Pema Dorji, 51, has not been walk ever since he fell off a two-storied building in 2004. Even though the accident has not diminished his spirit, it is the non-accessibility of mobility facility that dejects him.
The infrastructures in the country are so far from wheelchair user-friendly.
He said there is no place in Bhutan for wheelchair users except the hospital. “Forget about going upstairs, we can’t even move freely on the ground.”
Pema Dorji lives alone and runs a tailoring shop. He fixes electronic things and also provides tailoring classes.
“Sometimes, I run out of needles, threads or cloth pieces and I have to go to the town. I need assistance to get out of the house and then into the taxi. When I reach the town I cannot enter the shops. If there were ramp systems, it would be very comfortable.”
The Chairperson of Disabled Person’s Association of Bhutan, Dr. Sanga Dorji said lack of ramps in the country is preventing wheelchair users from becoming independent.
He also said there is no concrete policy that safeguards the rights of people with disabilities.
“I personally feel that ramps are not there because people think that there are no wheelchair users because you don’t see them. When you don’t see, you don’t think about them. So, ramps are not installed.”
Dr. Sanga Dorji said since ramps are not put in place wheelchair users cannot come out because it is not accessible. “It is not accessible because the planners, implementers and policymakers never think that there are people who use wheelchairs to go about.”
The JDWNR Hospital in Thimphu has issued 112 wheelchairs to adults in Thimphu from 2013 to 2015.
“There are many wheelchair users who wish to work and be independent but the infrastructures make them helpless,” said Pema Dorji.
He said family members will take care of them for some time. “But, for how long can they do that? Be it town, villages or market or bank- if these places installed ramps for wheel chair users, it will help us become independent. Then we can do the work ourselves.”
As per the Cabinet, the Gross National Happiness Commission will lead the formulation of the National Disability Policy which will help the country address the issue at a larger scale.
