By Kamalini Ramesh
While standing in the middle of a theatre, this thought really struck me, why didn’t a multiplex with VIP lounges and fancy cafeterias have a simple ramp?
Every year during the summer holidays it is a ritual of mine to go watch a film with my grandmother in the theatres and due to her age, she was wheelchair-bound this year. On entering the theatre, she was poised against her worst enemy: stairs. In the dim lighting with only a walking cane for support, it was a herculean task to get to our seats.
According to WHO, An estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant disability. This represents 16% of the world’s population or 1 in 6 of us.
According to the 2011 census, nearly 2.68 crore people- those with various disabilities- find themselves in similar situations where their disabilities become barriers. Public sectors like the railways have taken baby steps towards making facilities more accessible for the disabled by ensuring lower berths for the handicapped and braille signages at stations. However, a shocking survey by Randstad India's Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Study, has revealed that less than 25 percent of workspaces in the country have adequate facilities to accommodate this section of society.
The Persons with Disabilities Act of 1995 indicates that differently-abled people should have access to education at all levels, which is currently not the case, especially when it comes to those with intellectual disabilities as vocational courses are not tailored for them. This leads them to be financially dependent on government-sponsored schemes.
Those with conditions like autism are still surrounded by stigma and the remedy to that is educating not only them but society about the science behind their situations and their everyday struggles.
Steps taken by the government to ensure the betterment of the differently abled are mostly monetary, which does not compensate for the countless experiences they miss out on. Investing in ramps, toilets with rails, a braille library, and other such facilities has the power to change the future of youth.
Better utilisation of human resources will boost the living standards of the differently abled while resulting in rapid economic growth. Society does not require new terms to recognise them, but society needs to recognise the everyday challenges faced by them. It is high time for the world to adjust to their necessities just as they have been doing for time immemorial.