Indore (Madhya Pradesh): While All Indian Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has directed technical institutions across the country to provide information regarding availability of unisex toilets for physically handicapped persons in their institutions and details on inventory etc, on or before April 15, the fact remains that most of the technical institutions lack such toilets on their campuses.
In the state’s educational hub, there are only a handful of institutions which have disabled-friendly toilets.
In a letter addressed to technical institutions, AICTE said that the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) had launched Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) as a nationwide campaign for achieving universal accessibility for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in 2015.
“An accessible physical environment benefits everyone, not just persons with disabilities. Measures should be undertaken to eliminate obstacles and barriers to indoor and outdoor facilities, and medical facilities in the institutions. Further, these include all public spaces such as roads, footpaths, parks and gardens etc,” the missive reads.
“Standards of accessibility should be as consistent as possible with international standards, such as those of the ISO, taking into account the local context. With regards to the built environment, ISO, building construction, accessibility and usability of the built environment, delineates a set of requirements and recommendations concerning construction, assembly, components and fittings,” the missive adds.
The AICTE said, “On E-Samiksha Portal (Accessible India Campaign), information about the construction of adequate unisex toilets for Divyangjan in each toilet block and inventory of building to be prepared with timelines for making them accessible is to be furnished.”
The AICTE asked the institutions to provide information regarding availability of unisex toilets in their institutions and details on inventory etc on or before April 15. “Further details about the accessible India campaign may be perused on the web portal of Accessible India Campaign,” it added.
