The Jindal trust chairperson would like help to improve access to public utilities for the physically challenged. Sminu Jindal is seized with a passion to remove obstacles in the way of the disabled, be it on roads, airports, schools, hotels or petrol pumps.
The wheelchair-borne chairperson of SJ Charitable Trust, which provides consultancy services to organisations to make their buildings easily accessible to the disabled, says she would like to have NGOs on board too. "In fact, anyone who is willing to walk with us," she says.
The fee is over Rs 100,000 for private buildings while the government ones get the service for Rs 50,000. The fee, she says, is intended to make governments and companies take the reports seriously.
But Sminu is disappointed with the government. She says her trust carried out accessibility audits for the New Delhi Municipal Corporation facilities as well as sites under the Archaelogical Survey of India.
None of the two have implemented her suggestions.
The trust is now talking to
HPCL and
BPCL,
which plan to make all petrol pumps accessible to the disabled. ITC has also asked for a report and so has the NDMC, which wants to make its school buildings disabled-friendly, says Sminu, who is disappointed that most buildings and roads in the country are hostile to the disabled.
The trust also sends resource persons to various organisations to sensitise employees on the needs and abilities of persons with disabilities.
It is now looking at Rajasthan and Haryana governments as partners in making buildings and thoroughfares accessible. "Haryana is my native state and I would love to work with the government there. I am hoping that day comes soon," she says.
Sminu , who became handicapped at the age of 11 when she met with an accident, hopes to reach out to more people through her website, which brings together information on education, rehabilitation, employment and even matrimony and companionship.
"The idea is to enable each person with disability to access all the information he or she needs," says Jindal, adding, "I want disabled persons to meet and chat and marry though my website."
For more, visit www.svayam.org
