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Aadhaar centres to get disabled-friendly

News coverage in Hindustan Times, 16 November 2011

HT Correspondent

To facilitate people with disabilities in enrolling for Aadhaar – the Unique Identification Number (UID) – the Delhi government has set up special enrollment camps with the help of Unique Identification Authority of India. The government has also roped in Svayam, a non-government organisation that works for people with disabilities to identify such people and help them in getting registered for Aadhaar.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit individual identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India on behalf of the Government of India. This number will serve as a proof of identity and address, anywhere in India.

“Some of the Aadhar venues are inaccessible for people with disabilities and at certain places basic facilities such as toilets are not available.  People with speaking and hearing disabilities also face problem while communicating with the staff at the camp. We will help such people,” said Subhash Chandra Vashishtha, programme co-ordinator for Swayam.

The organisation has also tied up with local NGOs to identify and bring such people to Aadhar centres. Senior Delhi government officials said that these enrollment camps are being set up at 15 locations in the Capital.

Vasant Kunj, Rohini, Vikas Puri, Narela, Hauz Khas Bhajanpura and Seemapuri are some localities where these camps are being organised.

Click here for link to HT-

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HD/2011/11/16/ArticleHtmls/Aadhaar-centres-to-get-disabled-friendly-16112011006005.shtml?Mode=1

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Railway Minister promises to address the problems faced by passengers with disabilities in Indian Railways

Dear Readers,

Representatives of 17 organisations working among the disabled in the India, met the Union Railway Minister Shri Dinesh Trivedi on September 28, 2011 to draw attention to the problems faced by passengers with reduced mobility, the elderly in general and those with disabilities in particular, while travelling with the Indian Railways.

 The delegation inter alia demanded extension of e-booking facility for the disabled, extension of concessions on tickets to all categories of disabilities enshrined in the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995. They also demanded that concessions be provided in local and passenger trains as well, as was being provided in long distance trains.

“I find no reason why it can not be extended to persons with disabilities if it can be conveniently extended to other passengers. In fact, it is the disabled who require it most!”, expressed the Hon’ble Minister.

The members of the delegation pointed out that railway stations continues to be inaccessible despite legal mandate resulting in multiple barriers for persons with reduced mobility in using them. Ramps  were rare and that too limited for entry to the first platform in big stations while there was no access to the other platforms if it were more than two. Ramps lead to the foot over-bridges which can not be climbed by persons with reduced mobility.

It was pointed out to the Minister that the Platforms do not provide accessible entry to the train. The gap (height) between the platform and the coach varies from station to station and there is no provision of ramps. There is not enough space for mobility inside the coaches. Toilets cannot be used by persons with certain disabilities. In this light, they demanded that the railways should set up a task force on access and go in for universal design. They also demanded that battery operated cars now provided at some stations should be made available at all major stations and platforms.

The Hon’ble Minister suggested that they would consider placing a mobile ramp in front of the coach designated for the disabled so that they could conveniently use the coach specially reserved for them in the long distance trains.

The delegation also pointed out that for the past many years the railways have not made recruitment to fill the 3 per cent quota for disabled persons mandated by the PWD Act. In the matter of promotions also, despite court orders, reservations in promotions are not being implemented.  It was also brought out that employees acquiring disability during  their service who are protected under Section 47 of the the Act were silently being accommodated against the minimum 3% reserved employment quota which was against the mandate of the Persons with disabilities Act 1995.  They urged upon the minister to fill the backlog both in employment and promotions without delay and implement the reservation policy as per the mandate of the law.

Mr. Dinesh Trivedi gave a patient hearing to the delegation. He assured the delegation to consider their demands sympathetically. He also stressed the need for the railways being more sensitive to the issues of the disabled.

The delegation was led by Ms.Brinda Karat, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and ex member of parliament and comprised of Mr. Muralidharan, Assistant Convener of the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled, Mr. Rajive Raturi of the Human Rights Law Network, Mr. Subhash Chandra Vashishth of Svayam, Mr. Abdool Mabood of Snehi amongst others. They submitted a memorandum to the minister, in which they welcomed the decision to extend concessions to the disabled in Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains. This was one of the demands that was raised with the ministry earlier. However, many other issues continue to remain unaddressed. Some urgent issues mentioned in the memorandum are as follows:

Concessions

 (i)   Extend concession to all trains: The railways have been providing concessions for disabled persons in mail and express trains, which now has been extended to Rajdhani and Shatabdi also. But the concession is not provided in local and passenger trains and the Garib Rath. We request that concessions be provided on these trains also.

(ii)  Validity of disability certificates:  Currently, a separate certificate has to be obtained for availing railway concession. The railways should accept disability certificates or cards as valid proof of the disability of the concerned person and do away with the requirement of a separate certificate.

(iii) Travelling without Escorts: Except for visually impaired persons and the hearing and speech impaired, currently all other disabled persons have to invariably travel with escorts if they have to avail concession. This restricts their right to travel.  All disabled persons who are capable of travelling independently like persons with locomotor disabilities should be allowed to travel with or without escort.

(iv) Concession to mentally disabled persons: People with mental illness are included in the PWD Act but they are not provided concessions in the railways. All those classified as disabled in the PWD Act should be provided concession in the railways.

(v) Concession on tatkal tickets: The usual concession given on other tickets should also be provided for bookings made under tatkal.

E-booking facility

E-booking facility should be extended to the disabled. In fact they require it more than non-disabled persons. As is done in the case of senior citizens, the TTE can verify the proof (disability certificate) during the course of the journey.

Coach for disabled

Most of the time the coach reserved for the disabled is occupied by other non-disabled travellers, railway employees and even RPF personnel in connivance with and often due to lack of proper enforcement. It should be ensured that the coach be placed next to the guard’s coach and a disability sensitive attendant be provided in these coaches to ensure that none other than disabled persons and their escorts are allowed in the reserved coach.

Accessibility

The Persons with Disability Act of 1995 mandates railway stations and coaches to be made barrier free. Its implementation, however, has been disappointing.Tactile marking should be made on the platform to guide blind persons to the exit, bridges, stairs, ticketing counters etc. Tactile markings should also be provided on the edges of the platforms. Platform numbers should be labelled in Braille both at the entry/exit points as well as on the railing of the foot over bridge. Train coaches need to be re-designed to cater to the needs of the disabled persons. 

Sensitizing railway staff

The disabled encounter a lot of problems at railway counters.  There is a need to sensitise all personnel working in the railways, especially those dealing directly with travellers, on issues connected with disability.

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TOI Social Impact Awards shortlist Svayam

Dear Readers,

Times of India Social Impact Awards have shortlisted Svayam as one of the three organizations in the Empowerment and Advocacy category. A total of fifteen hundred contenders were in the fray.  We feel this is a recognition of our work in promoting accessibility and barrier free infrastructure in the community for the benefit of all and especially those living with reduced mobility due to various reasons.

The awards seek to recognize and encourage the noble efforts of often-faceless groups to bring about change in the lives of India’s marginalized.

To read directly from the source, please click here: Times of India Social Impact Awards

Here is the news clipping from Times of India Newspaper dated  15 Sep 2011.

News Clipping of Times of India Social Impact Awards

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JNU continues to be disabled unfriendly

Hi,

Often to tackle the enforcement issues, the authorities start interfering with the inclusive features of the built environment. They forget that this tweaking in the design can make certain constitutes of the social fabric entirely disabled. An example of this is placement of bollards on the kerb ramps and slopes to stop misuse of the pedestrian pathways by motor bikers etc. This results in barriers for persons with disabilities and break the seamless chain of accessibility.

Those responsible for managing and maintaining such  public infrastructure must be cautious while planning any such intervention. On the contrary, it is advisable to invest in enforcement and initiate heavy penalties against violators. The Jawahar Lal Nehru University Campus seems to doing the same mistake (read the news item below)  and it should be corrected sooner than later as this is most likely to discourage the persons with disabilities from studying in the JNU.

Accessibility for disabled a major problem at JNU

At Jawaharlal Nehru University, it may be easy getting admission, but for disabled students accessibility is key issue.

Akshansh Gupta, 28 a PhD student is physically challenged since birth and cannot move around without assistance. He is also unable to push his own wheelchair. His attendant, Mahajan carries him around the campus, to and from his classes, as there is no ramp to reach first floor. Even going to the canteen for a cup of tea becomes a task since Mahajan has to carry him up and down the stairs.

Though there are ramps at many places in the varsity, each of them have pillars at both ends, making it impossible for wheelchairs to pass through. Wheelchairs have to be folded and carried from between these pillars while the person made to walk through.

“It is a lot of trouble for me. It is difficult to move from place to place,” rued Akshansh. Garima, studying at the Social Sciences department and using crutches to walk around the campus suggested an on-campus transport system as the solution. “If there could be some sort of vehicle to help disabled people reach their departments, it would be really helpful,” she said.

Vice Chancellor, JNU, S K Sopory said this was a problem that has to be dealt with at the earliest.

“I have surveyed the area along with staff from the engineering branch and it was decided that wherever these ramps have barriers, they will be removed.” he said. JNU authorities plan to make the buildings more disabled friendly in about two months time.

According to general secretary of the JNU disabled person’s association, Mohammad Tariq, inaccessibilty is a major problem in the renowned varsity.

“The text book section of the library, the periodical section, the canteen, Aravali International guest house, a community center at Saraswati Puram and a few more hostels are also inaccessible for physically challenged people. We are still looked upon like strangers” said Tariq.

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A successful 4th ICAT at Taipei, Taiwan

Dear Friends,

4th International Conference on Accessible Tourism was hosted jointly by Eden Social Welfare Foundation  & Accessible Tourism Committee, Asia Pacific Disability Forum (APDF) during  11-14 April 2011 at Taiwan Hospital Convention Centre, Taipei, Taiwan (http://www.thcc.net.tw ). More than 200 odd delegates from leading organisations /institutions and  world leaders of accessible tourism movement from across the globe, including Svayam, participated in the Conference. The Conference was inaugurated by the Hon’ble President of Taiwan  Ma Ying-jeou amidst  a cultural extravaganza. He spoke about the progress Taiwan has made in making its physical infrastructure & services accessible to every one and stressed that they still could do much more and invited suggestions from the experts who gathered at the Conference.

Ms. Abha Negi, Director-Svayam and Chair Organising Committee of TRANSED 2012 India extending invitation to President of Taiwan, His Excellency Ma Ying-jeou for active participation of  Ministry of Transport & Communication and Tourism, Govt. of Taiwan in the forthcoming 13th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for the Elderly & Disabled Persons in India during 17-21 Sep 2012.

A Gala Dinner was organised with theme “World Cultural Night,” wherein all participants were dressed up in their respective national costumes. Svayam Team/Transed 2012 Secretariat Team also participated in the Cultural Night & Gala Diner hosted by Eden Welfare Foundation – the host of 4th ICAT 2011.

Subsequently the Svayam Team consisting of Ms. Abha Negi, Mr. SC Vashishth & Ms. Kirandeep also met the Senior officials of Taiwanese Ministry of Transport & Communication who promised that TRANSED 2012 will have good representation from Taiwan government and NGOs.

Svayam was one of the sponsoring international organisations of ICAT 2011.

A stall was also put up promoting TRANSED 2012.

Here is the news coverage by China Post:

Taiwan can do much more to promote accessibility for disabled: President

 
April 13, 2011 11:12 pm TWN, CNA

TAIPEI–President Ma Ying-jeou on Tuesday praised the strides Taiwan has made in developing a barrier-free environment to promote accessible tourism but acknowledged that more needs to be done.

Speaking at the 4th International Conference on Accessible Tourism in Taipei, Ma said Taiwan was working to create an environment where the physically challenged, senior citizens, and children could enjoy an accessible vacation.

“Although we have a complete law to protect the rights of the disabled, there is still room for improvement in its execution,” he said at the opening of the two-day conference called “Accessible Living Drives National Development.”

There are 1.08 million people in Taiwan with either physical or mental disabilities and 2.48 million senior citizens, all of whom require an accessible living environment, encompassing tourism, assistive devices, transportation, and housing, the president said.

Ma cited steps taken in Taipei City as examples of progress made in providing a more accessible environment, including promoting barrier-free facilities such as accessible ramps and washrooms and flattening 121,100 square meters of walkways covered by building overhangs along Taipei streets.

One of the conference’s 200 participants said that traveling to other areas of Taiwan, however, remained difficult for those with disabilities.

“The gap between platforms and public transport vehicles, like trains and buses, should be redesigned,” said Taipei City resident and wheelchair user Hanmer Fu, who relies on the train to travel with his wife to suburban areas for weekend getaways.

He also suggested that the government develop a taxi network catering specifically to the physically challenged.

“We are often caught in a difficult situation after leaving the train station because no taxi drivers are willing to take us deeper into cities,” he said.

The Taipei City Government, one of the first to launch a dedicated taxi service for disabled persons, now has 168 taxi vans available to those who apply to use it.

Though the rate is only one-third the normal taxi price, it has to be booked days in advance, which is still inconvenient for those who need help getting around.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications set up a barrier-free transportation task force in January that aimed to provide more low-floor city buses by the end of the year and make 40 more train stations around the country more accessible.

To plan accessible travel, the Eden Welfare Foundation, which organized the conference, has published a booklet that lists 38 tourist attractions, 16 restaurants, 16 accommodations, 12 tour itineraries, and 15 museums considered to be accessible.

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Govt. of India invites proposals from States to ensure Disabled Friendly public buildings & websites

Dear Friends,

A recent press release from the Union Govt. invites from the States proposals to the tune of 100 crore to ensure that their all public buildings and websites are made barrier free. This is remarkable initiative from the Centre.

However, are there sufficient experts who can help state governments achieve this? Average website site developers know nothing about W3C standards and those who know little ask for exceptionally huge amount of money to do the work. There are very few genuine organisations who are dedicated and know their job well, but they are very busy!

Similarly, there is no system in the country to train the existing architects and engineers involved in maintaining and developing physical infrastructure so that the desired accessibility in the infrastructure could be ensured.

There have been efforts on the part of civil society and sensitization workshops have been conducted here and there but that doesn’t ensure that the implemented work will be accessible to the end user for the perceptions of accessibility have been found to be far removed from the actual accessibility!

Also, while it may be easy to plan new infrastructure as accessible, it is equally difficult to address the existing buildings  of universities, schools, hospitals, institutions, offices, public spaces etc in absence of trained access auditors. Retrofitting also poses specific challenges of space, location and financial viability!

Thirdly, the multiple standards on physical accessibility of public infrastructure adds to the confusion of the existing sensitized professionals. While the effort from the Ministry of Urban Development to harmonize the existing multiple standards viz. BIS standards on Functional Requirements in Buildings, Chief Commissioner Disabilities document on barrier free environment and the one with CPWD on barrier free environment will bring out some concrete document in near future, however as of date it is utter chaos.

The existing standards fail to satisfy the aspirations of persons with disabilities  and the mandate of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  Still the effort is on special design to address the need of disabled and not Universal Design that serves all. The Government of India should consider these issues on urgent basis since the call for proposals has been published.

regards

SC Vashishth

The Press Release:

Centre Invites Proposals from States for Giving Central Assistance to the tune of Rs. 100 Crore to Provide Barrier free Environment in Govt Buildings and to Make Government Websites Accessible to Persons With Disabilities

The Centre has invited proposals from States to give central assistance to provide barrier free environment in important State Government buildings in the State Secretariat, Collectorates, Main Hospitals, Universities and other important Government offices to ensure that these are accessible to the Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).

Central assistance will also be given to make Government Websites at the State and District levels accessible to PwDs as per guidelines for Indian Government Websites issued by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances.

Proposals from States have been invited by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment under the “Scheme for Implementation of PwD Act, 1995 (SIPDA)” after effecting a major increase in the annual allocation under this Scheme from Rs. 15-20 crore in the past to Rs. 100 crore this year.

The Ministry has made a notional allocation to the States based upon their population of PwDs as per Census, 2001 and has requested them to sent proposals on that basis. For example, a notional allocation of Rs. 16.50 crore has been made for Uttar Pradesh, 8.90 crore for West Bengal, 7.90 crore for Tamil Nadu, 7.60 crore for Maharashtra, 6.70 crore for Madhya Pradesh and 6.60 crore for Andhra Pradesh. Similar notional allocations have also been communicated to other States based on their population of PwDs.

It may be recalled that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), 2008, to which India is a signatory, calls for making buildings, work places, facilities including information, communication and other services etc accessible to PwDs on an equal basis. The Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment, Shri Mukul Wasnik, had written to the Chief Ministers of all States earlier this year urging them to make the important buildings and websites of the State Government accessible to People with disabilities in a time bound manner.

Central assistance on significant scale is provided to states under “Scheme for Implementation of PwD Act, 1995 (SIPDA) to encourage them to move in that direction.

source: http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=66210

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Project Arrow should include mandatory component of Access during renovation of Post Offices

727 more post offices to be upgraded

Dear Friends,

Department of Post is undertaking this exercise of renovating major post office as part of its Project Arrow and we were extremely happy that this renovation will provide opportunity to the the Deportment of Post, Govt. of India to make their Post offices being upgraded under this project accessible to diversity of users including those with reduced mobility and those with disabilities.

However, our recent experience indicates otherwise. A survey of the Post Office at Parliament Street in the heart of Delhi recently upgraded under project Arrow brings out that perhaps the component of access has not been given the priority that it deserved in light of legal mandate of Accessibility in Public Infrastructure. We are taking up this issue with the Department, so that it is addressed now before it is too late.

However, it would be a good economic sense to adhere to the Guidelines on Accessible and Barrier Free Infrastructure at the time of undertaking renovation projects of this magnitude  so that the need of retrofitting at a future date is nipped in the bud and financial resources are used judiciously.

regards

Svayam Team

Click here to read from source

India Post is giving a corporate look to 727 more post offices as part of its “Project Arrow  

New Delhi: After upgrading 1,000 post offices across the country, India Post is giving a corporate look to 727 more with better services under one roof as part of its “Project Arrow”, Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot says.

“The look and feel of these post offices will be different and these offices will be fully computerised with additional features like electronic funds transfer, instant money order and computerised banking services,” Pilot said.

“We picked some 1,000 post offices in 500 districts over the past year and spent Rs 160-odd crore. The look and feel, the aesthetics, the uniform have all changed. They are like a one-stop shop for people looking at a host of services,” he said.

“Once the atmosphere is more welcoming, footfalls will increase. And once the footfalls increase, more revenue will come in. And once more revenue comes in, it motivates our employees,” he added, reports IANS.

“We have started getting results as well. In the last quarter of 2009, these 1,000 post offices saw a 23-per cent jump in revenue,” the Minister said.

The government has around 150,000 post offices across the country and more than 450,000 people working out of them. The idea is to make these offices find ways to counter the loss of revenues on account of telecom, Internet and courier businesses.

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Ahmedabad BRT wins Sustainable Transport Award at Washington

Taking learnings from Delhi BRT, Gujarat has successuly implemented its BRT which has got accolades from Transport Research Bureau, Washington and recently awarded Sustainable Transport Award.

Here is the coverage:

This report is also available at: http://uttipec.nic.in/writereaddata/mainlinkFile/File206.doc

In 3 months, Ahmedabad BRT a winner

Source: The Times of India dated 21.01.2010
              
Ironed Out Delhi Flaws To Notch Up Ridership Of 35,000, Wins International Acclaim
Megha Suri Singh | TNN

New Delhi: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) are dreaded words in the capital but the urban transportation concept has become immensely popular in Ahmedabad since the pilot corridor is nothing like its Delhi counterpart. In fact, they have learnt from Delhi’s mistakes to make it a successful venture. 
    The three-month-old corridor introduced all that Delhi lacked — it was started with Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled buses, a passenger information system (PIS) and closed bus shelters with smart-card based ticketing at the bus-stops and not inside buses. The first corridor was planned in ‘‘lowdensity areas’’ and operated free for people for the first two months.

Ahmedabad BRT

    When Delhi’s tryst with BRT began almost two years ago, with trial runs on the pilot 5.8-km stretch between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand, the irritants were congestion in the car lane which was squeezed to just two lanes, signal cycles going for a toss with long waiting time at intersections, bus shelters located at crossings adding to the chaos and a long waiting time for buses. In Ahmedabad, the BRT corridor stretches over 16.5 km in an area which, unlike congested south Delhi, is still being developed by the government.
    “There are large tracts of open space along the corridor and offices are being developed along them. This is a transit-oriented model of development where transportation has come first and development later,’’ said an official. The average traffic counts at intersections are just 3000-4000 PCUs hourly as against Delhi BRT where some intersections have counts as high as 20,000-30,000 PCUs per hour. It is a closed BRT system. So, the buses don’t go out and other buses are not allowed in. The buses are fitted with devices which signals can read and give them free passage. The Intelligent Traffic Signals (ITS) system planned for the Delhi corridor is yet to come up.
    The bus-stops are located 200 metres before the intersections and have platform screen doors operated by sensors to prevent people from getting hit by buses passing by. The doors open when a bus arrives and all buses, standard floor ones, stop in perfect alignment with the bus shelters. Delhi spent much more on buying low-floor buses to provide stepless entry to people, but even two years later, drivers seldom stop the bus in alignment with the platform.
    ‘‘We started with a ridership of 17,000 people daily in October last year. This has grown to 35,000 in three months,’’ said Prof Shivanand Swamy of CEPT University, Ahmedabad, which conceptualised the BRT model.
    It recently got the Sustainable Transport Award by Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) in Washington.

SERVING ITS PURPOSE The BRT corridor stretches over 16.5 km in Ahmedabad and has Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled buses, a passenger information system (PIS) and closed bus shelters with smart-card based ticketing at bus-stops and not inside buses. It’s also located in an area that is not densely populated.