AHMEDABAD: An audit of 3,092 head offices of 22 major government departments in Gujarat revealed that government departments and offices still lack basic facilities, including easy access for persons with disabilities.
Six years after the implementation of The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 over 1921 offices still don't have a disabled-friendly parking space while 1,414 offices lacked disabled-friendly restrooms.
According to the Disabilities Commissioner's Administrative Report for the year 2021-22, an audit done at 3092 government main offices revealed that there are no ramps for the disabled in over 800 offices.
Only 201 government workplaces have installed audio signals in lifts to communicate to the deaf and mute, while over 156 offices lacked them.
Sameer Kakkad, founder of the NGO 'All India Handicap Association' claimed that even this report is not reliable.
“The government and government employees report that there are all facilities available for the disabled, even if there are no facilities for the disabled," Kakkad said.
"I had filed an RTI with the Gujarat RTO Commissioner's office, asking how many buildings are disable-friendly. They responded that the Ahmedabad and Vastral offices are totally accessible, but that is not the truth,” said Kakkad
When TNIE contacted V. J. Rajput, Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities over the phone, he said, "Yes, we have prepared the report."
He denied to talk any further.
