Annexure Government of India Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities ACCESSIBLE INDIA CAMPAIGN STRATEGY PAPER
INTRODUCTION
1. India is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (UNCRPD). Article 9 of UNCRPD casts an obligation on all the
signatory governments to take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with
disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical
environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including
information and communications technologies and systems, and to other
facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in
rural areas. These measures, which shall include the identification and
elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility, shall apply to,
inter-alia :
a) Buildings, roads, transportation and other indoor and outdoor facilities,
including schools, housing, medical facilities and workplaces; b) Information,
communications and other services, including electronic services and emergency
services.
2. The Convention also mandates that all the Governments shall also take
appropriate measures :
a) To develop, promulgate and monitor the implementation of minimum standards
and guidelines for the accessibility of facilities and services open or
provided to the public; b) To ensure that private entities that offer
facilities and services which are open or provided to the public take into
account all aspects of accessibility for persons with disabilities; c) To
provide training for stakeholders on accessibility issues facing persons with
disabilities; d) To provide in buildings and other facilities open to the
public signage in Braille and in easy to read and understand forms; e) To
provide forms of live assistance and intermediaries, including guidelines,
readers and professional sign language interpreters, to facilitate
accessibility to buildings and other facilities open to the public; f) To
promote other appropriate forms of assistance and support to persons with
disabilities to ensure their access to information; g) To promote access for
persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies
and systems, including the Internet;
3. Governments at the High Level Inter Governmental Meeting organized by the
Govt. of Republic of Korea adopted the ministerial declaration and Incheon
Strategy to "Make the Right Real" for PwDs in Asia and Pacific. The Incheon
Strategy provides the Asian and Pacific Region, and the world the first set of
regionally agreed distinct - inclusive development goals. The Strategy
comprises 10 goals, 27 targets and 62 indicators, which build on UNCRPD. Goal
No. 3 of the Incheon Strategy mentions that access to the physical environment,
public transportation, knowledge, information and communication is a
precondition for persons with disabilities to fulfil their rights in an
inclusive society. The accessibility of urban, rural and remote areas based on
universal design increases safety and ease of use not only for persons with
disabilities, but also for all other members of society. Access audits are an
important means of ensuring accessibility and must cover all stages of the
process of planning, design, construction, maintenance and monitoring and
evaluation. Access to assistive devices and related support services is also a
precondition for persons with disabilities to optimize their level of
independence in daily life and live in dignity. Ensuring the availability of
assistive devices for those living in low-resource settings involves
encouraging research, development, production, distribution and maintenance.
4. 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 transport, non-discrimination on the road
and non-discrimination in built environment respectively.
As per Section 46 of the PwD Act, the States are required to provide for -
(i) Ramps in public buildings; (ii) Adaptation of toilets for
wheel chair users; (iii) Braille symbols and auditory signals in
elevators or lifts; (iv) Ramps in hospitals, primary health centres and
other medical care and rehabilitation institutions
5. Section 44 and 45 of the said Act cast responsibility on the States to
take measures to make public transport accessible for PwDs and also make
provision for auditory signals at red lights in public roads, curb cuts and
slops in pavements, engraving on the surface at zebra crossings etc.
ACCESSIBLE INDIA CAMPAIGN
Department of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice &
Empowerment has launched the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat
Abhiyan), as a nation-wide flagship campaign for achieving universal
accessibility for Persons with Disabilities. The campaign would initially be
implemented on pilot basis in seven States, which include Delhi, Assam,
Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamilnadu. While implementing the
Accessible India Campaign, it is proposed that we are in sync with the
guidelines set by the Incheon strategy. The targets 3.A, 3.B and 3.C of the
Incheon Strategy are given below :
3.A - Increase the accessibility of the physical environment in the national
capital that is open to the public.
3.B - Enhance the accessibility and usability of public transportation.
3.C - Enhance the accessibility and usability of information and communications
services.
The Incheon strategy guidelines have also defined indicators for tracking the
progress on these targets.Proportion of accessible government buildings in the
national capital Proportion of accessible international airports Proportion of
accessible and usable public documents and websites that meet internationally
recognized accessibility standards Availability of mandatory technical
standards for barrier-free access that govern the approval of all designs for
buildings that could be used by members of the public, taking into
consideration internationally recognized standards, such as those of the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Number of sign language
interpreters
In view of the above, it is proposed to have the following objectives and
targets for the Accessible India Campaign:
Part A: Built Environment Accessibility
Objective 1 : Enhancing the proportion of accessible government buildings
An accessible government building is one, where a person with disabilities has
no barrier in entering it and using all the facilities therein. This covers the
built environment - services, steps and ramps, corridors, entry gates,
emergency exits, parking - as well as indoor and outdoor facilities including
lighting, signages, alarm systems and toilets.
Identifying accessible buildings requires annual accessibility audits that
determine if a building meets agreed upon standards. Once a building is deemed
fully accessible, an annual audit is not necessary, but should be required for
any proposed changes to the structure or systems contained therein. A full
audit can then be done on a less frequent basis.
Standards of accessibility should be as consistent as possible with
international standards, such as those of the ISO, taking into account the
local context. In regards to the built environment, ISO 21542:2011, Building
Construction - Accessibility and Usability of th e Built Environment,
delineates a set of requirements and recommendations concerning construction,
assembly, components and fittings.
Target 1.1: Conducting accessibility audit of 100 most important government
buildings and converting them into fully accessible buildings by July 2016 in
the following cities:
- Delhi - Ahmedabad - Chennai - Gurgaon - Guwahati-
Jaipur - Mumbai
Target 1.2 : Conducting audit of 100 most important government buildings and
converting them into fully accessible buildings in all the remaining State
capitals (those not covered in Target 1.1) (July 2017).
Target 1.3 : Converting 50% of all the government buildings of National Capital
and all the State capitals into fully accessible buildings (July 2019).
Target 1.4 : Conducting audit of 50% of government buildings and converting
them into fully accessible buildings in 10 most important cities / towns of all
the States (other than those, which are already covered in Target 1.1 and 1.2
above) (July 2022).
Intermediate Targets and Deadlines
• Empanelment of accessibility auditors (May-June 2015).
Seeking Expression of Interest from auditors: Newspapers, Ministry Website, NGO
network, Architect/Builders network) • Identification of 700 ( 100 each in 7
cities mentioned above) government buildings, to be converted into accessible
buildings (May-July 2015). Letters to and meeting with the
secretaries of these 7 states for identification of the buildings
Inputs from NGOs and common public through email, MyGov and newspaper ads •
Accessibility audit of identified buildings (July 2015 - December 2015).
Arranging meetings of the auditors and the building authorities along
with the contractors and the engineers concerned Creating a
PERT chart for each building's audit • Training of architects /
contractors / concerned officials (July 2015 - February 2016).
Creating inventory of trainers Deciding places and dates for
organizing the training Identifying and inviting the trainees
Organizing Training workshops • Proposals from State
Governments under SIPDA for accessibility conversion and approval by the
Department (February - March 2016). Conveying the format of the
SIPDA proposal Organizing meetings PERT chart
for obtaining and approving the proposals • CSR mapping of accessible
buildings (February 2016 - March 2016). Organizing CSR workshops
across 7 states Following on the commitment/interest mapped for
accessibility work • Construction / retro-fitting of buildings (April 2016 -
July 2016). PERT Chart and follow-up • Accessibility
audit of remaining buildings relating to targets 1.2 to 1.4 ( Jan- Dec 2016) •
Proposals preparation, submission by the state governments and approval under
SIPDA or CSR Mapping (August 2016 to March 2017) • Construction and
retrofitting of buildings relating to targets 1.2 to 1.4. (Dec 2016 - July
2019)
Part B: Transportation System Accessibility
Objective 2 : Enhancing proportion of accessible airports
An airport is accessible, if a person with a disability has no barrier in
entering it, using all the facilities, and boarding and disembarking from
airplanes. This covers the built environment - surfaces, steps and ramps,
corridors, entry ways, emergency exits, parking - as well as indoor and outdoor
facilities including lighting, signage, alarm systems and toilets.
Target 2.1 : Conducting accessibility audit of all the international airports
and converting them into fully accessible international airports (July 2016).
Target 2.2 : Conducting accessibility audit of all the domestic airports and
converting them into fully accessible airports (July 2017).
Intermediate Targets and Deadlines
• Accessibility audit of international airports (July - October 2015).
Meeting with MoCA and Airport Authority with the Airport
operators for drawing the timeline of the audit • Proposals under SIPDA
for converting airports into accessible airports (November 2015 - March 2016).
Conveying the format of SIPDA proposal and exploring other
funding mechanisms • Construction / retro-fitting of International Airports
(April - July 2016). Drawing the PERT chart and following
up • Accessibility audit of domestic airports (November 2015 - February
2016). PERT chart and mapping the auditors to the airports •
Construction/ retro-fitting of Domestic Airports PERT chart and
Follow-up
Objective 3 : Enhancing the proportion of accessible railway stations
Target 3.1 : Conducting accessibility audit of 25% railway stations and
converting them into fully accessible railway stations (July 2016).
Target 3.2 : Ensuring that 50% of railway stations in the country are converted
into fully accessible railway stations (July 2017).
Intermediate Targets and Deadlines
• Accessibility audit of 25% railway stations (July 2015 - February 2016).
Meeting with concerning Railway ministry officials for issuing orders
for the audit Identification of nodal officer for every
station PERT Chart for the audit work
• Construction / retro-fitting of railway stations to make them fully
accessible (March-July 2016). Awarding construction work:
PERT Chart and follow-up
Objective 4 : Enhancing the proportion of accessible Public Transport
Target 4.1 : Ensuring that 25% of Government owned public transport carriers in
the country are converted into fully accessible carriers (July 2017).
Intermediate Targets and Deadlines
• Identifying the vendors for converting the carriers (July- October 2015)
Seeking expression of interest through ads, ministry website and other
channels • Conversion work (November 2015 to July 2016) PERT
Chart and follow-up
Part C: Information and Communication Eco-System Accessibility
Objective 5 : Enhancing proportion of accessible and usable public documents
and websites that meet internationally recognized accessibility standards
This target will ensure conversion of public documents
published as of a specified year and all current websites meeting the relevant
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) criteria, that are found
in ISO / IEC 40500 : 2012, Information Technology - W3C Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.
Public documents refer to all documents issued by the national
government as well as all subnational documents. They include all publications
such as laws, regulations, reports, forms and informational brochures.
Target 5.1 : Conducting accessibility audit of 50% of all government (both
Central and State Governments) websites and converting them into fully
accessible websites (July 2016).
Target 5.2 : Ensuring that at least 50% of all public documents issued by the
Central Government and the State Governments meet accessibility standards (July
2017).
Intermediate Targets and Deadlines
• Empanelment of IT accessibility auditors (May - July 2015).
Meeting with Dept. of IT, NIC, ERNET and CDAC Follow-up on
the empanelment process • Audit of 100 most important government websites (June
- July 2015). Follow-up with NICSI/NIC • Accessibility
conversion of government websites (August - December 2015).
Meetings and letters to various Government agencies for awarding the work to
empanelled vendors PERT chart and follow-up • Certification for
accessible websites (July 2016).
Objective 6 : Enhancing the pool of sign language interpreters
A sign language interpreter is one, who meets professional standards in the
official sign language.
Target 6.1 : Training and developing 200 additional sign language interpreters
(July 2016).
Intermediate Targets and Deadlines
• Organizing training courses for 100 sign language interpreters
(July-December 2015) • Organizing training courses for additional 100 sign
language interpreters (January - July 2016)
Objective 7 : Enhancing the proportion of daily captioning and sign-language
interpretation of public television news programmes The proportion of public
television news programmes that meet agreed upon standards of daily captioning
and sign-language interpretation. Public television refers to programmes that
are produced, funded or subsidized by the government.
Target 7.1 : Developing and adoption of national standards on captioning and
sign-language interpretation in consultation with National media authorities.
(July 2016)
Target 7.2 : Ensuring that 25% of all public television programmes aired by
government channels meet these standards. ( July 2018)
Intermediate Targets and Deadlines
• Meeting with the relevant media authorities to discuss the prevalent
standards and evolving a timeline for finalizing the National Standards (
August 2015)
************
SOURCE : http://socialjustice.nic.in/pdf/AIC-SP15615.pdf (accessible by screen
readers, but much numbering confusion)
Document repository download link is also provided.
The Desi has a file to share with you on OneDrive. To view it, click
the link below.
20150617-AIC-Strategy-Paper_AIC-SP15615.pdf
--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Mental Health Advocacy (News 'N Views) India" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected]
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/MhaNewsViewsIndia?hl=en
-------------
Affiliated Groups : MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY INDIA
[email protected]
Discussions on mental health law / policy / plan monitoring / human rights etc
[email protected]
India-specific news and views related to mental health
[email protected]
Information and support to carers of people with mental health issues
[email protected]
Mutual support and sharing of experiential knowledge, skills and social
learning amongst peers
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Mental Health Advocacy (News 'N Views) India" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/MhaNewsViewsIndia.
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/MhaNewsViewsIndia/BAY176-W43A3956F70858A1FC7B8CAA6A40%40phx.gbl.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
AIC-SP15615.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document
