KATHMANDU, JUN 01 -
Contrary to lofty claims and much-touted campaigns for the differently abled prsons, persons with disabilities are still having to face problems moving about in public places due to lack of ramps, lifts, Braille signs etc., there.

With a view to solving this problem, Independent Living Centre (CIL), Kathmandu, has been conducting a campaign against such impediments since 2006.

As part of the campaign, the organisation on Tuesday held talks with officials of the Department of Roads (DoR), Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC) and the Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA).

“Despite the provision for disabled-friendly infrastructures in the Building Code, the majority of the public buildings and other places have not been designed according to the needs of the challenged people,” CIL Chairman Ganesh Bahadur Chhetri said. “This has hindered more than 90 percent of us from enjoying public services like others.”

The organisation submitted memorandums to the DoR , DUDBC and the TIA demanding that all offices under them be made disabled-friendly by constructing ramps, slopes, lifts, and putting up Braille signs etc. in public places like pavements, religious sites, parks, government offices and so on.

According to the director general of DUDBC, Ashok Nath Upreti, his department has already directed its offices to add ramps, signs and other aids for the disabled. Similarly, more than 400 hospitals built under the department across the country have added ramps.

“We will soon hold talks with funding agencies to discuss all the requirements in making the current and upcoming infrastructures disabled-friendly,” Upreti assured.

The Campaign was initiated on the occasion of International Day of Persons with Disabilities. On the day, Speaker Subash Nembang had laid the foundation stone of the Parliament Building, Singhadurbar, which was made disabled-friendly.

The Peace Secretariet and the Ministries of Law Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Physical Planning and Works etc. have already added ramps at the ground floor in their offices. There are only a few ministries left to follow the suit.

“I see these developments positively and hope to see the same in other places as well,” said

Bhoj Raj Shrestha, a CIL member.

Posted on: 2010-06-02 07:57

Post Your Comment

Please note that all the fields marked * are mandatory.

* Full Name

* Address

* Email Address

* Comment
[Some of the HTML tags you can use : <b>, <i>, <a>]

* Captcha

Get another CAPTCHA code