accessibility

November 3, 2015

A step towards accessibility -Mysuru Railway Station with Tactile Map & Braille Signage

Mysuru railway station is nation’s first visually impaired-friendly

November 3, 2015 17:31

With a view to facilitating visually impaired train passengers, tactile maps of the railway station and train schedules in Braille were unveiled at the Mysuru Railway station on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters after Mysuru MP Pratap Simha inaugurated the facility, Divisional Railway Manager Rajkumar Lal said Mysuru railway station has become the country’s first visually challenged friendly station in India.

Along with tactile maps of station describing the location and distance of entrance, platforms, counters, washrooms etc, schedule of trains, showing their arrival and departure time, the authorities have also put up 400 metal signages in Braille along the railings of the staircases leading various platforms.

The menu cards at the canteen and food plaza at the station will also be available in Braille now, a Railway official said.

Anuprayaas, an NGO assisted the railways in make Mysuru railway station blind-friendly.

Mysuru Railway station becomes country's first blind friendly station with the unveiling of the station's tactile map and train schedule in Braille. Source: The Hindu

June 18, 2015

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

(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

October 25, 2010

“Svayam Accessibility Awards” announced

Media Release:

To host these awards at TRANSED – 13th international conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and the Disabled persons to be held from September 17th -20th 2012 at New Delhi, India.

Svayam (an initiative of Sminu Jindal Charitable Trust) and the host of the 13th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled People- TRANSED 2012, today announced institution of the first ever Accessibility awards. To be given on the sidelines of the conference, the awards will be conferred on agencies involved in development and maintenance of most accessible public places. These awards will play a pivotal role in encouraging the development of policies, practices and relationships to ensure that achievements on accessibility are sustainable and meaningful.

The Theme of TRANSED 2012 is – “Seamless access for all: Universal Design in Transport system and built infrastructure, a key element in the creation of livable cities.’’

“It is an effort to recognize committed businesses and organizations that go significantly beyond the legal requirements of providing excellent accessibility initiatives to accommodate people with disabilities. The three different categories of the award will be – Transport, Heritage Site /Place of Tourist Interest and Hospitality. The awards will acknowledge agencies taking social initiative and will motivate others in the community to step up and take positive action,” said Sminu Jindal.

Svayam was awarded the bid for the 13th TRANSED at Transport Research Bureau of USA against Germany and South Africa. TRANSED 2012 is designed to review advances in research, profile international breakthroughs and explore perspectives for technological innovations in response to the mobility challenges of an ageing population and persons with disabilities. It also aims to examine ways to address challenges associated with improving mobility and transportation needs for the elderly and disabled.

Svayam has been making tremendous efforts for making India accessible to all. It has been closely working with various groups/ agencies to provide an inclusive infrastructure for all. Svayam was also awarded the National Tourism Award of Excellence jointly with ASI for making the World Heritage Site of Qutab Minar in New Delhi as Most Accessible & Disabled Friendly Historical Monument.

About TRANSED

Founded in the 1970’s by Professor Norman Ashford (University of Loughborough) and Professor William Bell (University of Florida), the International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled People has been held twelve times in ten countries. From its roots as a small, specialized meeting among a handful of researchers, the conference today attracts between 200 and 600 delegates from up to 40 nations on six continents. Conference proceedings are a standard reference for researchers, planners and operators alike, and are referenced in the TRB Transport Research Information System TRIS.

Professionals and consumers throughout the world recognize the TRANSED series conferences as the key forum for scientific and philosophical advances in the pursuit of mobility and access for elderly and disabled people.

About Svayam and its founder Ms. Sminu Jindal

Svayam an Initiative of Sminu Jindal Charitable Trust has been working towards providing independence and dignity to people with reduced mobility. Svayam has been engaged in making various public places accessible to all especially the elderly and disabled.

As the result of an accident at the age of eleven, the founder of Svayam, Ms. Sminu Jindal became a wheelchair user but this did not deter her spirits and she is dedicated to the cause of improving the lives of people with reduced mobility. She devotes extensive time, resources and energy to realize Svayam′s mandate to work towards making public infrastructure accessible to all including reduced mobility people.
Discharging a dual role of being a successful businesswoman, as the Managing Director of Jindal SAW Ltd., and a person dedicated to creating social consciousness by way of Svayam, Sminu Jindal was undeterred by time or familial constraints. She has and continues to carry out all her roles, including being a mother of two children, beautifully. Every new role adds a new facet to her personality.

Svayam aspires to make India barrier free and provide universal access to all. It aims at not only generating awareness about the trials and tribulations of people with reduced mobility (that includes the elderly, expecting mothers, mothers with new born babies as well as toddlers and persons with disabilities) but also mould the opinions of public and policy makers in favour of public private participation in providing and executing accessibility solutions.

February 15, 2010

Congratulations to ESG and BITS Pilani for their successful efforts in making Film Festival Venue Accessible

Dear Friends,

Congratulations to Enertainment Society of Goa to have made the venue of Annual Internal Film Festival disabled friendly and also to those who facilitated and handholded the process.

News Source: Net Indian, Appended below is the detailed news.

regards,

Svayam Team

ESG honoured for making IFFI venue disabled-friendly

February 15, 2010

The Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) was honoured here recently for making the venue of the annual International Film Festival of India (IFFI) disabled friendly. The honour was bestowed on the ESG at the We Care Film Festival on Disability here by its organisers, the BITS Pilani Goa Campus, Brotherhood, the National Trust, United Nation Information Centre, UNESCO, and Asian Academy of Film and Television of India (AAFT) in association with the local organizations Sangath and Disability Rights Association, Goa .

The recognition was received on behalf of ESG by its General Manager Venancio Furtado, who appreciated the objectives of the We Care Film Fest and its participatory rating process. He gave an assurance that the ESG would be happy to associate with the We Care Film Fest in the near future.

The festival, which travels to educational institutions to create greater acceptance of the differently-abled as part of mainstream society, witnessed the screening of 32 documentary and short films on various forms of disability from India and overseas. The festival is travelling to around 15 venues in the country over the next three months. It has introduced a participatory rating process in which the students and the audiences rate each film and an indepent jury judges the films on the basis of these ratings.

BITS Pilani Goa Campus Director K E Raman appealed to the students to think about the various issues of persons with disabilities and make use of their knowledge to promote their rights as set out in the various acts like PWD Act, the National Trust Act and UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with disability which came into force on May 3, 2009. He said BITS had been organizing various national-level cultural and other educational events in its Pilani, Goa, Hyderabad and Dubai centres, but it was the first time that it had organized a festival on disability issues. He promised that BITS would continue to support the We Care Filmfest and take it to other centres of BITS as well.

Mr. Avelino D’Sa, President of the Disability Rights Association of Goa, welcomed the holding of the We Care Fimfest in the state and said the event would be taken to various corporates, State Government departments and owners of shopping malls to sensitize them on disability issues.

Mr. Vishram Gupta, Chairperson of Sangath Goa, said short films are very effective in sensitizing general public, students, children and persons with disability and their parents. He said the festival would be taken to schools and other educational institutions of Goa .

We Care Filmfest founder Director Satish Kapoor said: “a world that truly embraces diversity is one where the rights, dignity, and well-being of individuals are realized regardless of differences in race, faith, gender – or ability. People living with disabilities often surprise us with their abilities, with what they can do rather than what they cannot do, but not many tell their stories.” He said the festival was an opportunity for all students to develop their understanding and perspectives relating to disability issues besides contributing to the process of participatory rating. This would help the students whenever they plan to make short films/documentaries on disability. It would also help sensitise the general audience on various issues of disability, he said.

Source: http://netindian.in/news/2010/02/15/0005343/esg-honoured-making-iffi-venue-disabled-friendly