Inadequate accessibility in infrastructure continues to keep people with disabilities away from essential services, education and jobs.
鈥榃e have been denied basic accessibility for 54 years. People mostly neglect us. They, rather, pity us,鈥� said Salma Mahbub, the founder general secretary of the Bangladesh Society for the Change and Advocacy Nexus, which works for people with disabilities.
People with disabilities say that they have little access to infrastructure. They cannot use public transport, hospitals, educational institutions, footpaths and roads, which are mostly designed to be disability-unfriendly.
This forces them to spend more on transport and wait for long hours in hospitals and other public places.
A social services department survey, updated on September 17, shows 36.55 lakh people with disabilities registered. They include 14.46 lakh women and 2,931 transgender individuals.
Of them, about 19.11 lakh are physically challenged, 4.87 lakh visually impaired, 2.04 lakh speech impaired, 2.34 lakh intellectually disabled, 1.56 lakh hearing impaired, 2.49 lakh with multiple disabilities, 1.35 lakh with cerebral palsy, 1.38 lakh with mental disorders and 93,732 with autism.
Salma, who uses a wheelchair, has said that after years of advocacy, some buildings now offer accessibilities, but efforts are mostly limited to ramps on the ground floor.
The National Building Code 2020 mandates ramps and toilets and the use of Braille in lifts, but implementation is scarce.
She has alleged that the National Disability Development Foundation, a public entity founded in 1999, focuses mostly on observing days and holding meetings.
Although the government allocated Tk 100 crore in 2016 for accessibility development, 鈥榳e don鈥檛 know how or where the money was spent,鈥� she has said.
Iftekhar Mahmud, visually impaired and coordinator of Pratibandhi Nagarik Sangathan Parishad, has said that while some footpaths have tactile paving, they are often at the wrong level, largely leaving them useless.
He has found no accessible toilets, booths or lifts in Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Mugda Medical College Hospital that he frequents.
鈥楶hysicians and nurses are rarely trained to interact with people with disabilities. They often behave rudely. Equipment is not disability-friendly,鈥� he has said.
Nazma Ara Begum Popy, visually impaired, has said that she cannot use public transport as hardly any bus counters or vehicles accommodate people with disabilities.
She commutes by cycle rickshaw to her office at Gulshan from Badda and hires Uber or auto-rickshaws for other trips. This costs her about Tk 10,000 a month.
Tamzida Parvin Sima, who uses crutches and lives in Dinajpur, has said that she was refused a public job three times during viva voce because of her disability.
She had to leave a private teaching job when she was told to work as office help. 鈥業 could hardly climb stairs.鈥�
Badiuzzaman, who also uses crutches, has said that he once fell down as he tried to board a train because of steep steps. He also fell down again when he tried to board a ferry as he lost balance on the gangway.
The Disability Development Foundation鈥檚 managing director Bijoy Krishna Debnath has admitted the problems, especially with roads and transport, although some government schools now have ramps.
The foundation requires a full-time managing director. His role there is an additional duty, he has said.
The foundation is working to enforce the Disability Development Foundation Act 2023, which is meant to mainstream people with disabilities, he has added.
A senior official has said that two national committees, headed by the head of the government and the social welfare secretary, are responsible for policy decisions, but only two meetings have been held in a decade.
An action plan for 12 categories of people with disabilities, involving 35 ministries, was worked out in 2018, but it was left unfunded.
A review has, however, recently been initiated to address allocation and responsibility issues, he has said.
鈥榃e are left behind as there is hardly any accessibility for us,鈥� Md Shahadat Sarwar, who lost his left hand and right leg to polio, has said.
While the government works on the Sustainable Development Goals, it has made little effort to help people with disabilities to move forward, Shahadat, also executive director of the Mymensingh-based Maloti Samaj Kalyan Sangstha, has said.
The Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics 2022, published in 2024, estimates people with disabilities at 43.30 lakh, based on the 2022 census population figure of 16.98 crore.
