Committee of secys to monitor Accessible India campaign
Press Trust of India | New Delhi
January 18, 2016
The Govt. of India has constituted a committee of secretaries on the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to monitor the implementations of the ‘Accessible India Campaign’, which aims at making public spaces accessible to people with disabilities.
A committee of secretaries under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary has been formed to review the progress of ‘Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan’ which was launched on December 3,
the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The campaign was launched with a view to ensuring ease of access for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in government buildings, public transportation and the information
technology field.
The first meeting of the committee was held on 18 January 2016 with the secretaries from Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry, Civil Aviation, Road Transport and Highways, Information and Broadcasting etc.
“The Prime Minister had written to Cabinet Secretary following which a Committee of Secretaries has been constituted to monitor the implementation of the campaign.
“The idea is to involve other ministries to effectively deal with hurdles that may arise in the implementation of the campaign,” a senior official in the Disability Division in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment said.
The Committee will draw a plan of action. Also, they will hold regular meetings to see that the targets are met in a planned and focused way, the official said.
As part of the campaign, 50 government buildings in 20 tier-1 cities and 25 in 20 tier-2 cities will be made accessible for disabled people by July this year.
This covers building disabled-friendly steps, ramps, corridors, entry ways, emergency, exists, parking as well as indoor and outdoor facilities, including lighting, signage, alarm systems and toilets.
Also, all the 18 international airports will be made disabled-friendly by July, while the remaining 78 domestic airports will be completed by March 2018.
Five major railway stations with the most footfall will be made disabled-friendly by July, while 50 per cent of all railway stations will be made accessible by the community
by March 2018.
“Ideally, a disabled person should be able to commute between home, work place and other destinations with independence, convenience and safety. The more persons with disabilities are able to access physical facilities, the more they will be part of the social mainstream,” the official added.
Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities is collaborating with Ministry of Home, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Tourism for creating
‘Accessible police stations’, ‘Accessible hospitals’ and ‘Accessible tourism’ respectively across the country.
The Department is also coordinating with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting for enhancing accessibility of Television programmes by incorporating features like
captioning, text to speech and audio description.
Source: Business Standard