Implement Disability Act, Govt told

AHMEDABAD, Aug 5: Safety and accessibility as well as mobility for all should form an integral part of the architecture and design of any...

AHMEDABAD, Aug 5: Safety and accessibility as well as mobility for all should form an integral part of the architecture and design of any building. This was stated by Prof Sujoy K Guha, senior professor at New Delhi Indian Institute of Technology at a workshop on Design for the Disabled8217; at National Institute of Design NID here on Thursday.

Delivering the keynote address on The role of design, architecture and their technological correlates in the life of a person with disability8217;, Guha gave the example of the professors8217; quarters in IIT campus and said they were very inconvenient for a person even with minimal disability. He said architects should pay attention to minutest details while designing a house for the convenience of the disabled. He said architecture needs to be responsive to temporary disability that arises in the life of many individuals.

Javed Abidi, executive director of National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People NCPEDP, speaking to reporters said he was disappointed that the Government was doing little for the disabled. He said Clause 41 of the Disability Act, 1985 stated that incentives would be given to employers who reserve more than 5 per cent jobs for disabled people. 8220;But even four years after the Act came into force, the Government has not spelt out the incentives,8221; he pointed out.He gave the example of China where employers are not charged any Government tax if they employ more than 50 per cent disabled people. As a result, 70 per cent of Chinese disabled were employed whereas in India less than 1 per cent of the 60 million disabled people could get jobs, he said.

Abidi said a large share of blame for the pathetic condition of the disabled lay on the disability sector which encouraged a culture of charity and pity. The disabled should fight it out with the Government and private sector, he said.

P R Mehta, president of Council of Architecture at New Delhi said India has not given adequate attention to the needs of the disabled. He said the implementation of Disability Act has been far from satisfactory. Mehta said efforts made in the field have been rather isolated examples of personal endeavours. If efforts by the individuals are synergised it will yield more results, he said.

In his welcome address Vikas Satwalekar, executive director of NID, said innovators and designers relied on the demand made by the users and manufacturers. He said designing for disabled should not only be functional, but should also have aesthetic value. NID would soon become the first institute in the country to start post-graduate diploma for less abled people, he announced.

President of The Indian Institute of Architects at Mumbai K Rajagopalan said when even a normal person was uncomfortable in an alien environment, one could imagine the difficulty faced by a disabled person to cope up with an unfriendly environment.

Story continues below this ad

S Balaram, principal designer at NID, said the Central Government should establish a national design council to take care of the needs of the disabled.

Chairperson of NCPEDP Sonia Gandhi, who was supposed to inaugurate the workshop, could not attend due to other preoccupations. However, in a letter to Satwalekar, she conveyed her regrets and assured him that she would 8220;find some other time in future to visit your institute8221;.