Disabled people having difficulties accessing a public premises due to the lack of ramps | R Satish Babu
“It is a huge celebration at Shakti Foundation,” exulted Vasanth
Raghuvir, referring to the notification issued by the state government
on February 1, directing the municipal administration to implement the
Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies (Provision of Special Facilities for the
Differently Abled Persons in Multi-storeyed Building and Public
Buildings) Rules, 2013. The notification has set a 180-day deadline.
And ‘Special Facilities’ meant ramps, lift, hand railings and reserved parking space for differently-abled persons in all high-rise buildings – both public and private – in the metropolis. Listed in the notification are 14 types of buildings: educational institutions, hostel, library, hospital, hotel, marriage hall, cinema theatre, amusement park, swimming pool, recreation centre, motion picture house, auditorium, museum, stadium, bank, ATM centres and insurance company, among others.
“It is what we had been crusading for during the last 23 years,” Raghuvir, who runs the foundation, told City Express. “It is not a ‘mission impossible’, my late son had told me and today is the day,” she said. “I am holding the notification in my hand.”
In fact, Shakti Foundation was the dream mission of her son Velan, who was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at the age of 10. The bright youth, who excelled in academics, founded the NGO in 1992, when he found that the best of what the city could offer by way of temples, cinema, music, wedding and parks were out of bounds for wheelchair-confined persons like him. He died in 1998.
Recalling the contribution and efforts of those who lent a helping hand along the way, Raghuvir sounded optimistic that the new rules would be implemented. “We, at the foundation, will continue our crusade and leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the rules are implemented,” she said.
Chennai Corporation Commissioner Vikram Kapur said the GO introducing the new rules did not apply to the Corporation of Chennai. “But similar provisions are available in the DR of the Master Plan, which we routinely implement while granting planning permission,” he added.
But there are skeptics as well. For instance, take P Simma Chandran, secretary of the Federation of the Tamil Nadu Handicapped Association. The federation, set up in 1998, has 2.4 lakh members belonging to 87 associations across the state. According to him, there are 28 lakh people in the state suffering from different disabilities, with three lakh bound to their wheelchair.
Reason for his skepticism: a similar GO was issued in 2003 itself, and a decade had since passed without it being implemented, he pointed out.
In fact, a year after the order was passed, the Anna Institute of Management came up on Greenways Road, sans the facilities. Simma Chandran said. “We protested and the inauguration was put off. Later, at the intervention of an IAS officer, ramps and lifts were installed.”
On the decade-long delay in implementation of the order, a senior IAS officer said that financial constraints could have been an important factor.
No way, argued Simma Chandran, who suffers from 60 per cent immobility on the left side of his body. In 2009, the DMK government issued a directive that MLAs and MPs could use a portion of their development funds for the purpose. “Still, nothing happened.”
Lack of access to ATM centres in these days of plastic money is a sore point. “We have to seek the help of others to withdraw cash. Some overdraw and disappear,” Simma Chandran rued.
Of course, they also miss out on watching a movie in a theatre, soaking in the atmosphere. There are around 120 big screens in the city. Only a handful are partly disabled-friendly.
Mentioning the name of a new Tamil film, which created a lot of controversy, he said he and his friends wanted to watch it in theatre. But there was no way because most of the theatres in the city did not have ramps, while a handful only at select places, he said.
Ask leading film exhibitor and distributor ‘Abirami’ Ramanathan, he said the Abirami Complex had ramps in some places.
Describing the notification as a “good move,” he said the feasibility factor should be studied. “If somebody wants to watch a film, we should not keep them away,” he stressed. “We will try to implement them in all theatres,” he said. To another query, he shot back: “Yes, we will definitely implement them at Abirami complex.”
The problems extend to educational institutions too. Recalling a function at a women’s college in Nungambakkam, Simma Chandran said a disabled girl had difficulty in reaching the stage to receive her degree, as the auditorium did not have a ramp. She wanted to know what was the point in receiving the honour if nobody could see her.
Be it the 600-odd marriage halls in Chennai or the mushrooming shopping malls, the CMBT terminus or the pavements, it is clear the disabled are at the receiving end.
And ‘Special Facilities’ meant ramps, lift, hand railings and reserved parking space for differently-abled persons in all high-rise buildings – both public and private – in the metropolis. Listed in the notification are 14 types of buildings: educational institutions, hostel, library, hospital, hotel, marriage hall, cinema theatre, amusement park, swimming pool, recreation centre, motion picture house, auditorium, museum, stadium, bank, ATM centres and insurance company, among others.
“It is what we had been crusading for during the last 23 years,” Raghuvir, who runs the foundation, told City Express. “It is not a ‘mission impossible’, my late son had told me and today is the day,” she said. “I am holding the notification in my hand.”
In fact, Shakti Foundation was the dream mission of her son Velan, who was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at the age of 10. The bright youth, who excelled in academics, founded the NGO in 1992, when he found that the best of what the city could offer by way of temples, cinema, music, wedding and parks were out of bounds for wheelchair-confined persons like him. He died in 1998.
Recalling the contribution and efforts of those who lent a helping hand along the way, Raghuvir sounded optimistic that the new rules would be implemented. “We, at the foundation, will continue our crusade and leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the rules are implemented,” she said.
Chennai Corporation Commissioner Vikram Kapur said the GO introducing the new rules did not apply to the Corporation of Chennai. “But similar provisions are available in the DR of the Master Plan, which we routinely implement while granting planning permission,” he added.
But there are skeptics as well. For instance, take P Simma Chandran, secretary of the Federation of the Tamil Nadu Handicapped Association. The federation, set up in 1998, has 2.4 lakh members belonging to 87 associations across the state. According to him, there are 28 lakh people in the state suffering from different disabilities, with three lakh bound to their wheelchair.
Reason for his skepticism: a similar GO was issued in 2003 itself, and a decade had since passed without it being implemented, he pointed out.
In fact, a year after the order was passed, the Anna Institute of Management came up on Greenways Road, sans the facilities. Simma Chandran said. “We protested and the inauguration was put off. Later, at the intervention of an IAS officer, ramps and lifts were installed.”
On the decade-long delay in implementation of the order, a senior IAS officer said that financial constraints could have been an important factor.
No way, argued Simma Chandran, who suffers from 60 per cent immobility on the left side of his body. In 2009, the DMK government issued a directive that MLAs and MPs could use a portion of their development funds for the purpose. “Still, nothing happened.”
Lack of access to ATM centres in these days of plastic money is a sore point. “We have to seek the help of others to withdraw cash. Some overdraw and disappear,” Simma Chandran rued.
Of course, they also miss out on watching a movie in a theatre, soaking in the atmosphere. There are around 120 big screens in the city. Only a handful are partly disabled-friendly.
Mentioning the name of a new Tamil film, which created a lot of controversy, he said he and his friends wanted to watch it in theatre. But there was no way because most of the theatres in the city did not have ramps, while a handful only at select places, he said.
Ask leading film exhibitor and distributor ‘Abirami’ Ramanathan, he said the Abirami Complex had ramps in some places.
Describing the notification as a “good move,” he said the feasibility factor should be studied. “If somebody wants to watch a film, we should not keep them away,” he stressed. “We will try to implement them in all theatres,” he said. To another query, he shot back: “Yes, we will definitely implement them at Abirami complex.”
The problems extend to educational institutions too. Recalling a function at a women’s college in Nungambakkam, Simma Chandran said a disabled girl had difficulty in reaching the stage to receive her degree, as the auditorium did not have a ramp. She wanted to know what was the point in receiving the honour if nobody could see her.
Be it the 600-odd marriage halls in Chennai or the mushrooming shopping malls, the CMBT terminus or the pavements, it is clear the disabled are at the receiving end.
Source : The Indian express ( 13th Feb 2013)
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