PANAJI
A majority of the ATMs in Goa aren’t disabled-friendly, neither are bus stands or State government’s websites, especially those which deal with public utility services, according to the findings of a seven-month long survey and audit conducted by students of the Goa Institute of Management (GIM) of public utility facilities in the State from a disability perspective.
The survey and audit is a part of the B-school’s ‘Give Goa’ initiative which has been commissioned by the Confederation of Indian Industry and Young Indians (CII-YI). The study was conducted by the students of GIM mentored by Professors V Padmanabhan, Mantasha Firoz, Arpita Amarnani and Kingshuk Sarkar. Ajit Parulekar, Director of GIM ‘Give Goa’ project, said it offers opportunities for holistic learning that complement the institute’s rigorous study programmes.
According to the 2011 census, two percent of State’s population comprises persons with disabilities, and accessibility still remains a challenge in the various aspects of an individual’s day-to-day life. Therefore, addressing accessibility gaps in the public services sector is crucial to creating a more inclusive society with equal access to basic amenities.
Prof Padmanaban said, “The ATM audit covered 100 randomly chosen cash-dispensing kiosks in rural and urban parts of Goa and the findings indicate that faulty error messages or audio cues, lack of Braille-powered ATMs, improper ramp designs and complicated transactions were major issues.”
The GIM-CII study has recommended that each locality should have at least one fully disabled-friendly ATM.
The audit of 10 bus stands revealed that they lacked basic accessibility features, had poor construction, lacked communication channels and were absent of awareness regarding disability-related issues.
The audit also identified gaps, including lack of funds for training workshops, unfilled reserved seats in Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) for disabled persons and a lack of awareness among disabled students about career opportunities, leading to such individuals being relegated to back-end roles in the industry.
Lastly, an accessibility audit of 50 public utility websites owned by the Goa government found that most were not user-friendly for Persons with Disabilities.
