Making Urban Infrastructure & Services Accessible to All

Growth of urbanization in India, as elsewhere, brings the issue of inclusiveness and accessibility of public Infrastructure and Services into greater focus

The issue of accessibility extends more prominently to the senior citizen, the physically disabled, the women and children and the economically and socially disadvantaged sections of the society. The National Policy for Persons with Disabilities, 2006(NPPwD) recognizes that Persons with Disabilities (PwD) are valuable human resource for the country and seeks to create an environment that provides them equal opportunities, protection of their rights and full participation in society. This has been followed up with the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyaan), launched in August 2015, to make India disabled – friendly. The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) is the nodal Department in the Union Government for propagating and monitoring the implementation of the National Policy and Programmes for the PwD. At the State and Municipality levels, the Departments of Social Welfare discharge these responsibilities.

It is noticeable that, with the exception of Delhi, the states in Top 5 are also among the most urbanized ones and the states in Bottom 5 are also among the least urbanized ones. It appears reasonable to conclude that urbanization leads to higher longevity and, consequently, to higher ratio of the elderly in the total population of a state. Therefore, it can be surmised and recommended that with the steady growth of urbanization, care for the elderly would need enhanced attention from all concerned.

Physically disabled

As per Census 2011, the total population of the Persons with Disabilities is 2.68 crore, which is almost 2.5 percent of the total population. This number includes the mentally and physically disabled persons. India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which, under Article 9, makes it obligatory for the Governments at various levels, including the Municipalities and the Development Authorities, for ensuring to PwDs accessibility to (a) Information, (b) Transportation, (c) Physical Environment, (d) Communication Technology and (e) Accessibility to Services as well as emergency services.

The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 under sections 44, 45 and 46 categorically provides for non-discrimination in public transport, non-discrimination on the city roads and non-discrimination in built environment, respectively. As per Section 46 of the PwD Act, the States and local authorities are required to provide for:

• Ramps in public buildings
• Provision of toilets for wheelchair users
• Braille symbols and auditory signals in elevators or lifts
• Ramps in hospitals, primary health centres and other rehabilitation centres.

It is interesting to note that, during the decade 2001 to 2011, while the overall growth in the ratio of the disabled was 0.08 percentage points, for the urban areas, the growth was much higher, at 0.24 percentage points. The reason could be analysed, but what seems undisputable is the fact that the disabled need higher attention, particularly in the urban areas. The infrastructure and services in the cities need to focus on the disabled and the elderly in a way that would enable them to have convenient access to the same.

While governments at all levels are working for making the governance systems citizen-centric, special care and attention would be required to make the same PwD-friendly. Mobile-App based services can be of great help to the PwD. Public organisations need to provide information and services through telephone and internet based helplines. More and more information would need to be placed on the web-portals of the organisations, so that the PwD need not even call the
help lines

Accessible Infrastructure

Barrier-free built environment enables people with disabilities, including the elderly, to move about safely and freely, and use the facilities within the built spaces. The NPPwD identifies the goal of barrier free design as to provide an environment that supports the independent functioning of individuals so that they can participate without assistance, in everyday activities. Therefore, to the maximum extent possible, public buildings and public places, such as offices, museums, parks, and toilets in public places and transportation systems for public use ought to be made barrier free. Special attention would need to be given for the PwD in the categories of women and children.

Transportation systems, buses being the most popular mode, need to have low floor steps to allow for convenient climbing, while the platforms at the bus stands need to have ramps at entry and boarding points designed to be aligned with the door and steps of the bus. Persons above 60 should have priority rights over the seating places. Drivers and Conductors need to be imparted training for assisting the PwD. Similar arrangements would be desirable in respect of Metro railways too. The streets in cities need to have PwD-friendly walkways, which should allow for safe walking.

Accessible Services

While governments at all levels are working for making the governance systems citizen-centric, special care and attention would be required to make the same PwD-friendly. Mobile-App based services can be of great help to the PwD. Public organisations need to provide information and services through telephone and internet based helplines. More and more information would need to be placed on the web-portals of the organisations, so that the PwD need not even call the help lines.

However, some public services would continue to be based on access through telephonic calls and internet/mobile based apps. For instance, securing a radio cab or an ambulance or the services of a doctor or the police. In such cases, the language and design of the app would need to be simple and available in local languages. Software that are friendly to the visually impaired are becoming increasingly available in the open market and need to be promoted through government subsidies too.

In conclusion

The proportion of disabled and the elderly in the population has shown a growing trend over last several decades and the trend seems likely to continue in the decades to come. This segment of population has the potential to make tremendous improvement in the contribution that it could make to the economy of the cities and regions. The public infrastructure and services need to be designed and operated in such a manner that would facilitate the persons with disabilities overcome their physical handicap and join the mainstream of social and economic life and activities in the society. That would surely make them a net contributor to, and not a burden on, the social and economic framework of the cities and the regions.