Making parliament accessible to persons with disabilities

The ruling National People’s Power (NPP) took the laudable step of nominating Sugath Wasantha De Silva, President of the Sri Lanka Council of Visually Handicapped Graduates to their national list for the upcoming Parliamentary election.

It is a praiseworthy move in a country where the rights of persons with disabilities are often overlooked or downright neglected.

Sri Lanka has enacted legislation and signed up to international convention on the protection for persons with disabilities but is lagging behind in providing facilities for them to live an independent life.

It is estimated that around 1.6 million or 8% of the country’s population suffer from some form of disability. They have been categorised into several groups such as disability in seeing, hearing/speaking, disability in hands and legs, mental disability and other physical disability.

The Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act was enacted in 1996, and the National Secretariat for Persons with Disabilities was subsequently set up to improve the rights and ensure the safeness of people with disabilities through guidance, coordination, implementation and management of development activities.

Sri Lanka signed the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. So, on paper the country has ticked all the boxes when it comes to the rights of persons with disabilities.

The decade-long war in the country has left many people disabled in various ways with the problem rampant in the north and east of the country. Thousands are also maimed due to road accidents while there are others born with disabilities. There are also senior citizens who suffer from age related physical and mental disabilities.

Accessibility is one of the main problems with Sri Lanka roads and buildings not user friendly even for the fully abled, let alone a person suffering from some form of disability. Wheelchair access is non-existent in most buildings and pavements are in no way made in a manner that a person can use a wheeler chair along them without suffering further disability. It’s dangerous for a person who is visually impaired getting on a road, even with a white cane. Public transport has absolutely no facilities for people with disabilities while public toilets too are the same.

Even the most modern buildings including those that have come up after it was made mandatory to have wheelchair access to buildings have neglected to do so. Local authorities tasked with checking on such facilities have conveniently overlooked such requirements before giving approval for such buildings.

Where employment is concerned, the State sector has adopted the rules which has enabled many to find employment while the private sector is half-hearted about employing such persons. 

While it’s a welcome move that the NPP has named a visually challenged person who is likely to enter parliament for the next general election, the country’s highest law-making body is one institution which is lacking in facilities for persons with disability. It has no proper wheelchair access to the building or to the chamber, no attempt to make available order papers, Hansard in braille, etc. Hence when it welcomes the first MP with a disability, parliament officials will have to ensure that he enjoys all the facilities that are given to others.

If the country is to move ahead as one that looks after its persons with disabilities, parliament is a good place to start. Here is hoping that the next parliament will not just be a mouthpiece when it comes to rights of persons with disabilities but will ensure that the necessary changes are made on the ground so that this large segment of people will not be marginalised as they are now.