Less than 10 per cent of the over 1.3 lakh buses run by state road transport undertakings have been found to be disabled friendly, the Centre has told the Delhi High Court which has been pushing the AAP government to ensure all its buses are accessible to persons with disabilities.
This figure falls short of a March 2016 Transport Ministry advisory to the states and union territories to ensure that 10 per cent government-owned public transport is accessible to persons with disabilities by March this year.
The data, recorded till last December, has been submitted by the ministry in an affidavit filed before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar which is hearing a PIL challenging the Delhi government's move to procure 2,000 standard -floor buses at a cost of Rs 300 crore.
The ministry, in its affidavit, has also said it had introduced a bus body code in 2014 laying down the facilities or provisions, including number of seats, for disabled persons in each bus type or model.
It said it was considering a proposal to include provisions for wheelchair-borne persons in the code.
The ministry's affidavit has come in response to the court's query regarding the steps it has taken to ensure public transport is accessible for persons with disabilities. The court's query to the Centre had come on the PIL by Nipun Malhotra who suffers from a locomotor disability.
The bench had on the last date asked the AAP government not to go ahead with its tender to purchase standard floor buses for the national capital, saying it would not allow the procurement as it would lead to the violation of the fundamental rights of disabled persons who would find it difficult to access such vehicles.
Advocate Jai Dehadrai, appearing for the petitioner, had urged the bench to stay the tender floated for procurement of the standard floor buses.
The court had also directed the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) to design a module for training and sensitising its staff, especially drivers, towards the needs of persons with disabilities.
It had issued the direction after noting that DTC drivers often stopped or parked the buses in the middle of the road, preventing disabled persons from accessing them.
The court had on February 7 threatened to stay the Delhi government's move to procure 1,000 low-floor electric buses instead of standard-floor CNG buses, if it did not have an action plan to provide parking space for the vehicles.
"Will these 1,000 buses fly in the air," the bench had asked the Delhi government and the DTC, after noting that purchase orders were issued without finalising a plan for parking space.
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