Disabled community’s dream of an accessible India gets longer still

In 2005, Rajive Raturi, a human rights activist with a visual disability, took the Indian government to court demanding access to public places and transport facilities for millions of persons with disabilities like himself.

India passed legislation in 2016 laying down accessibility standards that were expanded to various sectors.

Yet, implementation was lacking on the ground.

Then, in a ruling on Raturi’s case on November 8, the Supreme Court struck down the legislation’s rule, which covered these accessibility standards, noting that they were not mandatory guidelines. In a strongly worded judgement, the court ordered the Centre to frame mandatory rules for accessibility.

The court’s ruling while being promising has also left accessibility in a flux. There is cause for genuine concern, especially given the long delay in Raturi’s case – a lot of it due to the Centre – and policymaking: India has not had a full time, independent Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities for years.

A progressive convention and law

In 2005, when Raturi went to court, the law in force was the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 – a toothless, recommendatory legislation that did not enforce accessibility for persons with disabilities in any way.

But in the next few years, a lot would change in the world of disability globally. In 2006, the...

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