Accessible transport provides pathways to opportunity: Samoon

Srinagar: Transport Department has decided to make it mandatory that a minimum of 5% of all new public transport buses should be registered as disabled-friendly.
The decision was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Principal Secretary Transport Dr Asghar Hassan Samoon here.
The meeting was attended by Commissioner Disability Iqbal Lone, Managing Director SRTC Bilal Ahmed, Director State Motor Garages Zakir Hussain Chowdhary, Additional Transport Commissioner Ajaz Abdullah, Additional Secretary Government Babu Ram, RTO Kashmir Ahamadullah Tak, and representative of transporters of KMDA, Western Bus Service and Eastern Bus Service.
Transport Commissioner S. P Vaid, RTO Jammu Dhannater Singh participated in the meeting through video-conferencing.
The meeting decided that Transport Commissioner shall frame an action plan to take the imitative forward.
Dr Samoon also asked the officials to ensure that 5% of buses which will be enrolled under the recently launched subsidy scheme for private transporters will have facilities to be registered as disabled-friendly.
Expressing concern that mobility constraints are one of the major obstacles to inclusive development, as they exacerbate the economic, social, and personal isolation of persons with disabilities, Dr Samoon asked the Managing Director JKSRTC to ensure that 10 % of their fleet is disabled friendly.
The meeting also asked the Social Welfare department to provide a disabled-friendly bus in Jammu and Srinagar each.
Asking the private firms associated with transport sector to help the social cause as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR), Dr Samoon asked the officials to rope in NHPC J&K Bank, SBI, BP, HP, Tata, Ashok Leyland, Volvo, Echer for providing them at least two disabled-friendly buses.