Draft framework proposes sweeping changes to transport systems for persons with disabilities
A new draft framework has proposed
sweeping changes to transport systems
to make them more accessible for persons with disabilities (PwDs), including mandatory wheelchair space in buses and Metro trains, step-free toilets at stations, level boarding ramps, and trained staff across air, rail and road transport networks.
The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has invited comments and suggestions from the stakeholders and general public on the draft accessibility standards for the transport and mobility sector.
The draft 'Transport Accessibility Framework' has been prepared by the Strategic Accessibility Cell - Rights of Riders (SAC-RR). It lays out detailed, enforceable standards across the transport chain - from booking and boarding to infrastructure, vehicles and emergency response.
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Most measures are marked "non-negotiable", meaning they would be binding once the guidelines take effect.
The department said these draft standards, which identify non-negotiable rules, have been prepared to strengthen the creation of barrier-free environments in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and relevant rules.
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According to the draft, all new buses procured under Central schemes must include low-floor entry, ramps, safety belts, and designated wheelchair areas.
Existing services such as PM eBus Sewa and Type III intercity buses would also be retrofitted with tested lifts or bridge ramps. At least four priority seats with seatbelts are required in each bus for people with limited mobility.
Metro and rail platforms must deploy rubber gap fillers and boarding ramps, while coach doors and aisles must be widened to accommodate wheelchairs.
Long-distance trains must include at least one accessible coach with wheelchair anchorage and a Type A toilet with grab bars, the draft noted.
At airports, the draft calls for step-free access from parking to check-in, aerobridges with rollout ramps, designated wheelchair-friendly seating in aircraft, and availability of aisle chairs.
Air carriers will have to provide storage space for assistive devices, and entertainment systems must include audio description and captions.
The guidelines extend to taxi aggregators and e-rickshaws, which must include a share of wheelchair-accessible vehicles and train the drivers in disability assistance.
Ropeways and ferries have also been brought under the framework, with specific norms on rescue equipment, platform gaps, and universal toilet access.
In addition, transport hubs would need to build quiet or sensory rooms for neurodivergent passengers, install tactile guiding strips, and provide clear signage using both text and QR codes.
Apps and online platforms must be made accessible, and complaint data related to disability access should be published on the data.gov.in portal.
The framework also includes time-bound budgeting and procurement provisions and urges immediate updates to national policies such as the Motor Vehicles Act, urban bus specifications, and building codes.
Stakeholder consultations on the guidelines are presently underway, with the final version expected to come out after deliberations, a senior official said.
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The thought is, 'Well, as they're perishing, we should rush to see them as quickly as we can.' The problem is people going to these places, taking planes and leaving large carbon footprints, contribute to environmental problems. This produces an ethical dilemma — is it alright to visit these 'doomed' places when the very act of going there will hasten their demise? Some philosophers think we should protect these places rather than hurry their end along.' Meanwhile, why is the interest in 'space tourism' rising — are people just bored of planet Earth? Thomas says, 'That could be one part — but what space tourism offers above many other forms of travel is exclusivity. Several people can claim to have visited the Arctic or Antarctica now — very few can say they've been to space.' Thomas pauses, thinks and then continues, 'I think another part is that we now have so much fiction, movies, documentaries and novels about what it's like to go into space. That's powered a very real human curiosity about this. Some people have also recounted how going into space can be transformative — when you're an astronaut looking down on Earth, it gives a very new perspective. It helps us realise how our planet is deeply beautiful, unique and actually unified and it should be protected. I personally would be quite curious about obtaining a perspective that seems very hard to get in any other way except literally leaving the planet and looking back on it.' The view of the traveller is thus central, but has the idea of modern travel been shaped largely by a white male gaze? Thomas smiles ironically and says, 'Oh, yes, certainly within the West. If you look at who wrote the most historical travel books, it's almost always white men. In Europe and North America , very few women wrote about travel and even fewer people of colour did so. That's not true of other places — China and Japan have an enormous history of travel writing, also by men but not white men. That viewpoint is important to remember. Travel is about unfamiliarity and otherness. But what is unfamiliar to one may not be so to another. That defines travel — and a lot of what happens at home.'
