In a unique step taken towards empowering persons with disability, the Delhi state commissioner of persons with disability (PWD), has passed an order to 400 hotels and restaurants for including menus in Braille. Further, it specifies that the Ministry of Tourism should put together the relevant provisions and designs for various facilities in the hotels and restaurants, irrespective of their category, in a smaller booklet, by extracting the same from the Harmonised Guidelines.
The members of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) in Delhi have been instructed to implement the order, as it will be very helpful for persons with disabilities visiting hotels alone. “As per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 access to public services is mandatory,” says the chief commissioner for persons with disabilities, TD Dhariyal.
This is an extremely commendable step that has well recognised the plights of the customers with a disability. Once this becomes functional, various other states can also look forward to implementing the same. This will offer more independence to visually impaired people for visiting hotel and restaurant alone.
This is, however, not the first time that the Delhi Government has taken such an impactful initiative. Back in April, the visually-impaired voters of East Delhi constituency were handed out Braille-coded voter cards, an initiative aimed at making polls more accessible for disabled persons. Out of 5,218 voters who were persons with disability in East Delhi, 276 were visually-impaired. They were handed out specially designed voter IDs.
We hope to witness many such brilliant steps that not just appear to be fake promises during a pre-election time, but also serve people in a true sense.