It was a typical hot
June afternoon and I was standing outside the administrative block of Maulana Azad
Medical College (MAMC), New Delhi. I had gone there to renew my Delhi Medical Council (DMC) registration
number. The DMC is also in the administrative block of MAMC. My problem was two
innocuously looking steps at the entrance. These two steps without side support
or railing may be a nightmare for persons with disabilities. Please find below the photograph clicked on the same day. Climbing can become
a herculean task if a person is wearing assistive device since he cannot flex
the leg (like myself). I tried to maneuver to take support from the adjacent
wall but the distance was more. Sweating out for 10 minutes, I was looking out for
help but the guard was not there. Finally, he came and I asked for support of
his hand. Rome was won!
 |
| Entrance of MAMC as on 13 June 2012 |
In 2008, University of Delhi in association with SAMARTHYAM launched a project "Accessible University of Delhi" to make all colleges disabled friendly. The audit of MAMC took place on March 2008 and detailed report is available here. The report also mentions about the changes to the entrance as shown below:
However, nothing happened on this front. This building is important one with Dean's office, departments, medical education department, Delhi Medical Council and many other important offices. After coming back, I wrote an email to Dean MAMC, Registrar MAMC, NTTC, and DMC. There was no reply, and I got failure notice from Dean MAMC ID. I called the Dean office and took the personal email of Dean, Dr AK Aggarwal. The similar mail was sent and there was no response either.
However, nothing happened on this front. This building is important one with Dean's office, departments, medical education department, Delhi Medical Council and many other important offices. After coming back, I wrote an email to Dean MAMC, Registrar MAMC, NTTC, and DMC. There was no reply, and I got failure notice from Dean MAMC ID. I called the Dean office and took the personal email of Dean, Dr AK Aggarwal. The similar mail was sent and there was no response either.
Later on, on the eve of
World Disability Day, I sent a hard copy to Secretary, DMC to look into the grievance
of inaccessible DMC and MAMC entrance. Again there was no response. The problem
of inaccessible medical institutions to persons with disabilities including
students, faculty, nonteaching staff, patients, and attendants is not only the
hall mark of Delhi but all over India. I then wrote to Chief Commissioner of
Persons with Disabilities to include mandatory ‘access audits’ in all the
medical inspections of Medical Council of India (MCI).
 |
| May 2013: Construction of ramp at MAMC |
O/o CCPD wrote to MCI
to submit an action taken report in a month. MCI did not respond and CCPD then
wrote a strong letter as reminder. Finally, MCI vide No.MCI-34(1)(UG)(Gen.)/2012-
Within weeks after this
letter, MAMC woke up and as shown below in the pictures, have started
constructing ramp at the administrative block and other places.
The section 46 of the Persons
with Disabilities (Equal
Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 mandates barrier-free access to all public places.
Also, Article 9 of the Convention (UNCRPD) enables persons with disabilities to
live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life.
The law mentions
clearly to provide reasonable accommodation to persons with disabilities but as
common in India, we need to keep reminding peoples what our rights are.
 |
| The hindi daily 'Hindustan' covering the news |
Suggested Reading: MCI asks all medical institutions to be 'accessible'
No comments:
Post a Comment