Comments invited on the proposal of implementing BIS standards relating to Accessibility for the differently-abled employees in Establishments

Draft Rules have been rolled out to amend the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017 (“Rules”) proposing to implement BIS standards relating to accessibility for differently- abled employees in establishments.

Background:

Rule 15 requires every establishment to comply with certain prescribed standards w.r.t. physical environment, transport and information and communication technology such as:

a) standard for public buildings as specified in the Harmonised Guidelines and Space Standards for Barrier Free Built Environment for Persons with Disabilities and Elderly Persons as issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Urban Development in March 2016;
b) standard for Bus Body Code for transportation system as specified in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, vide number G.S.R. 895(E), dated the 20th September, 2016;
c) Information and Communication Technology –
i. website standard as specified in the guidelines for Indian Government websites, as adopted by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India.
ii. documents to be placed on websites shall be in Electronic Publication (ePUB) or Optical Character Reader (OCR) based Pdf format
By way of the proposed draft Rules, over and above the standards mentioned under the heading Information and Communication Technology, establishments will also be required to comply with the following BIS standards:

• IS 17802(part 1) 2021 as per notification no. HQ-PUB013/1/2020-PUB-BIS(278) dated 24.12.2021 and

• IS17802 (part-2), 2022 as per notification no. HQ-PUB013/1/2020-PUB-BIS(358) dated 04.05.2022

Comments may be addressed to Shri. D. K. Panda, Under Secretary to the Govt. of India, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Room No. 519, 5^th  Floor, Pandit Deen Dayal Antyodaya Bhawan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, 110003 or shared by email at panda.dk@nic.in within 26^th August, 2022.

While the draft notification is dated 26^th July, 2022 it was available in the e-gazette website later.

Source :  Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment