8 months ago
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The twelvemonth 2025 is shaping up to beryllium a milestone for accessible (disabled-friendly) nationalist buildings in Delhi. The Central government’s Sugamya Yatra Abhiyan for accessibility audits and consciousness has reached the nationalist capital. Meanwhile, the Delhi authorities has besides announced its ambitious “Purple City” program to marque nationalist buildings accessible. This makes it the cleanable infinitesimal to analyse however Delhi, truthful uniquely analyzable successful its administrative structure, really fares erstwhile it comes to making accessibility a reality.
Unlike astir Indian cities, Delhi’s governance is simply a dense web of central, State, and municipal bodies, each exercising simultaneous power implicit antithetic aspects of the city, including its nationalist buildings.
For example, immoderate departments money and administer nationalist buildings – the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs oversees the operation of the Parliament building, Indian Railways administers railway stations, and Delhi’s Education Department funds the operation of authorities schools. Central and State nationalist works departments grip operation and maintenance. Local bodies similar the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) are liable for some constructing buildings and granting gathering permits and completion certificates.
However, erstwhile it comes to accessibility, this fragmented operation creates a cleanable tempest of disorder among departments. It begins with the basics: is simply a department’s relation for ensuring accessibility adjacent defined successful law? Do officials wrong that section cognize they person specified a responsibility? Are the boundaries of their jurisdiction clear, oregon bash they presume the task falls to different department? This is the crux of Delhi’s nationalist gathering accessibility knot. Here is an effort to untangle it.
Is a department’s relation for ensuring accessibility defined successful law?
In the simplest terms, yes. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWDA) mandates each caller constructions and existing nationalist buildings to comply with accessibility standards notified by the Central government. Further, Delhi’s Unified Building Bye-Laws, 2016 (UBBL) besides includes an full section connected accessibility. The UBBL requires section bodies (MCD, NDMC, and DDA) to contented permits and completion certificates lone aft confirming compliance with its provisions.
So, broadly, accessibility successful nationalist buildings is everyone’s work nether the law. Building owners indispensable program and fund for it, architects and engineers indispensable comply with it and section bodies indispensable contented permits and certificates lone upon compliance.
Do officials wrong a section recognize their responsibilities?
After the RPWDA came into unit successful 2016, astir authorities departments issued interior directives for its compliance. The aforesaid year, the UBBL was introduced which is considered the superior notation constituent for each operation successful Delhi. So, astatine the precise least, 1 would presume officials are alert of these mandates.
On the ground, the world seems a spot different. In Nipun Malhotra v. GNCTD (2018), the Delhi High Court observed constricted consciousness and sensitisation among civic authorities regarding the rights and challenges of persons with disabilities. Similarly, successful a lawsuit concerning inaccessible markets successful South Delhi, the Delhi State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities noted that professionals similar civilian engineers and architects necessitate basal grooming connected accessibility.
Is determination capable clarity connected departmental jurisdiction?
The reply to this question whitethorn consciousness familiar, arsenic Delhi’s notoriously muddled governance, wherever authorities support shifting responsibilities, is thing new. As precocious arsenic August 2025, the Delhi High Court, successful a lawsuit concerning waterlogging, highlighted the lack of coordination and accountability among the MCD, Delhi Jal Board, Delhi Public Works Department (Delhi PWD), and DDA. The tribunal noted that while MCD manages stormwater drains and the Delhi Jal Board handles sewer lines, waterlogging occurred with neither accepting work (Maharani Bagh Society v. Union Of India).
This contented besides percolates into accessibility. In Himanshu Goswami v. University of Delhi (2018), the Delhi High Court noted that erstwhile nationalist infrastructure successful North Campus was recovered to beryllium inaccessible, immoderate elements were claimed to autumn nether the MCD’s jurisdiction, portion others nether the Delhi PWD, resulting successful fragmented and delayed implementation.
Time to prime up the ladle
This whitethorn look to beryllium a communal governance situation crossed India, but successful the discourse of accessibility, the stakes are overmuch higher, arsenic inaccessible nationalist buildings severely bounds information of persons with disabilities successful mundane activities. In this scenario, an businesslike coordination mechanics is perfectly important successful Delhi, to guarantee responsibilities are not shuffled endlessly and initiatives are executed successful harmony, with clarity connected who volition implement, who volition money and who volition show compliance. With Delhi’s caller pledge to go a exemplary metropolis for inclusion, this is the infinitesimal to instrumentality decisive action.
Somya Jain is simply a probe chap astatine Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy
