Religious places in Guj to be disabled-friendly: Commissioner

Ahmedabad, Nov 19M Religious places in Gujarat will soon be made barrier-free and accessible to the disabled, Disability Commissioner Bhaskar Mehta said.

''To start with, Girnar and Palitana Jain temples will be made barrier-free for the disabled in the next two years. Another four, mostly located on hills, will soon follow,'' he said, addressing a conference here.

He said accessibility to places is a problem that the disabled have to face each day. There are about 10.5 lakh disabled people in the state.

''We are in talks with the Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner I P Gautam to make public places disabled-friendly. Already, work in this direction is on at six railway stations in the state including Palanpur, Mehsana and Ahmedabad,'' Mr Mehta, who himself is visually impaired said.

He was speaking at a conference last evening, in which rights groups of the state met to finalise their recommendations to the Persons with Disability (PWD) Act 1995.

The recommendations have been drafted after consultations organised by the Disability Commissioner, Blind Peoples Association and Handicap International and will be sent to the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

There were 70 participants, representating government, non-government organisations, legal professionals and a number of PWDs.

There will be one draft document from Gujarat, that will echo the sentiments of all groups in the state, he said.

Giving details about the recommendations, Dr Bhushan Punani, Executive Director, Blind Peoples Association, said the job reservation for the disabled should be raised from present three per cent to five per cent.

He said, ''The Act says three per cent of vacancies in government employment shall be reserved for people with disabilities. Instead of vacancies, it should be jobs. Vacancies are not definite, but the quota of jobs is.''

Dr Punani also called for a compulsory provision of funds in the budget for the disabled and not ''in the limit of their (the state's) economic capacity'' as is mentioned in the Act. He said disability should be properly defined by the Act. ''Defining disability is a medical issue and WHO definition should be considered for the purpose. An appropriate definition or description of deaf,blindness as well as multiple disabilities should be included.'' Among other recommendations, the rights group have suggested that the office of Disability Commissioner should bevesed with power equal to the magistrate of a Civil court. Education of disabled children should be the responsibility of Department of Education, Minisry of HRD and not Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Deaf and blind children should be included as an unique group in the entire central and state educational grant-in-aid schemes. All lifts should have auditory and braille signals, they groups said.

They also pointed out that the insurance scheme that has been provided (section 67) for government employed disabled people is yet to be implemented and ''it should be done on an urgent basis.'' Mr Prafulbhai, of the Blind Peoples Association, who uses a motorised wheel-chair, said all modes of transport should be made barrier-free, so that they cater to the needs of all kinds of disability. ''All public places, shopping malls, temples, multiplexes should be accessible to the disabled. This is what we want from the society and the government,'' he added.

UNI