German delegation visits KSRTC, praises its ‘inclusive mobility’

A high-level delegation from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Government of Germany, visited the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) as part of their wider tour of India. The team reviewed KSRTC’s implementation of Dhwani Spandana–OnBoard, an assistive audio-navigation system designed to improve public transport accessibility for persons with visual impairments.

Akram Pasha, IAS, Managing Director of KSRTC, briefed the delegation on the features, social impact and progress of the Dhwani Spandana system. He also presented the national award the project received from the Government of India.

The delegation included Christine Toetzke, Director General at BMZ, along with officials Barbara Schäfer and Christoph von Stechow. They were updated on the system’s development by the Raised Lines Foundation and its scale-up in collaboration with GIZ under the Green Urban Mobility Innovation initiative. The officials later experienced the device in operation on KSRTC city buses.

They praised KSRTC for its commitment to inclusive mobility and for taking the lead in adopting innovative, user-focused and accessible transport technologies. The delegation also appreciated KSRTC’s efforts to deploy the system across the Mysuru bus fleet. Officials present during the visit included Gottfried von Gemmingen, Pamela Baijal, Johannes Schneider, Sheenam Puri, Jasmine Kaur from the German Embassy in New Delhi, and Julie Reviere, Country Director, GIZ.