What is Accessible India Campaign or Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan?

It is a well known fact or rather a universally accepted truth that people with disabilities are special since they excel in any job assigned to them irrespective of their physical hazards. I remember one of my friends telling me that he could roam around Mumbai with ease because of a friend, who was blind.

Today we see that people, who are differently able, are bagging accolades throughout the world due to their outstanding performances in the fields like sports, work, education, fine arts, etc.

The differently-able individuals, just like the normal individuals, ooze with confidence, determination and dedication towards any work they take up. Hence, it is obligatory on the society to support them with all possible facilities and aides which would boost their self-respect further. Consequently, the differently-able individuals would, as they are already contributing, contribute in a productive way for the development of the country.

Keeping these significant points in mind, the Central Government started Accessible India Campaign or Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan on 03 December 2015, which is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. This is a very important initiative to make India wear a friendly approach towards the differently-able.

Let us look at the objectives of this campaign:

• Making public space, transport, tourist places, airports, railway stations and information and communication technology in the country differently-able friendly

• In order to enjoy a productive, safe and respectful life, a differently-able person should have equal opportunities to live on his/her own and be an active participant in all the fields of life

How does the campaign operate?

• By working towards the betterment of built-up environment, information and communication eco-system and transportation eco-system

• Making the public well aware of the campaign's objectives through social media and information technology

• Roping in government officers, professionals, students and others who would like to lend a helping hand

• State governments need to select about 50 to 100 public buildings in big cities and make a list of citizen-centric public websites which need to be converted to disabled friendly. Professional agencies will ensure this happens through their meticulous auditing. All these procedures will be supported by the Scheme of Implementation of Persons with Disabilities Act (SIPDA), a subsidiary scheme under Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD)

• DEPwD will create differently-able friendly police stations, hospitals and tourism through the country. DEPwD will carry out the aforementioned works with the aide of the Ministry of Home, the Family Welfare and Ministry of Tourism, and the Ministry of Health.

• Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) will also do its best by incorporating features such as captioning, audio description for converting television broadcasts into differently-able friendly

• Obtaining details of accessible and inaccessible places close by is an important task. So the mobile apps in English, Hindi and all regional languages will obtain such information

• Using the mobile apps, any individual can take a video or picture of an inaccessible place and upload it which will help in improving the campaign's performance

I and B ministry to set up Communication University

As the highly ambitious campaign of the present government, the DEPwD had intended to retrofit 27 international airports, 75 railway stations and close to 5,000 public buildings by July 2016. The success of this campaign means a lot to the differently-able people who want to lead an independent, self-sufficient and harmonious life. This will in turn help the nation be a proud owner of increased number of productive people alongside the existing ones.