Ease doing business for differently-abled
India Campaign/Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan, launched in 2015, reports and anecdotal evidence abound to show that navigating India remains a nightmare for PwDs. In this context, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India's (CAG) reported decision to order a pan-India audit of disability features in government buildings constructed or retrofitted between April 2022 and March 2023 is very welcome. According to Census 2011, there are 26.8 million PwDs in the country.
The number would be much more today. CAG has identified government buildings in 15 zones, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, and the audit will check for not just basic requirements such as ramps but also finer aspects, including placement and height of handrails in lifts, gradient of ramps, Braille displays, tactile strips and audio messages in lifts. The audit is urban-centric, while the situation in rural India, where even basic infrastructure is missing, is far more challenging.
While the CAG survey is PwD-focused, similar public infrastructure will also benefit the elderly and people with mobility problems, temporary illness or impairment. India's proportion of people over 60 was 8.6% in 2011 and is expected to reach 12.5% by 2030, and almost 20% by 2050. As India progresses, accessibility must be built into public culture to ensure equal opportunities for all, fulfilling a key constitutional mandate.
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