elderly and the disabled, plans to undertake an audit of Ajanta and Ellora caves, as well as other ticketed monuments in the Aurangabad circle including Bibi ka Maqbara, Daulatabad Fort, Aurangabad Group of caves and Padavlena caves in Nashik. Svayam, which had earlier signed a memorandum with ASI to help them make their sites in Delhi, Agra and Goa accessible, will gradually move to other sites in Maharashtra. Qutub Minar, the first monument that Svayam audited, became the first heritage monument to be made accessible by ASI. Red Fort, Taj Mahal and Lal Quila, among others, have also been audited by the Svayam team.

Abha Negi, director of Svayam, an initiative of the SJ Charitable Trust, said, “We have been working with ASI as consultants for six years and are currently undertaking the incorporation of accessibility features in a phased manner. We started with trainings of those involved in maintaining the world heritage sites- engineers as well as contractors- before undertaking interventions at different sites.”

“It showed that the disabled and elderly have a right to expect dignified and comfortable access to and within these heritage sites and buildings,” she added. In the past, Svayam has also participated whereever possible in audits of Agra fort, Fatehpur Sikri and Taj Mahal.

Svayam had also conducted a series of trainings with ASI engineers and contractors. “These trainings ensured appreciation of user requirements, as opposed to theoretical design prescriptions and guidelines, thereby eliciting an appropriate response followed by required desired action. A host of issues need to be kept in mind while making a heritage site accessible, right from arrival and site access, entrance and entrance gates, change in levels, thresholds, steps, incline of steps, to steep inclines, kissing gates and stiles, historic ground surfaces, surface finishes and other physical features. Staff awareness is also important,” Negi said.

An audit said, “An access audit process involves observing the building/ heritage site complex from the perspective of its usability by children, disabled, elderly and women. A team of professionals, user groups and trained volunteers form the audit team. They take photographs, measurements and audit the property from the perspective of not only a physically disabled person, but also blind visitors, those with low vision or with hearing impairment or with psycho-social disabilities,” Sminu Jindal, chairperson of Svayam, said.

The team audits each area of the complex which includes the monument’s website, parking, ticket counters/ information kiosks, toilets/amenities (drinking water facilities etc), approach ways and access route to and around the monument and to major attractions within the monument, canteens/eating joints or refreshment areas/ souvenir shop/counter, and museum/interpretation centre/ libraries.

Other aspects audited include level differences that create barriers for smooth mobility and safety of visitors, directional and informational signages at the entrance, parking and all other areas frequented or likely to be frequented by visitors, mobility equipment (if available) and topography/level changes in the complex.

Access features are suggested with the archaeological norms in mind. “We ensure that the intervention gels with the overall aesthetics of the monument and does not stand out like a sore thumb. Also the whole objective is to make the site ‘visitable’ by a wide range of people without interfering with the nature and architecture of the monument. Thirdly, we also ensure that there is no damage to the monument while implementing the suggestions for improving accessibility. Ramps and other features supplementing the accessibility are temporary structures and not grouted,” she added.

When it becomes essential, the team suggests minimum grouting required for the safety and proper securing of the equipment/lift wherever needed. “However, it is difficult to generalize the access solutions at all heritage sites since each differ in its characteristics, topography, architecture, usage and climatic conditions. If the area is too big, we suggest mobility solutions such as wheelchairs, carts that are run on battery and are non-polluting,” she said.

An official from ASI’s headquarters in Delhi said, “Barrier-free features in monuments across the country is a continuous process. Toilets at major monuments across the country will be made barrier-free with easy wheelchair maneuvering. The barrier-free initiative will also be applied to monuments in Maharashtra.”

Inclusive heritage sites world over

Edinburgh Castle in Scotland has a stair lift alongside a temporary ramp that is in use in the castle’s Great Hall

Fyvie Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland has a permanent ramp

The Caves of Jerusalem have been made accessible by installing platform lifts

King Ludwig’s fairytale castle, Neuschwanstein, in Germany, has an elevator for people with disabilities to access all the towers and different levels of the castle

March 26, 2012

Ajanta & Ellora Caves to improve accessibility for Visitors with Disabilities

Dear Colleagues,

Archeological Survey of India plans to provide battery powered wheelchairs to make World Heritage Sites of Ajanta & Ellora Caves accessible to those living with disabilities. Svayam had undertaken access audit of Agra Fort, Taj Mahal & Fatehpur Sikri group of monuments and shared detailed audit reports with the Archeological survey of India recommending these batterly powered wheelchairs and vehicles which has been accepted by the ASI to be incorporated at other world heritage sites also.

Here is the news from Gulf News:
World-famous caves to offer access to disabled

Battery-powered vehicles to be provided by Archaeological Survey of India at Ajanta and Ellora sites.

By Pamela Raghunath, Correspondent Published: 00:00 March 23, 2012

Mumbai: Disabled tourists are to be given access to the world-famous Ajanta and Ellora rock-cut caves via battery-powered vehicles.

As part of its 150th anniversary celebrations, the Archaeological Survey of India is to provide the vehicles which can transport up to five people per trip to the caves, in Aurangabad, Maharashtra.

The beautiful rock-hewn Buddhist, Hindu and Jain temples of the Ellora caves, carved on the hillsides of the Sahyadri ranges, will be the first to be made accessible using existing ramps, Dr D. Dayalan, director of the Aurangabad Circle at the ASI, told Gulf News yesterday.
The service will then be rolled out to the Ajanta caves, 100km away.

In an attempt to make the sites — visited by tourists from all over India and the world — more tourist-friendly, the ASI will completely revamp the existing facilities.

“Apart from undertaking major conservation works, we have identified around a dozen monuments in Maharashtra where tourist facilities will be upgraded and brought to an international level,” said Dr Dayalan.

A sophisticated security system has already been installed at Daulatabad, one of the world’s best-preserved medieval forts, and there are similar plans at Ellora, Ajanta and Bibi Ka Maqbara, a replica of Agra’s Taj Mahal built by Aurangzeb’s son in the 17th century as a tribute to his mother, Begum Rabia Durani.

Inaugurating the 150th anniversary celebrations of the ASI’s Aurangabad and Mumbai Circles at Ellora caves yesterday, Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan congratulated all those involved with the work of the organisation.

“As a chancellor of 20 universities in Maharashtra, I do feel that the ASI should have greater interaction with our universities, research institutions and even private conservation organisations,” the Governor said.

Modern methods

“We should work closely with heritage conservation bodies in advanced countries. Such interactions will help us adopt modern methods to preserve and conserve our heritage and monuments.”

Sankaranarayanan added he was surprised to note Maharashtra alone has 168 places of historical importance taken care of by the ASI. Several more are maintained by state and local authorities.
He said Maharashtra was home to four important world heritage sites, namely the Ajanta, Ellora and Elephanta caves and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai.