Punjab Public Works Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO on Thursday said that Rs 30.60 crore is being spent for the construction of special facilities in 77 government buildings of Amritsar, Patiala, and Jalandhar districts to make them disabled-friendly.
“Some of the new facilities that will be added to the buildings will include steps and ramps, corridors, entry gates, emergency exits, parking – as well as indoor and outdoor facilities like signages, alarm systems and disabled friendly toilets,” he said.
The Minister said that the tendering process for these buildings had already been initiated. “The city of Ludhiana is the first one, selected by the Government of India to make government buildings barrier free for persons with disabilities. The rest of the cities of Punjab have been selected by the Government of Punjab out of the State Government’s budget to create facilities in these buildings,” he added.
Giving information, the Minister said that the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) was a nation-wide campaign launched by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities to provide universal accessibility to persons with disabilities and to enable persons with disabilities to gain access for equal opportunity and live independently.
“These facilities will also ensure required participation of PWDs in all aspects of life. In line with the Prime Minister’s call to call the disabled as ‘Divyang’ (divine body) instead of ‘Viklang’, the Government of India has initiated an Accessible India Campaign for creating universal accessibility for persons with disability in the built environment,” he said.