Investing in accessibility is both socially just and economically sound.
Last December, Delhi hosted a concert by AR Rahman and his Sufi ensemble. On paper, this was an accessible concert, at least for wheelchair users who could afford the premium tiers priced at Rs 6,000 or Rs 25,000. The lowest-priced ticket, at Rs1,000, offered no wheelchair access at all. The Rahman concert was symptomatic of a larger issue – one where accessibility is treated as a luxury feature rather than a basic design requirement.
Many other musicians like Sunidhi Chauhan, AP Dhillon, and Papon came and captured Delhi in the same month. Unfortunately, unlike Rahman, even money could not buy you access to these concerts.
And we are only talking about accessibility for wheelchair users here. People with visual, hearing, or sensory impairments do not even enter the conversation in most cases. Are they not seen as individuals who have a right to access and enjoy public spaces?
Some countries such as the United Kingdom have made considerable progress in terms of mainstreaming accessibility for different disabilities. In addition to the Equality Act of 2010 that makes access a statutory right, many organisations including universities, event management and ticketing platforms and charities have guidelines on designing inclusive events.
This is an outcome of years of disability rights advocacy that has made accessibility a core part of how people think about public spaces.
So, why are live events still not universally accessible nearly a decade after the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act came into force? In India, people with disabilities are treated with indifference at best and prejudice at worst. We grow up consuming television and popular culture that ridicules difficulties in speaking (“atki hui cassette” in Aankh Micholi), hearing (Bunty Malhotra in Housefull 3), walking (“Langda Tyagi” in Omkara), normalising disdain and embedding it deep within our collective consciousness.
These attitudes do not remain on screen – they actively shape how public infrastructure is imagined, funded, and prioritised.
