Supreme Court’s order on mandatory accessibility standards, why it matters

Supreme Court’s order on mandatory accessibility standards, why it matters

Sub: Polity

Sec: Legislation in news

Context:

• The Supreme Court recently ruled that the Union Government must frame mandatory rules to ensure the accessibility of public places and services to persons with disabilities.
• The Court observed that while RPwD Act created a mechanism for mandatory compliance, the 2017 rules only provided self-regulatory guidelines, leading to non-compliance and inconsistencies in accessibility across various sectors.
• The judgment emphasized that accessibility is a fundamental right.

Directive to the Union Government:

• The Supreme Court directed the Union Government to frame mandatory rules to enforce accessibility standards, in line with the RPwD Act, within three months.
• The government was instructed to consult NALSAR’s Centre for Disability Studies (CDS) and other relevant stakeholders while drafting the rules.
• The Court also directed that once the mandatory rules are in place, Centre and state governments must ensure that violations of accessibility standards are penalised by withholding completion certificates and imposing fines.

Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016:

• The RPwD Act aims to ensure that persons with disabilities can live their lives with dignity, without discrimination, and with equal opportunities.
• It aligns with India’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which calls for full accessibility in all aspects of life.

Key provisions:

• Responsibility has been cast upon the appropriate governments to take effective measures to ensure that the persons with disabilities enjoy their rights equally with others.
• The Act provides a comprehensive definition of disability and recognizes 21 types of disabilities, including physical, mental, intellectual, and sensory disabilities.
• Additional benefits such as reservation in higher education (not less than 5%), government jobs (not less than 4 %), reservation in allocation of land, poverty alleviation schemes (5% allotment) etc. have been provided for persons with benchmark disabilities and those with high support needs.
• Every child with benchmark disability between the age group of 6 and 18 years shall have the right to free education.