Access denied! How health facilities in Delhi are failing disabled

NEW DELHI: In 2018, Somya joined Lady Hardinge Medical College for her MBBS course. For a person with a disability, she found the college's infrastructure far from accessible. "Every day at the college was a nightmare," she said. "The physiology department was completely non-accessible and there were no lifts at several locations. One of the auditoriums also does not have ramps, making it difficult for a wheelchair-bound person to use the hall." In the six years since Somya's frustrating introduction to LHMC, nothing has changed there, said a current MBBS student with a disability. The situation is as exasperating in some other hospitals and health institutions in the capital.

At Safdarjung, many blocks of the hospital, including the common library, do not have ramps at the main entrance. A hospital worker there experiences the daily struggle of navigating a space that lacks inclusivity. At the Indian Council of Medical Research, an officer, speaking to TOI, admitted to the "lack of basic" accessibility, from lack of proper ramps to absence of lifts on the premises.

Given the similar challenges existing in so many institutions, a civil rights activist dedicated to the rights of people with disabilities responded on Monday by filing a case at the Commission for Persons with Disabilities, highlighting the lack of accessibility at the Central Health Education Bureau, ICMR, and three hospitals — Safdarjung Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia and LHMC — operating under the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

In his written complaint to the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, activist Satendra Singh wrote, "On March 27, I was invited, along with the secretary of CCPD, to the conference on accessibility and assistive devices for Viksit Bharat at ICMR. I found that the ICMR building has no accessible washroom on their premises." The complaint added that CHEB operated under DGHS. The three hospitals under DGHS management were also inaccessible, despite receiving patients with disabilities and having medical students with disabilities studying there.

"At RML Hospital, the auditorium lacks ramp access. The same auditorium is used for MBBS classes, despite the fact that medical students with disabilities are studying there. The Safdarjung library has neither a ramp nor hand railings, as seen in the attached picture. Wheelchair user Dr. Nonita Gangwani, while undergoing a disability assessment, could not find an accessible washroom in the OPD. The entrances to the medical college and lecture theatre only have steps," the complaint added.

Singh added that in the past, he had raised the issue of non-accessibility with CCPD, but his complaints had been "neglected." The activist highlighted that the deadline to make all public places accessible under the Rights of Person with Disability Act, 2016, had long passed. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had also released accessibility standards for healthcare, but its own three hospitals and institutions (CHEB and ICMR) were still not accessible.

Singh demanded that CHEB and ICMR be directed to make their premises accessible as per universal accessibility guidelines within a given timeline. He also asked DGHS to act against the three hospitals for failing to ensure accessibility and to fix a deadline in writing. He said DGHS must create a concrete plan with deadlines for implementing the health ministry's accessibility standards in both letter and spirit.

CCPD officials told TOI that the commission would look into the matter and hold a hearing on the matter soon.