The Hindu : For access to the disabled

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 08, 2003

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National

For access to the disabled

By Ramya Kannan

CHENNAI NOV. 7. When Sanjeev Sachdeva and Anjlee Agarwal began organising holiday tours for persons with disabilities, they discovered that the standard `two-nights-three-days' package simply would not work. "The tours were not flexible and there was no way we could fulfil our itinerary," says Anjlee Agarwal. And then there were problems with accommodation. That was when the duo, confined to wheelchairs owing to muscular dystrophy, decided to scan the country's tourist spots and find out how many of them were `enabling environments'.

They started Samarthya, an non-governmental organisation, to tackle the access issue. Armed with the Persons With Disabilities Act, the team decided to take the bull by its horns. They toured 48 tourist destinations in northern India, to find out the hard way.

"Everything starts with access. Not only for the disabled, but for around 90 to 95 per cent of the population who have problems with mobility," says Anjlee. The team decided the best way to do it was to appeal to the public, to make disabled-friendly environments `fashionable'. At the Birla temple in Jaipur, security personnel did not allow wheelchair users to enter, ``as the wheels would spoil the marble flooring''. In the Deegh Palace in Bharatpur, access was restricted, despite producing a circular from the Archaeological Survey of India insisting that the disabled should not be denied access to heritage monuments. After a loud fight, they were allowed in. "But that is not the point. Not everyone can stand and fight," Anjlee says.

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