Nearly half of the buildings are made accessible for the disabled according to the RS data

Contact Counsellor

Last Updated21/02/2022

According to the government data almost half the State and Union Territory government buildings identified during access audits in 2016-2017 have been made accessible
While only around 8% of public buses are fully accessible under the Accessible India campaign that is scheduled to end in June

It was launched in 2015
It is the nationwide flagship campaign of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
It is in line with the Article 9 of UNCRPD(UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) to which India has been a signatory since 2007.
Its goal was to make selected government buildings, transportation and websites accessible for persons with disabilities by March 2018.
The deadline was then extended to March 2020 and then again to June 2022.

48.5% of the State/Union Territory government buildings had been made accessible, as against the target of 50%
Ministry had provided support to States to make 1,191 buildings accessible under the campaign and 20 States/Union Territories had reported making 577 (48.5%) buildings accessible
In the Central government, the Central Public Works Department reported completing the retrofitting of 1,030 of the 1,100 selected buildings in 2020-2021.
All 35 international airports and all 709 A1, A and B category railway stations had accessibility features
Only 8.73% of government-owned buses were fully accessible as against the target of 25%

Scheme for Implementation of Persons with Disabilities Act (SIPDA): To provide financial assistance to the states for implementation of the act.
Sugamya Pustakalaya: Online library for persons with disabilities.
National Action Plan for Skill development: it aims to cover 2.5 million persons with disabilities by the year 2022 through various stakeholders.
Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme: to promote Voluntary Action by releasing grant-in aid to NGOs.
Reservation : 5% reservation is provided to disabled in higher education.
Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016: Responsibility has been cast upon the appropriate governments to take effective measures to ensure that the persons with disabilities enjoy their rights equally with others.
Every child with benchmark disability between the age group of 6 and 18 years shall have the right to free education under the act.
It provides for grant of guardianship by District Court under which there will be joint decision making between the guardian and the persons with disabilities.

The Accessible India campaign is a good step in the direction of empowering the disabled people in the country and making accessibility in the government establishments easy . There should be proper monitoring mechanisms and accountability of public funds so the efficiency of such campaigns can be achieved at their best
The campaign should be expanded to all the buildings and facilities so that overall empowerment of the disabled people can take place in the right spirit.