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Govt. of India invites ideas/ proposals to conduct Access Audits 100 Most frequented Govt. Buildings

Dear Colleagues,

Under Accessible India Campaign, the Government of India wants you to express your choice of a Govt. building that is most frequented by public. The exercise is to identify 100 such Govt. buildings in your cities  and then to take up the access improvement work in fast track to make them completely accessible within a time bound manner.

To give you a background, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment had launched the “Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan)” as a nation-wide flagship campaign for achieving universal accessibility that will enable persons with disabilities to gain access for equal opportunity and live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life in an inclusive society. The campaign targets at enhancing the accessibility of built environment, transport system and Information & communication eco-System.

The campaign would initially be implemented on pilot basis in seven States, which include Delhi, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. A strategy paper of the nation-wide Accessible India Campaign with details of the campaign along with objectives, targets and deadlines has been prepared.

To access the strategy paper click here: Strategy Paper- Accessible India Campaign

One of the targets under the objective of enhancing the proportion of accessible government buildings is to conduct accessibility audit of 100 most important government buildings and converting them into fully accessible buildings by July, 2016 in the following cities:

(a) Delhi

(b) Ahmedabad

(c) Chennai

(d) Gurgaon

(e) Guwahati

(f) Jaipur

(g) Mumbai

DEPwD invites suggestions/ideas/proposals from individuals/NGOs/ Associations / Civic bodies to identify 100 pubic (government) buildings frequently used by persons with disabilities in the above cities to be converted into fully accessible buildings, which will make the greatest impact on achieving a barrier-free environment that allows free & safe movement, function and access for all, without obstacles, with dignity and with as much independence as possible.

Details of such identified prominent government buildings in the above cities that you want converted into fully accessible buildings may be sent to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, by e-mail at accessibleindiacampaign@gmail.com as early as possibel or by end of June 2015.

You may also post the photos etc of inaccessible buildings on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/svayam.india

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Svayam conducts Access Workshop for Disabled community leaders at Aarth Astha

New Delhi : 16 March 2012

Svayam Team conducted a Training Workshop on “Accessibility in Community Infrastructure” at the invitation of Astha India (NGO) for the disabled community leaders of Lal Kuan and Govind Puri slums.   The community leaders with disabilities have come together under the umbrella of “Viklang Ekta Manch”. Several parents, family members and members of Astha staff were also present in the training session.

The whole exercise was facilitated by Aarth Astha and coordinated by Mr. Binod – himself a person with disability and the community lead for Astha. The leaders were also briefed on conducting access audits and approaching the right authorities for making things happen.

The inputs from Pradeep, Punam and several others regarding the ground conditions in their residential colonies were eye openers for many of us! The training was followed by a Question and Answer session which brought out several issues from attitude of drivers of Delhi Transport Corporation towards the disabled people to inaccessibility from the house to the nearest bus stop / metro station and of admissions in the university under the disability quota to lack of accessible and affordable public transportation to attend college.

It came out that several disabled members despite being very bright and interested to pursue education could not attend colleges /work due to lack of seamless access from their houses/dwellings to the nearest bus stop. Also due to lack of direct accessible transport options, many could not purse regular education. Various government schools in the vicinity were not accessible to children with disabilities and children, especially girls did not go to the school because of lack of accessible and hygenic toilets in the  school.

“Astha’s mandate is to empower persons with disabilities in communities to take up their issues themselves. We are thankful to Svayam Team for agreeing to conduct this workshop for our disabled community leaders at such a short notice. Inaccessibility in the residential dwellings especially in the slums where Astha work has been a big barrier for the children to come out and avail the rehabilitation facilities and options of education and vocation. Disabled community leaders like Pradeep and Poonam are taking this lead and I am sure this workshop will equip them with necessary knowledge to take up their fight against inaccessibility in their colonies to its logical conclusion”, said Ms. Sudha Vohra, Executive Director- Astha.

It is proposed to take this forward by active advocacy for the accessibility rights by the members of the Self Help Group – Viklang Ekta Manch with support from Svayam and Aarth Astha.

Some visuals from the workshop:

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