A majority of the physically challenged have been avoiding the Puja celebrations because of the absence of ramps and other facilities for them at the Durga Puja festival venues in the city.

Three days ago, wheelchair-bound Silsila Das and a few other physically challenged people were invited to visit a few Puja venues in the city. Silsila and Runu Medhi observed there were neither any parking spaces nor accessibility at the venues for the physically challenged.

“The trip was a day’s visit to some of the pandals in the city and though it was a polite gesture from the good Samaritans, we observed there were bad roads on which it was impossible to use the wheelchair. The absence of any basic amenities for the physically challenged across the Puja venues in the city implies the needs of the physically challenged are mostly overlooked,” said Jyoti Gogoi, a special educator.

Activists cited it is not only the physically challenged but also the elderly who were left out from the Puja venues without a separate queue.

“From the entrance to the dais is an uphill task. Right from getting out of the car till the altar, there was no arrangement of a ramp for the wheelchair. There was no separate queue for us or the elderly, making it more challenging for us,” Medhi said.

Since Puja committees splurge lakhs on the pandal and mandap, catering to creative themes, important requirements like making the venues accessible to physically challenged people are often overlooked.

“This is the same story every year. We visited the venues during the day and there was no rush. If the visit was made at night, things would have been quite different. If Puja committees could spend lakhs of rupees, then why not make special arrangements for the physically challenged? Puja or Bihu, I end up staying at home because people fail to make arrangements for us,” Das said.

“Nothing is designed keeping in mind the people with disabilities or the elderly. The general perception about the physically challenged is that they are sick so they need to be under care and should stay indoors,” said Arman Ali, who recently assumed the post of executive director of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPED).

Shishu Sarothi executive director Keteki Bordoloi said, “People never think the physically challenged have the right to visit Puja mandap. That is the reason why we see no special arrangements or accommodations made for them.”