New Accessibility Guidelines

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Context - The Union government would soon announce the latest version of guidelines and standards for accessibility.

Details:

The upcoming guidelines and standards for accessibility would provide a base on which a certificate course for students as well as construction professionals will be started.
In December 2021, the draft Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility, 2021, prepared by a team of IIT-Roorkee and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry’s think tank) was first published by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).
According to the source, a revised version of the guidelines was submitted to the CPWD and soon the draft is likely to be published online.
The course could be made mandatory for those working on various public projects and would be open to students.
The draft guidelines had been made more reader-friendly and had both the minimum standards required and recommendations for best practices.

Steps were taken to ensure Accessibility

India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities.
- It realises accessibility as a human right and members are required to adopt appropriate measures to ensure accessibility to persons with disabilities.
Article 14 of the Indian Constitution declares that the State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.
- This also means that Persons with Disabilities should be provided with similar and equal rights of accessibility as others.
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, defines the responsibilities of the Central and State governments with regard to the services for persons with disabilities.
- The Act aims at creating a barrier-free environment by removing all types of discrimination against persons with disabilities.
The ‘Accessible India Campaign' also known as the Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan was started with the vision of enhancing accessibility by making important changes in the infrastructure, information and communication systems.

Way Forward

Accessibility is not a choice, it is essential and should be available for all ages, abilities and gender. We need to build an environment that is accessible to all.
The harmonised guidelines provide a platform for the government and private construction agencies to integrate measures for ensuring universal accessibility at all stages of construction.