“Buildings have not yet been built with priority for people with disabilities,” said Padya Bhattarai, a disabled teacher from Tansen Municipality-6. “Such issues are often discussed and debated, but rarely seen in practice.”
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People with disabilities have complained that they have difficulty accessing services at offices due to the lack of disability-friendly old physical infrastructure. They complain that they face problems accessing services at local, federal, and provincial offices in the district.
‘It is not possible for people with disabilities to get services in offices with old physical structures,’ said Prem Bahadur Rana, vice-chairman of the Creative Disability Self-Reliance Center in Tansen Municipality-7, Kajipauwa. ‘It is even more difficult for those with visual impairments and physical disabilities to get services.’
Rana, who lives in Tansen and hails from Rainadevi Chhahara, is himself completely blind. He complains that the offices he visits lack a service-friendly atmosphere. Tansen Municipality is an old structure. It has a building built in 2040. The mayor lives on the third floor. The deputy mayor and chief administrative officer live on the second floor. Rana complains that even if they somehow reach the office, people with disabilities have problems going to the upper floors.
‘It is also difficult to go to Rampur Municipality, where the new structure has been built,’ said Sandeep Bhattarai, a blind teacher and center president. ‘Most of the structures here are also not disability-friendly.’ Most of the office heads do not live on the first floor. They live on the upper floor. But there is no structure to reach there. Due to this, the visually impaired and those with disabilities have additional problems. ‘The hearing impaired have even more problems due to the lack of interpreters,’ he said. ‘The problem is even more complicated for those with various types of disabilities.’
In Rambha Rural Municipality, Nisdi Rural Municipality, Mathagadhi Rural Municipality, Tinau Rural Municipality, Rainadevi Chhahara Rural Municipality, and Ribdikot Rural Municipality, the disabled are also unable to meet the office heads and people’s representatives. The offices of most of the chairmen, vice-chairmen, and chief administrators are on the second floor. Baganaskali Rural Municipality and Purbakhola Rural Municipality (after the construction of new buildings for both) have elevators. Bhattarai said that even if there is a lift, if there is no disability-friendly structure for the disabled, it will be difficult to go to meet one or the other. ‘Buildings have not yet been built with priority for the disabled,’ said Padya Bhattarai, a disabled teacher from Tansen Municipality-6. ‘Such issues are often discussed and discussed, but rarely seen in practice.’
The Act on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2074, and the Regulations, 2076, have not been implemented. They complain that the disabled have to face even more problems in accessing services in federal and provincial offices.
According to Urmila BK of Tansen-7, who is disabled, the attitude towards the disabled has not changed. She said that there is not only a lack of disability-friendly structures in local, federal and provincial offices, but also a lack of programs for the disabled. ‘There are no disability-friendly programs in development offices,’ she said, ‘but earlier (before 2074) there was a mandatory system. Now, it will happen even if it is not installed, so attention has not been paid to this.'
With the support of the National Federation of Disabled Persons and The Asia Foundation, the Creative Disability Self-reliance Center Palpa has run a local government empowerment program in Tansen Municipality. 'We have held meetings with public representatives many times,' said Shiva Devkota, a member of the center and legal advisor, 'but such issues have not yet been resolved.'
Tansen Municipality Mayor Santosh Lal Shrestha admitted that the municipality has not been able to build a disabled-friendly structure. He said that although he planned to install a lift, it was not successful because the building was old. 'We want to work for the disabled, but we have not been successful,' he said. There is no access for the disabled at other local levels in the district. As a result, they have not been able to work for the services and facilities of the disabled. They have not been able to do any visible work except distributing identity cards.
