Accessibility in the Institute

IIT Bombay, like other higher education institutions in the country, is mandated by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act of 2016 to practice affirmative action and provide a minimum of 5% of the total seats to students with disabilities. Since only individuals with a minimum of 40% of the relevant disabilities are eligible to constitute this section, the actual number of students in the institute who deal with disabilities of varying extents is probably much higher. We reached out to some of these students to get insights into the diverse challenges they face: in both their academic endeavours and social lives, as well as to determine how well the institute fulfils the duty placed upon it by the RPWD Act – making the campus accessible to all.

Over the last few years, the administration has made extensive infrastructural changes to accommodate the needs of institute residents who have challenges that make it hard for them to access multiple locations on campus. Almost all buildings now have ramps and elevators, disability-friendly bathrooms have been installed in all the newer hostels, and many elevators have Braille markings. The institute has motorised wheelchairs, state-of-the-art Braille printers, and other equipment to which students are given access upon request. Apart from these general measures, the Dean of Student Affairs individually handles any unique challenges each student might face. Cases of infrastructural inaccessibility are dealt with by the Dean of Infrastructural Planning and Support. In a case where a student faces a problem that cannot be mitigated with the existing services, the onus is upon the administration to procure and set up the necessary resources for the student.

However, this isn’t to say that the situation is as rosy as it sounds. Ramps at various locations in the institute, for example the old SAC, are too steep or too smooth, diminishing their utility. Wheelchairs are rarely maintained, prompting students to buy necessary equipment by themselves. There is no periodic review of the accessibility of buildings, and there are no instructors to help the students with actually using resources like the Braille printers.

The problem with this existing system to help students with disabilities is that it relies heavily on these students inconveniencing themselves to repeatedly reach out to the administration to fix those things in the institute that keep making life harder for them. People are generally apprehensive in writing a mail to officials because of the fear of being dismissed, the woes of waiting in line, or the mere fact that no one replied to the email you sent out. This prevents a massive chunk of people from actually going to administration. While it is true that a lot of these challenges can only be dealt with on an individual basis, the reality is that for the people with the power to fix those things at present, the issues of PwD students are only a part of the many concerns they are expected to deal with. This means that the chances of the needs of students being met remain low, since they depend on the student to keep making their needs seen and heard. This is a challenge since they might already be dealing with the struggles of living in a world essentially designed for abled people.

There is a need for formation of a PwD cell that addresses the concerns of PwD students, in a similar way as there exists one for SC/ST students. A unique thing about PwD students is that their challenges vary widely – from installing lifts to making institute websites like ASC more disability friendly. Given the sheer magnitude and diversity of problems, having a cell that represents them and demands change becomes much more imperative. This helps form a coherent voice to present to the administration that students can approach much more quickly.

In other colleges, including IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, and IIT Madras, cells like these are already established, with officials in charge and a proper grievance redressal method to help PwD students on campus. IIT Delhi has gone so far as to have another Dean who looks over diversity and inclusion in the college. IIT Bombay is lagging far behind these institutions in this merit and could take inspiration from their models and build on them. A starting point would be to introduce a faculty-in-charge and student representatives that are a point of contact for these students.

While a cell is not the answer to all the problems that PwD people face, it is a step in the right direction. In the worst case, even if it adds another layer of bureaucracy between students and administration and may result in some delayed actions, it is still better than the current status quo, where the likelihood that you are heard depends on how persistent your mailing skills are or how long you are willing to wait in front of the Dean’s office.

Infrastructural and academic support is the most basic requirement for a student with disabilities, moreover, they also had a lot to say about how their disabilities affect their social lives. Students had varying experiences, but a few things remained common. Many of the students mentioned feeling undeserving of getting into IIT Bombay, as they were discriminated against for coming in through a quota. This was reported especially during the freshie year but gradually got better for most people throughout college life, “as people started to see them for their personality and not just their label”, says a student. Some students felt extremely supported by both their peers and faculty, while others had a less inclusive environment. Students with “invisible” disabilities, which aren’t instantly identifiable by society, felt that people sometimes ignored their needs and sympathised more with people suffering from visible disabilities. However, in instances where their needs were taken into account, some of them recounted being hesitant to accept the support to avoid being a possible burden. The contrasting situations often led to them not taking PoRs or skipping out on social gatherings altogether.

Various sensitization sessions are conducted during first-year orientations that detail discrimination based on gender, caste, sexual orientation, etc.; why it is problematic and how to report it if you happen to be on the receiving end. Unfortunately, there exists nothing similar for people with disabilities. On speaking to the Dean SA about this, he assured us that he would work towards including one from next year onwards. This would increase awareness about the facilities available to PwD students on campus, guide them on whom to approach, and push for more positive social interactions.

Finally, arriving at an urgently pressing issue: professional opportunities for students. While applying for research or project opportunities externally, students may find themselves discriminated against due to their disability. They also face challenges regarding placements and internships. In the frenzy of placement and intern season, we fail to see how the process is hardly accessible to all. From the tests being online with the text font size being unchangeable, and involvement of a scribe being prohibited, not many things are disability friendly in the whole process. While we are very habituated to giving tests for different firms, various constraints make this very hard for PwD students to give. Accustomed to reading PDFs at 300% zoom and having question papers printed with the extra big font, students with disabilities face hurdle after hurdle in these tests. Without an option to take tests with pen and paper, these students have no choice but to physically come closer to the laptop to read questions. This is flagged as “suspicious behaviour” by the company, and after three or so warnings, they are disbarred from attempting the test. Several students went to meet the Professor in Charge (PIC) of placements regarding these issues. They have been promised a bigger screen to give tests on in the Bytes Lab. The PIC has also asked PMs to make changes to the portal so that companies can see data on PwD students, which further brings in the concerns of privacy that have been left unaddressed, though this is not considered one of the major worries among PwD students.

The companies coming for placements also do not mention details like screen time required during the job or any other physical constraints; this prevents people from making informed decisions while applying. Moreover, while many companies conduct diversity hiring for people with disabilities, it is not a common occurence to hire through this policy in IITB. One reason is that it is uncertain whether the PT cell has the required data on PwD students to provide to the companies who ask for it. With no clear plan of action, PwD students are forced to compete with other people when they can’t even give tests as effectively as others and are at a definite disadvantage.

A few suggestions for this placement session might be:

• To allow candidates to sit for a pen and paper test for companies that can be administered by ICs (something similar has been allowed by a lot of professors because the font size of the safe app was too small)
• To push companies to describe any physical requirements in the job description
• Try and get companies to hire in diversity quotas, and build a database of PwD students to provide to companies

While steps are being taken to make our campus as accessible as possible, our aim as an institution should not be mere accessibility but inclusivity. Challenging age-old notions of “merit” and taking initiatives to effect massive social change within our college should be a priority, not just something done to appease angry students demanding humane treatment. But since those appear to be fanciful dreams, we can start with something more basic, like ensuring all buildings are disability friendly and installing disabled washrooms in places other than the new hostels. Many people we interviewed never thought of PwD students and their needs before making a decision, which shows a lack of awareness of their issues. As a society, the least we could do is acknowledge their needs, be respectful towards them and push to make club events or friendly outings as disability-friendly as possible. A simple act will go a long way in ensuring a better college experience in a more inclusive campus.