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(c) accessible roads to address mobility necessary for persons with disabilities.

(2) The appropriate Government shall develop schemes programmes to promote the personal mobility of persons with disabilities at affordable cost to provide for,--

(a) incentives and concessions;

(b) retrofitting of vehicles; and (c) personal mobility assistance.

(c) personal mobility assistance"

xxx xxx xxx

46. In (2016) 7 SCC 761, Jeeja Ghosh & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors., the Supreme Court has categorically and succinctly highlighted the fact that the persons with disability must be treated with utmost dignity.

47. Rajive Raturi, a visually disabled person, a resident of Gurgaon who works in Delhi with a human rights organization filed a writ petition being W.P.(C) No. 243/2005 in public interest in the Supreme Court of India on behalf of differently abled persons seeking proper and adequate access to public places. In other words, he sought provisions of all accessibility requirements to make all visually disabled persons in support of "safe access to roads and transport facilities". The writ petitioner stated that there were 60-70 million disabled people in India out of which 50% suffer from visual disability. The fundamental concern of these persons was accessibility to rights and transport and safe accessibility to movements on footpaths and accessibility to roads and transport. The writ petition raised fundamental concerns of accessibility to the disabled pointing out the internationally acceptable mandatory components of physical accessibility i.e. the safety, independence, affordability, logical layout. We extract hereafter the relevant components :

55. In Rajive Raturi, the Supreme Court had also noted the enunciation of principle laid down in (1986) 2 SCC 68, State of H.P. v. Umed Ram Sharma to the effect that the right to life under Article 21 has been broad enough to incorporate the right to accessibility (para

10). In this case, the court was considering and had observed that the Right to Life under Article 21 embraces not only physical existence of life but the quality of life and for residents of hilly areas, access to road is access to life itself.

82. Section 41 of the Act of 2016 unequivocally mandates upon the appropriate government ("shall take suitable measures to provide") to ensure access to all modes of transport for persons with disabilities. Clause (b) of sub-section 1 of Section 41 mandates that the government shall take measures to not only conform the design standards, but also to take steps for "retrofitting of modes of transport".

83. Section 41(1)(a) enjoins upon the appropriate government to ensure facilities at bus stops, railway stations and airport conforming to accessibility standards relating to parking spaces, toilets, ticketing counters and taking measures. We further find that the vision of the Legislature in requiring the appropriate government to mandatorily take steps to provide "accessibility roads to address mobility necessary for persons with disabilities".