Dear Friends,
Maquinez Palance, Panaji has become another Heritage site to become accessible, this time with the efforts of Goa Disability Rights Association and the Govt’s pro-active support to provide accessibility.
Congratulations to Mr. Avelino D’Sa, The President of DRAG and his team for their perseverence and achieving this success in making yet another site accessible to all!
Here is the coverage, To read from source click here.
regards
SC Vashishth, Program Coordinator, Svayam
Maquinez palace gets lift for disabled
PANAJI: Chief minister Digambar Kamat on Thursday inaugurated a special lift for specially challenged people at the Maquinez palace, Panaji.
The lift will help specially challenged people to view movies in the two theatres in the Maquinez palace during the upcoming International Film Festival of India.
Talking to the media after inaugurating the lift, Kamat said, “The facility will benefit disabled persons and specially challenged children to gain access to the theatres in the Maquinez palace. Specially challenged persons were demanding the installation of this lift and now they are satisfied. It will give them an opportunity to watch movies here.”
Avelino D’Sa, president of Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG), also expressed satisfaction at the installation of the lift. “We have been fighting for this for a long time. It is not only during IFFI that we come here, but we attend functions all through the year. INOX is also being made disabled friendly,” D’Sa said.
D’Sa said other government buildings, streets and buses are still not made disabled friendly and that DRAG was working to bring about changes there. Officials from Graand Prix elevators, who installed the special lift at a cost of Rs 19 lakh, said the lift is aesthetically better than normal lifts and can be installed without making any structural changes to the building. This was especially important in Maquinez palace as it is a heritage building.