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Roorkee: National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, and support from Ministry of Housing and Urban affairs have successfully conducted public consultation meetings for revisions in guidelines and standards areas of universal accessibility in built environment in India. The consultation meetings were in the backdrop of ‘Building Accessible Safe Inclusive Indian Cities’ (BASIIC) program (supported by FCDO, UK government).
The meetings, were held with persons with disabilities, elderly and their caregivers on 22nd April, 2021 and women, children (With or without disabilities) and their caregivers on 24th April, 2021, on virtual platform. The broad objectives of the consultation were to 1. Understand the diverse needs of identified groups in different facets of independent life; 2. Understand the problems faced by them in the everyday life due to inaccessibility of urban infrastructure and services 3. Gain insights from their experience and take suggestions for improvement in the guidelines. The discussion was divided into housing/residential, healthcare, mobility, education, employment and recreation – five critical components of urban life with an overarching theme of assistive/smart technologies. The consultations had more than 40 participants from across the country on each day sharing their views and experiences.