Toilet for disabled remains locked at Egmore eye hospital
“Don’t go to the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology and Government Ophthalmic Hospital (Egmore eye hospital) if you want to maintain dignity and self-respect,” said K Prabhu member of December 3, an NGO that fights for the rights of the disabled.
CHENNAI: Even after the Union government issued guidelines to ensure better accessibility in public spaces for persons with disabilities (PwD), many government offices and buildings in TN still remain inaccessible.
“Don’t go to the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology and Government Ophthalmic Hospital (Egmore eye hospital) if you want to maintain dignity and self-respect,” said K Prabhu member of December 3, an NGO that fights for the rights of the disabled.
Prabhu has locomotor disability. He had gone to the newly-constructed Egmore eye hospital for an eye check-up last week. “It ended up being a bitter experience,” he recalled. “As per the UN guidelines for the PwDs’ accessibility, every public building should contain accessible toilets. But the hospital with such an illustrious history and standing tall with six floors does not allow us to use the toilet constructed for us.”
While waiting for his doctor, Prabhu visited the special toilet constructed for PwD and found it locked. “I asked the security personnel deployed there to open the door for me to use the toilet. And, he refused. They asked me to use the toilet for able-bodied people, as they didn’t have the keys for the special toilet. As a member of an NGO fighting for PwD rights, I demanded my rights with doctors and medical staff working there but no one bothered to defend me,” he lamented.
Prabhu pointed out that most government buildings, including the Collectorate, major GHs and railway stations in the city, lacked basic facilities for persons with disability. “By denying us access to public spaces, we feel this government has completely neglected us and only considers us during election time,” he added.
DT Next’s efforts to get a response from the director of Egmore eye hospital proved futile. The administration officials also remained tight lipped on the issue.
Admitting that many government buildings were not fully accessible for PwD, M Lakshmi, Commissioner for Welfare of the Differently Abled, stated: “We’re pushing the State government to make its offices and buildings disabled-friendly.”
