The Uttar Pradesh government has taken strong exception to the consistent non-compliance (by some departments) with provisions of law that require all its buildings to have friendly access for specially abled persons in the state.
The “Divyangjan Adhikar Adhiniyam-49/2016 notified on December 28, 2016 (Sections 44 and 45) provides for making all public buildings friendly for specially abled persons by making smooth access to the public places within five years.
The state government has not only reiterated the directives issued in this regard but it has also sought a report by August 12, 2022 about the buildings that have been made or not yet made friendly for the physically challenged persons.
“Reports about the buildings made specially abled friendly and the ones that could not be made so should be submitted to specially abled empowerment department by August 12, 2022 and the above guidelines should be strictly implemented,” said chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra in an order dated July 28, 2022 issued to all the additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries and secretaries to different departments.
“Yes, the law enacted by the Union government does not have necessary impact. Besides the specially abled persons, the buildings have to be friendly for the elders too. But even the buildings where senior citizens have to visit every year to submit a life certificate are not friendly for them and this is visible in buildings situated in the state capital too,” said AK Singh, Director HelpAge India when asked to comment on the issue.
{{/usCountry}}“Yes, the law enacted by the Union government does not have necessary impact. Besides the specially abled persons, the buildings have to be friendly for the elders too. But even the buildings where senior citizens have to visit every year to submit a life certificate are not friendly for them and this is visible in buildings situated in the state capital too,” said AK Singh, Director HelpAge India when asked to comment on the issue.
{{/usCountry}}Sections 44 and 45 of the “Divyangjan Adhikar Adhiniyam-49/2016 provides for making the buildings friendly for specially abled persons. It says that no establishment shall be granted permission to build any structure if the building plan does not adhere to rules formulated by the Central government. It also says that no establishment shall be issued a certificate of completion or allowed to take occupation of a building unless it has adhered to the rules formulated by the central government. It further provides that all the existing public buildings shall be made accessible in accordance with the rules formulated by the central government within a period not exceeding five years from the date of notification of such rules.
It further provides that the central government may grant extension of time to the states on a case-to-case basis for adherence to this provision, depending on their state of preparedness and other related parameters.
The appropriate government and the local authorities shall formulate and publish an action plan based on prioritisation, for providing accessibility in all their buildings and spaces providing essential services such as all primary health centres, civil hospital, schools, railway stations and bus stops, it said. Taking note of the provisions, the chief secretary said, “I have been directed to say that necessary directives be issued to make all the buildings friendly for physically challenged persons through sources of state budget as per the provisions of the state government’s orders dated October 4, 2018, December 18, 2020, January 15, 2021, February 02, 2021, June 22, 2021 and March 4, 2021. Directives may also be issued to make all the buildings, to be constructed in future, friendly for physically challenged persons.”
He referred to “Harmonised Guidelines and Space Standards for Barrier Free Environment for Persons with Disabilities and Elderly Persons 2016” issued earlier. The chief secretary also said the Union government has now released Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India 2021 that give detailed directives for making the buildings friendly for physically challenged persons.