THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Despite assurances by the state government, public buildings remain inaccessible to the differently-abled. Though Social Justice Minister K K Shailaja recently announced in the assembly session that over 28 public buildings in the city will soon be made accessible and disabled-friendly, members of the All Kerala Wheelchair Rights Federation (AKWRF) are doubtful of its implementation as a majority of the public buildings remain inaccessible. The 28 public buildings are being made disabled-friendly as part of the Union government’s Accessible India Campaign.
According to Section 45 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPD) Act, which was passed in December 2016, all public buildings in the city have to be made accessible to the differently-abled with facilities such as ramps, signage in braille and lifts but most of the places and government offices lack these facilities. “The (RPD) Act, 2016, to provide facilities such as ramps, lifts and handrails is only applicable to new buildings and doesn’t include existing buildings. Most of the government offices are old and lack disabled-friendly facilities.
Educational institutions also lack ramp facilities, making it difficult for the differently-abled students to move around,” said Rajesh S, district secretary, AKWRF. Sindu Sudevan, president of AKWRF, said: “Although the authorities concerned are trying to make tourist destinations such as Akkulam and Veli disabled-friendly by providing ramps and other facilities, about 90 per cent of the public places in the city are not wheelchair-friendly. Those that have ramp facilities have not been scientifically designed. All forms of public transportation are inaccessible to us. We need a solution. Although many promises have been made by authorities earlier, they failed to implement those.”
Rajeev Palluruthy, secretary, AKWRF, said that they have already begun an online campaign to make all tourist destinations in the state accessible and disabled-friendly. “In the comings days, we are also planning to focus more on the tourist locations in each district and give petitions to the authorities concerned. We want them to ensure that accessible restrooms and wheelchair ramps are provided.”