All new buses, procured by the MTC and SETC in future must be disabled-friendly, the Madras High Court has ruled on Wednesday in a case pending for nearly a decade.
The Bench consisting of Chief Justice S K Kaul and Justice M M Sundaresh has ordered that the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities should be consulted to determine if the new buses are disabled-friendly.
The order was passed in a public interest litigation filed nearly a decade ago by one organisation EKTA (Vidyasagar). While the counsel appearing for the Metropolitan Transport Corporation and the State Express Transport Corporation submitted that a few buses that were disabled-friendly were being operated, the court rejected the idea of having particular buses for people with special needs and that such measures must be inclusive in nature. The Bench noted that the bus could be termed disabled-friendly only if it had easy access for boarding and alighting.
“The idea cannot be to have separate buses, but buses which are used daily by passengers meeting the requirement of persons with special needs. It is not possible to pre-determine the route to be travelled,the destination to be reached by introducing buses only for certain routes which are disabled-friendly,” the udges observed.
The judges also directed that it should be ensured that the benefits available in terms of travel concession for persons with special needs are available on all buses.
It also sought a compliance report within eight weeks. The Bench has also directed the Railways to file a affidavit within eight weeks citing list of facilities which are in existence and ones which are proposed to be introduced.