Citizens Point

Slogan: Accessible India, Attractive India

At the heart of creative an exclusive market for disabled and old-people, a public-private collaboration with reputed businesses is essential. The Delhi Haat Model is suitable to be imitated in some popular spaces around cities.

(Skippable) Around 16 percent of the global population is significantly disabled. 1 among 5 of these disabled persons belong to developed countries. This particular category of disabled population does have a significant spending potential as well. An estimate suggests that it is around US $13 trillion There are articles that have cited the business potential of this category. A Press-release by the Valuable 500 read, “The disabled community represents $8 trillion a year in disposable income, according to estimates, and $13 trillion when including friends and family.” Roaming around the prominent markets in major Indian cities, I realise that India is yet to develop disabled-friendly public infrastructure. This is not a blog on nation-wide disabled-friendly Public Infrastructure. I do not think such infra will help high-value disabled tourism in the short-run. There are reasons for this. Indian roads do not have well-paved footpaths. Tourism places and markets are crowded and unruly at many locations and there is every reason to believe that the adoption of hospitable manpower by private sellers is likely to be slow. While there is an imperative to scale such infrastructure in the long-run, it must be de-linked to the goal of attracting high-value disabled tourists and their families. 

Disabled-friendly high-value Tourism needs dedicated alleys, shopping spaces and trained manpower with separate public facilities. Kind of like the hospitality sector on the street. These facilities will also enable the Old-age population to safely visit India or explore within India. 

Imagine the Connaught Place or the Crawford market or the Colaba Causeway Street, for example. In each of these markets, a dedicated alley can be made. It will require a separate public policy by various government hierarchies. Such small dedicated corners resemble a disabled-only Delhi Haat kind of shopping space. It can have tickets or otherwise, as per governance ease. Dedicated and certified personnel will be needed for security, assistance, shopping facilitation, health monitoring, cab facility, etc. It should be a space for the end-to-end hospitality sector that  leaves little gaps for exploitations or mishaps. 

This is a rough rendition of a small street alley that is particularly customized for a friendly shopping experience among the disabled-tourists. It took some attempts on ChatGPT through repeated prompts on features and the result is decent. Some of the features are described below (both Human & AI-generated):

1. Tactile Paving

• Provides continuous navigation for visually impaired users
• Linear tiles = direction; dotted tiles = caution points

2. Guiding Handrail with Braille Signage

• Continuous railing for safe movement
• Braille panels provide directions, distances, and shop information

3. Security Guard (Accessibility-Trained)

• Assists users with navigation and safety
• Trained in disability etiquette, basic sign language, and emergency response

4. Guide Dog Friendly Environment

• Allows entry and movement of guide dogs
• Ensures unobstructed paths for safe mobility

5. Salesperson Trained in Sign Language & Sensitized

• Communicates using Indian Sign Language (ISL)
• Provides inclusive customer service for deaf/mute users

6. Speakers for Voice Instructions at each important stop

• Provide audio guidance and alerts
• Assist visually impaired users with navigation and awareness

7. Low Service Counter for wheelchair-friendly shopping

• Designed at accessible height for wheelchair users
• Enables independent ordering and interaction

8. Inclusive Tour Map (Tactile + Braille + Audio QR)- can be mobile-scanned and used

• Tactile map for physical navigation
• Braille labels for touch-based reading
• QR code provides audio information

9. Boom Barrier (Zoning Mechanism)- prevents non-disabled tourists & unwanted crowding

• Separates accessible corridor from outer market area
• Prevents encroachment and maintains accessibility

Policy Recommendations:

• A dedicated Tourism policy empowered over other departments to oversee such public places. 
• A network of private-collaboration among upend shop-owners, businesses, cafes, hotels, entertainment establishments, Uber/Ola type Cab companies, airports, etc.
• Certification and Training of specialized personnel for a nation-wide disability-friendly workforce. 
• Just like Women-safety police units, a tourism police or private security companies for their security is desirable. 

Disabled-Friendly miniature public spaces can enable their friends and family to explore India better. Hotels can be collaborated to create separate plans for taking care of disabled guests while other visitors in the group explore areas out of these disabled-friendly places. These same policies can be extremely useful for old-people tourism as well. It creates space for addressing demand for the well-off disabled/old-age/vulnerable population that aspires to explore India.

Jai Hind!