Madras HC orders state govt to respond on how much money allocated to transport sector in TN budget

Chennai, Aug 26: The Chennai High Court has ordered the Tamil Nadu government to respond to how much money is allocated to the transport sector in the Tamil Nadu budget.

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 was enacted to facilitate the access of persons with disabilities to educational institutions, government buildings, trains and buses.

The High Court, which heard the case seeking an order for the purchase of buses accessible to persons with disabilities under the Act, barred the purchase of new buses without access to facilities for persons with disabilities under a law passed in 2016.

The case came up for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Banerjee and Justice Adigesha.

Counsel appearing for the petitioner at the time complained that the Government had been informed that only 10 per cent of the buses would be procured for the convenience of the able-bodied.

The Attorney General, appearing for the Tamil Nadu government, said that as per the law and the Supreme Court order, buses should be procured in a way that would be accessible to the alternatively abled and had sought help from foreign banks due to the financial crisis.

Following this, the judges questioned how much money was being allocated to the transport sector in the Tamil Nadu budget and the price of buses with facilities for the disabled, giving the government time to file a detailed project report on the procurement of buses with easy access for the disabled and adjourned the hearing for four weeks.

They advised the government to have these facilities not only for the disabled but also for the third gender.