In 1995, the Persons With Disabilities Act (PWD) called for and enforced “full participation and equality of people with disabilities”. In 2016, a new legislation was formed – Rights of People With Disabilities Act (RPWD). Under the Act, the previously mentioned reservation of 3 per cent seats in higher education institutes was expanded to 5 per cent for PWD.

To initiate and regulate equal opportunities for differently-abled students across public universities in India, the University of Grants and Commission (UGC) had in 2012, in compliance with the PWD Act, set up guidelines under the 12^th Plan. It mandated all colleges to have an Equal Opportunities Cell (EOC).

What is the Equal Opportunities Cell?

The cell aims to provide equal access to resources for the differently-abled and creates an empowering environment for them to get support in terms of infrastructure and academics.

While the UGC guidelines mention the aims and functions of these cells, there is no specification on how the objectives of the cell will be implemented.

Gunjan Kumari, a differently-abled professor in Delhi University’s (DU) English department, told Newslaundry: “There is a difference between an enabling unit and an EOC. EOC comes under the umbrella of the enabling unit. But no such difference is mentioned in the UGC guidelines.”

Since there is a problem with the guidelines itself, the EOCs of various universities have their own interpretations of running such cells. Some of them are dead, while the others are functioning as training centres.

Differently-abled students thus end up facing challenges on various college campuses, often breaking out in demonstrations and protests.

The recent one was on April 27, when a group of visually-impaired students protested against DU’s EOC, sealing the administration office. A similar stir was witnessed earlier, on April 4, following which the administration had asked for 15 days to meet the students’ demands. But it failed to do so.

Students protest outside the Equal Opportunities Cell, Delhi University.

They were pushed around by the administrative staff and security guards.

Students sealed the EOC office to stop the operations of the administration.

The grievances

The students’ demands were related to non-availability of books in recorded formats, inaccessibility of footpaths, limited hostel accommodation, lack of scribes, and other things.

Usha, a visually-impaired student from Rajdhani College, said: “There is a separate government hostel for boys but there is no hostel for girls. Because of this, some blind students have opened a hostel in one flat. Many girls have been sexually harassed there. The college cooperates but DU does not.”

Newslaundry spoke to differently-abled students from various DU colleges. One of the common problems they faced across campuses was of mobility. The ramps are there but vehicles parked on them. Footpaths are broken, they say.

“We face a lot of difficulty while walking from the hostel to college. There is hardly any signage. Paths are not tactile-friendly. In DU, cars are parked everywhere. This makes it difficult for us to walk freely,” said Prateek, a partially blind student from Hindu College.

He further pointed to the most serious issue on the campus. “I don’t think there is any blind student who has not been bitten by a dog on this campus. There are so many dogs and we have repeatedly informed the administration about it. Yet, there is no relief,” he said.

On the academic front, computers being lifelines of the blind are often non-functional. Braille books are not available in all colleges. For writing exams, students often need scribes. Since there is a shortage, the differently-abled have another challenge to face.

Newslaundry visited 15 colleges of DU to conduct a survey on the facilities that each provides, both in terms of infrastructure and academics. These include ramps, scribes, books in audio formats, tactile paths, wheelchairs, Braille books, a reserved section in library and separate washrooms.

One college with the best facilities appeared to be Sri Venkateswara. Its student, Neha, said: “The EOC in our college provides equal opportunities in every sense. Whenever we ask for any infrastructural and academic facility, the administration provides it readily.”

Redressal

On April 4, a delegation of students put up their demands in a mail thread with Anil Aneja and Bipin Tiwary, officers on special duty in the EOC. They were told that “the matter will be pursued with the competent authority. The status report will be provided within two weeks of the meeting”.

Aneja claimed that infrastructure and facilities were well in place. He told Newslaundry: “Around 800-1,000 differently-abled students take admission in DU every year. We provide adequate assistance to the visually-impaired and hearing-impaired students. For others, accessible ramps are in place in most colleges. Study material in print is recorded in audio formats.”

The EOC administration’s reply to the demands of the students.

Funding trouble?

In 2012, the ministry of social justice and empowerment had allocated Rs 3.11 crore to DU to make the university premises friendly for the differently-abled. “We used the grant to make the north and south campuses of DU accessible,” said Aneja. Under it, the academic and administrative blocks, libraries, conference centres, hostels and guesthouses were included.

The EOC administration blames the funding system for lack of resources. The UGC had reportedly provided a one-time grant of only Rs 2 lakh to all central universities under the 12th Plan to establish the EOC. “We are yet to get clarity from the UGC on the funding scenario for 2018,” said Aneja.

However, colleges are independent bodies and have their own grants. They receive funds under the ‘Higher Education for Persons with Special Needs’ scheme, which is implemented by the UGC. “But colleges have often complained to us that they are not getting the required funds,” Aneja added.

On this, Ram Singh, a student of Hindu College, accused Delhi University of not putting forth a requirement for the same. “I reached out to the disability division in the ministry of social justice and they told me they haven’t received any requirement of funds from DU. To file a requirement, DU needs to submit a report of what all it has done in the past. The university hasn’t organised any training workshop, or sports fests, and software for reading. How will it submit a report and thereby ask for funds?” he questioned.

*Some names have been changed to protect identities.