Disabled friendly buses in BMTC, NWKRTC, KKRTC and KAR-SRTC

Four (4) State Transport Undertakings (STUs) in Karnataka, which are members of  Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU), are operating 24,660 buses, out of which 7852 buses have facility for boarding and deboarding for persons with disabilities.

Among 4 STUs’s in the state, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation has been operating total of 6664 buses and all 6664 buses are accessible buses. where as in North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC) and Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KAR-SRTC) only 16%, 5% and 1% of total buses available are accessible respectively.

The following initiatives have been taken by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to achieve the targets fixed in Accessible India Campaign:

1. Circular regarding procedure for alteration in Motor Vehicles to facilitate the mobility of physically challenged persons
2. Advisory regarding procedure for guidelines for granting registration certificates to differently abled persons and providing driving license for persons having monocular visions
3. Advisories and letters issued to States/UTs from time to time, giving the following directions to  STUs to achieve targets of Accessible India Campaign :

1. 25% of Government owned public transport vehicles should be made fully accessible by March 2019
2. All bus stops/ terminals/ ports should be made accessible
3. Facilities for speedy licensing and registration may be provided to differently abled persons.

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Accessible India Campaign Section (AIC) is the nodal agency of Government of India.

Central Advisory Board (CAB) in r/o AIC has fixed target of 10% by March 2018. The target was revised by Committee of Secretaries in its meeting dt. 2.4.2018 to 25% by March 2019.   Information in respect of 61 STUs is attached as Annexure.

This information was given by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.