MxMIndia

Tag: International Day of Persons with Disabilities

  • Shruti Pushkarna applauds 10 disability activists who have empowered and triggered inclusivity

    Disability Day 2023 Heroes: Yes, they can, and they do!

     

     

    By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    Shruti PushkarnaThe International Day of Persons with Disabilities is around the corner. For the past three years or more, I have been nudging readers to initiate a dialogue on disability inclusion, or take a small step which goes beyond good intent. Just anything that translates into action signifying the desire to alter mindsets towards disability and accept diversity that exists in each one of us.

     

    This year, I have drawn up a list of people who have done far more than that. These are individuals who not only lead by example, but inspire people like me to do more. Of course this is not an exhaustive list, and pathbreaking work in the domain of disability empowerment and inclusion has been an outcome of the efforts of thousands, if not millions.

     

    But here’s my list of 10 heroes who deserve a hearty applause for their efforts on this December 3.

     

    1. Bhavesh Chandubhai Bhatia

    A visually impaired entrepreneur who is the founder of Sunrise Candles based in Mahabaleshwar. Bhavesh has a vision impairment due to retina macular degeneration. A rehabilitation centre that taught candidates to make candles rejected Bhavesh because of his disability. Unfurled, Bhavesh set up his own venture in 1994. Today, he employs more than 10,000 visually impaired men and women, churning out a business of 350 crore per annum.

     

    2. Shilpi Kapoor

    A social entrepreneur and advocate of accessibility, Shilpi is the founder CEO of BarrierBreak. Her organisation is focused on making technology accessible to persons with disabilities. Shilpi actively promotes the use of assistive technology and ensures that digital platforms are designed to include persons with different disabilities. Fifty per cent of her accessibility testing team is comprises people with disabilities. Shilpi is recognised as one of the Top 15 Women Transforming India by the Niti Aayog.

     

    3. Prateek Khandelwal

    In May 2014, Prateek met with an accident which led to a spinal cord injury. This left him with paraplegia, making him physically disabled. This is when he realised for the first time how inaccessible the country is built up to be. And he decided to retrofit and ramp up the nation. Based in Bengaluru, Prateek founded a company in 2018, RampMyCity. Instead of complaining, he decided to become part of solution generation. RampMyCity is a start-up that makes mainstream places like offices, residential complexes, schools, colleges, restaurants, parks, et cetera accessible.

     

    4. Dr Satendra Singh

    An Indian doctor and a disability rights activist, Dr Satendra is well-known for his work in promoting inclusion in healthcare and education of persons with disabilities. He is a Professor of Physiology at the University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Delhi. He has been instrumental in bringing about many reforms, including the inclusion of disability competencies in the new medical curriculum in India. He received the National Award in 2021 by the President of India for making elections in the country accessible to persons with disabilities.

     

    5. Alina Alam

    Pic source: The Indian Express

    The founder CEO of Mitti Café, Alina is on the Forbes list of 2020 30 Under 30- Asia- Social Entrepreneurs. Her café provides persons with disabilities a space to exhibit productivity. With outlets in 26 locations across Bengaluru, Kolkata and Delhi, Mitti Café is managed by over 250 adults with physical, mental and psychiatric disabilities. Each of these cafes also provides experiential training to persons with disabilities and entrepreneurship opportunities for mothers of adults with intellectual disabilities, who come from low income families. Earlier this month, Mitti Café launched a new outlet inside the Supreme Court of India, with the support of CJI DY Chandrachud.

     

    6. Guruprasad Pawaskar

    In January this year, an inclusion marvel was created by the Goa government. One of the key figures to bring the first Purple Fest to life was the State Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities in Goa, Guruprasad Pawaskar. With astounding success in its first edition and participation from all stakeholders including PwDs, enablers, changemakers, government officials, corporate employers et cetera, Purple Fest is going global in January 2024. As someone who worked closely with Pawaskar during the Purple Fest 2023, I was amazed at the zeal and hard work put in by a government representative to make a success out of the event. He worked day and night, tirelessly, barely leaving the venue. And now his team is gearing up for a bigger production next year.

     

    7. Alok Dixit and Ashish Shukla

    In 2013, Ashish and Alok started the ‘Stop Acid Attack’ campaign and connected with acid attack survivors (consciously avoiding the term victim) from different parts of India. This campaign culminated into the formation of an NGO, Chaanv Foundation which used crowdfunding platforms to support the survivors. These were people who struggled to find jobs because of the apathy meted out by the society due to their visible facial deformities. So the idea to open a café to give them employment, was born. Sheroes Hangout Café in Noida (Uttar Pradesh) Stadium is helping acid attack survivors rebuild their lives with dignity. Sheroes also has branches in Lucknow and Agra.

     

    8. Rupmani Chhetri

    More than 2000 Indians have worked as international volunteers with the United Nations, but deaf activist Rupmani Chhetri is the first disabled Indian volunteer who worked in Ukraine. She was born in Nepal and later moved to Darjeeling. Her family tried everything under the sun to make their daughter talk which made her feel sick. She is determined to improve the lives of deaf individuals, so they can freely communicate and feel a sense of belonging. Rupmani is the co-founder of a start-up named SignAble Communications, which helps deaf people access sign language interpreters in real-time through a mobile application. She aims to bring down the communication barriers with technology and training.

     

    9. Thakur Datt Dhariyal

    A civil servant who served more than three decades in the Ministries of Defence, Home, Shipping, and Social Justice and Empowerment, Dhariyal was the longest serving Deputy Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities till 2014. During his tenure as the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Delhi, he is well known for delivering pathbreaking judgements on disability policy and implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016. Dhariyal is a walking-talking encyclopaedia when it comes to the laws pertaining to disability empowerment. He not only understands the legal fine print, but has been instrumental in actioning implementation level changes to make places accessible in the capital. He has helped resolve many cases of discrimination of the rights of persons with disabilities. One can say that as the Deputy CCPD and the SCPD, he has been the most effective bureaucrat, driving inclusion.

     

     

    10. Dr Sam Taraporevala

    (Pic source: Rotary Club of Bombay website)

    A retired Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at St. Xavier’s College Mumbai, Dr Sam is a person with blindness. His parents however, chose to educate him through mainstream institutions. While he was teaching, he was curious to notice the sudden decline in numbers of blind students in the college. Realising that they lack the means to study and interact effectively in a mainstream environment, Dr Sam launched the famous Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC). Today, as XRVCVC’s Executive Director he is spearheading social advocacy, creating awareness and addressing the various access challenges faced by students with low vision and total blindness. Among other accomplishments, Dr Sam’s work has resulted in the amendment of the Copyright Act, India in 2012, deployment of 30,000 accessible ATMs in India, and opening up of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education for persons with blindness in the country.

     

    Wondering why MxMIndia publishes a disability advocacy column? Well, we strongly feel that the media can dramatically transform the world for persons with disabilities. This series attempts to help bring forth issues that the media must champion to create a truly inclusive and accessible India. Writing  this column is Shruti Pushkarna, a former journalist and now a disability inclusion advocate based in New Delhi. Her views here are personal. To access the archives of her 80-odd columns, please visit: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/ columns/shruti-pushkarna/

     

    If you have a view on the issues raise or would like to align with MxMIndia on this cause, write to us at editor [at] mxmindia.com.

  • Is India really ready to embrace differences and remove the barriers in inclusion, asks Shruti Pushkarna

    World Disability Day: Is it time to question the country’s readiness on disability-friendly policies?

     

     

    By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    Shruti PushkarnaTwo years ago, on December 3, I wrote my first column with the intent of initiating a dialogue on ‘disability’. Why did I feel the need to do so? Primarily because disability or the needs of the disabled population have never been part of our mainstream agenda. Raising awareness, I thought, would be the first logical step towards reducing the ignorance levels.

     

    Second, the conversations on disability in the media focused on romanticised tales of role models, generating sympathy from the audience or worse, making them feel thankful for their able-bodied existence vis-à-vis someone who was paying off his or her karmic debt.

     

    I don’t know if my attempts at reinforcing the need to normalise disability, shifting the focus on abilities, and accepting the differences, has altered any mindsets. But if I have been able to make you pause and think even for a moment, I feel accomplished.

     

    And on the eve of International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), I renew my vow to keep at it. Keep advocating for an ‘inclusive’ world for all. Not only because it’s the right thing to do, and everyone deserves a chance to live independently with dignity. But also, because including 15 per cent of the global population will change the majority’s perspective towards life and situations.

     

    If you are wondering ‘how so’, believe you me, that’s been my biggest personal lesson. Disability is a condition that a person is either born with or acquires later in life. It’s a condition that results in limiting the person in some ways. The limitations, however, are a result of barriers in the physical (and virtual) environment as well as behavioural blockades.

     

    Learning to respect the differences stems from concentrating on the potential of people without fixating on what doesn’t ‘seem’ possible to us. For this to happen, ‘accessibility’ has to become a priority. Once persons with disabilities start participating and interacting with the mainstream, the walls in our heads will slowly start coming down.

     

    Let me break this down a bit. I worked as a television news producer some years ago. If I were to take up that job again, I can easily see a blind person scripting or voicing the show. I can also picture a speech impaired production assistant accompanying the crew on shoots, maintaining logs, holding up cue cards etc. A person with locomotor disability can very well be the go-to guy (or gal) for topical research.

     

    This is just one possible scenario emanating from my ‘limited’ understanding. Imagine the possibilities.

     

    If we can work on removing the obstacles and introducing solutions that enable persons with disabilities not only to enter or exit a space, but perform all the functions that are essential to that scenario, this column will become redundant.

     

    Why? Because first-hand interactions and experiences are the most effective ways to ‘sensitize’.

     

    Before you write me off as pedantic, here are some examples which reiterate the gaps in inclusion and speak of our (read society/government/corporates/policy-makers/media) indifference towards the disabled community.

     

    1. It’s 2021. And the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 recognizes 21 types of disabilities. But our accessibility definition starts and ends with a wheelchair. So much so, that we force blind, deaf or speech impaired people into a wheelchair despite their ability to use their legs!

    2. Even wheelchair access is not implemented fully on the ground. Many places don’t have wheelchairs. If you bring one of your own, good luck pushing it through the narrow doors of rooms, toilets, shops, restaurants etc. And then there’s the ramps. You are sure to exercise your forearms pushing the wheelchair up and down the inconsistent and steep inclines.

    3. Where are the statistics on the disabled population? Forget gender, children, state or disability specific data, the latest count we have is from Census 2011 which is far from accurate. If we don’t know how many need access to services and spaces and in which geographies, what is the likelihood of catering to their needs?

    4. The United Nations theme for IDPD 2021 is “Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-Covid-19 world.” After the pandemic, a majority of our social and professional activities have moved online. But digital platforms including websites and mobile applications are not fully accessible to persons with disabilities. December 31stis the deadline for filing income tax returns and the government’s official portal is ridden with virtual barriers. Digital wallets, the new norm of post-demonetisation and socially distanced world, remain inaccessible.

    5.The UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 is to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Yet we are building parks, cinema halls, shopping plazas and holiday resorts discarding the principles of universal design.

     

    Although some media reports and surveys might suggest that we don’t score too badly on the global index, is India really a disabled-friendly country? Can the media step away from tokenism on December 3 and really ask some tough questions on whether our country adheres to the ‘Leave No One Behind’ philosophy?

     

    Shruti Pushkarna is a former journalist who now works as a programmes and media specialist for the inclusion of persons with disabilities. Shruti writes for MxMIndia every other Thursday. Her views here are personal. She can be reached via Twitter at @shrutipushkarna