Draft framework proposes sweeping adjustments to move methods for individuals with disabilities
The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities beneath the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has invited feedback and options from the stakeholders and common public on the draft accessibility requirements for the transport and mobility sector.
The draft ‘Transport Accessibility Framework’ has been ready by the Strategic Accessibility Cell – Rights of Riders . It lays out detailed, enforceable requirements throughout the transport chain – from reserving and boarding to infrastructure, automobiles and emergency response.
Most measures are marked “non-negotiable”, which means they’d be binding as soon as the rules take impact.
The division mentioned these draft requirements, which establish non-negotiable guidelines, have been ready to strengthen the creation of barrier-free environments in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and related guidelines.
According to the draft, all new buses procured beneath Central schemes should embrace low-floor entry, ramps, security belts, and designated wheelchair areas.
Existing providers comparable to PM eBus Sewa and Type III intercity buses would even be retrofitted with examined lifts or bridge ramps. At least 4 precedence seats with seatbelts are required in every bus for folks with restricted mobility.
Metro and rail platforms should deploy rubber hole fillers and boarding ramps, whereas coach doorways and aisles have to be widened to accommodate wheelchairs.
Long-distance trains should embrace not less than one accessible coach with wheelchair anchorage and a Type A rest room with seize bars, the draft famous.
At airports, the draft requires step-free entry from parking to check-in, aerobridges with rollout ramps, designated wheelchair-friendly seating in plane, and availability of aisle chairs.
Air carriers must present space for storing for assistive units, and leisure methods should embrace audio description and captions.
The tips lengthen to taxi aggregators and e-rickshaws, which should embrace a share of wheelchair-accessible automobiles and prepare the drivers in incapacity help.
Ropeways and ferries have additionally been introduced beneath the framework, with particular norms on rescue gear, platform gaps, and common rest room entry.
In addition, transport hubs would want to construct quiet or sensory rooms for neurodivergent passengers, set up tactile guiding strips, and supply clear signage utilizing each textual content and QR codes.
Apps and on-line platforms have to be made accessible, and criticism information associated to incapacity entry ought to be revealed on the information.gov.in portal.
The framework additionally contains time-bound budgeting and procurement provisions and urges quick updates to nationwide insurance policies such because the Motor Vehicles Act, city bus specs, and constructing codes.
Stakeholder consultations on the rules are presently underway, with the ultimate model anticipated to return out after deliberations, a senior official mentioned.
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