A resident of Rajabazar, Naaz has to go through harrowing moments while travelling to school.

Affected by polio since she was nine, the Class XII student of Mukta Vidyalaya has to depend on buses for commuting as Metro does not have escalators everywhere and for sitting in an auto rickshaw she has to loosen the calliper every time she gets on one.

“Not only do the bus conductors misbehave, they don’t wait for us to get up or de-board at the bus stops. They sometimes even ask for money despite my disability card. The new buses are not much help either. Though I somehow manage to get up on these buses, what will those people do who use wheelchairs?” asked Naaz.

“Though it is easier to get onto from the rear gate, the first stair in the front gate of the new bus is still inaccessible. We are no different from others and share the same rights,” added Naaz.

The new buses, some of which are currently plying on city roads, may be considered a solution to the on-going transport crisis, but they continuously raise concern of being passenger-unfriendly.

With Bengal having 18.47 lakh differently-abled people — rural with 13,54,253 and urban with 4,92,921— experts feel the state government has failed to provide them with basic access to transport system —- especially in the buses, which are one of the most popular modes of public transport in Bengal.

Despite the promises made by the transport department, disability rights activists believe that not much attention will be paid to the needs of the disabled people when the new vehicles are rolled out on the roads.

“The transport system is not disabled-friendly at all. When we heard that new buses are coming we approached the transport department to make sure that they are accessible. The government said that out of the 1,300 buses, 1,000 would be semi-low floor and 300 ultra-low floors which would be accessible for disabled people. We do not understand the technical nuances but we know that these new buses are just the same as the old transport system —- discounting those who move on calliper, wheelchair and crutches,” said Snigdha Sarkar, secretary, Disability Activists Forum.

Though the latest census pegs the number of disabled people at 18.47 lakh, experts feel the actual figures can be as high as 50 lakh of which 18 to 20 per cent are minors.

In July 2002, the National Sample Survey Organisation pegged the number of disabled persons across the country at 1.85 crore with 28.26 lakh visually-challenged, 106.84 lakh physically-disabled, 30.62 lakh with speech impairment and 21.55 lakh hearing impairment.

Activists claim that two years after India ratified the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), its implementation is still zero.

“There are demands of amending the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995. A delegation of Disabled Rights Group (DRG) met the ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment on this issue,” said Swampa Sengupta, Director, Sruti Disability Rights Centre.

Numbers matter
Population of differently-abled people in Bengal 18.47 lakh

Rural: 13,54,253 Urban: 4,92,921