Why is accessibility a major issue for persons with disabilities in Jammu?

In Jammu, many public buildings like government offices still lack basic facilities such as ramps, lifts, and accessible toilets. Even offices meant to serve persons with disabilities require them to climb stairs, showing that accessibility hasn’t been made a priority in infrastructure planning.

Are there any laws that support disabled access in Jammu?

Yes, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 mandates all public spaces to be barrier-free and accessible. However, in Jammu, these rules are often ignored or not enforced properly, which leaves many disabled citizens struggling with daily tasks.

How does this lack of access affect education for disabled children?

Inclusive education is still a challenge in Jammu. Many resource rooms meant for children with special needs are either not functional or not equipped properly. In rural areas especially, children with disabilities face severe difficulty attending school due to poor facilities and transportation.

What about banks and financial services?

Most bank branches and ATMs in Jammu are not designed with disabled users in mind. There are no ramps, braille systems, or staff trained to assist, making it hard for persons with disabilities to manage their finances independently.

Is the government doing anything to fix these problems?

While schemes like SAMAGRA aim to improve inclusion, progress is very slow. Officials often blame outdated infrastructure, and there's a gap between what policies say and what happens on the ground. Until serious implementation begins, the challenges will continue for Jammu’s disabled community.

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Ensuring Accessibility For Persons With Disabilities In Jammu: The Challenges

Komal Bajpai

Author

Updated: 28-01-2025 at 7:23 AM

Ensuring Accessibility For Persons With Disabilities In Jammu: The Challenges

With the Jammu city population being sensitive towards disability inclusion, sadly, predominantly, most public places have inadequate provisions for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). Even though there are legal provisions and superior court directions, offices under government, banks and some essential services are closed, thereby denying PwDs their rights & dignity.

Why Is Accessibility Important For PwDs?

Accessibility allows the PwDs to have a quality life away from dependence on others. Education is not only a building it is a right as enshrined in the constitution of the country in question.

The cornerstone of Equality: Accessibility provides the PwDs with the main opportunities to participate in society.
Independent Living: It minimises the time that would have been spent on dependent status to other people for some tasks.
Inclusion in Services: A good example of accessible spaces is attempting to obtain education, health care, and welfare services.

Also Read: Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act - RPwD Act

What Is The Current Accessibility Situation In Jammu?

Most communities in Jammu are fully or partly inaccessible to PwDs due to the lack of even the most basic accessibility infrastructure in buildings to accommodate them.

Government Offices

Corresponding ministries such as the Social Welfare Department and the Food Supplies do not have any ramps or lifts.

Board for Physically Challenged

Because ramps are not available in this office, PwDs must climb twenty-five stairs.

Banks and ATMs

Many banking facilities are still unavailable for people; thus, independent financial experience is still a problem.

What Are The Legal And Policy Frameworks For Accessibility?

India has perfect laws to integrate persons with disabilities physically but the matter is that those laws are inefficient in implementing the criterion.

Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016: Requires all facilities accessible to the public to have barrier-free access to people with disabilities.
Supreme Court Directive: Earlier in the recent past the court decreed compliance with disabled access legislation.
The gap in Implementation: Still, many places in the public domain in Jammu do not have minimum facilities for humanity.

Also Read: Nishaktata Pension Yojana: Disability Pension Scheme

What Challenges Hinder Accessibility in Jammu?

It has been lamented that due to poor planning, coupled with a lack of proper infrastructure, the world is largely inaccessible.

Old Buildings

A large number of offices are located on premises that for various reasons have not changed to ensure accessibility.

Delayed New Constructions

The promised inclusion in infrastructure is still years in the future.
Negligence: Several times, authorities make a reason instead of acting promptly.

How Does Inaccessibility Affect PwDs?

This is coupled with the fact that inaccessibility is not just a matter of distance and accessibility, but it affects PWD's PwDs life in a very special way.

Daily Challenges: Thus, the areas of Inaccessible spaces limit people’s ability to receive services such as health and education.
Psychological Impact: Social exclusion creates such emotions as hopelessness and loneliness.
Missed Contributions: Society fails to benefit from specialised skills offered by persons with disabilities.

Also Read: Niramaya Health Insurance Scheme For Persons with Disabilities

What Steps Can Be Taken To Improve Accessibility?

Addressing and solving the problem of inaccessibility is impossible only with legal and administrative measures and actions of common people.

Retrofit Existing Buildings: Start with the installation of ramps, lifts and other facilities in old buildings as soon as possible.
Ensure Compliance in New Constructions: Ensure that the accessibility standard laid down through this improvement program is implemented in all future projects.
Adequate Funding: Ensure that enough funds are provided towards accessibility projects, personnel and equipment.
Involve Stakeholders: Ensure the participation of the PwDs, activism organisations, and civil society in decision-making processes.

Conclusion

Accessibility is a human right that one should not have the privilege to enjoy but a fundamental right. It is our moral failure that Jammu remains largely inaccessible for PwDs today, and this has to change. Real-time measures like upgrading infrastructures and implementing structures are required to observe an effective solution to eliminate left out.

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