Mission: Chalo India Gate

All’s well that ends well. Pardon the cliché but that’s the story for some 5,000 disabled people who came to the capital, to mark the “International Day of Disabled Persons” on Monday 3rd Dec 2007.

After a last-minute okay from the Ministry of Home Affairs, they finally gathered at India Gate. And the event, said Javed Abidi, chief executive of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, was roaring success. “This is the only day in the year when all disabled from across the country can leave their disabilities behind and gather in the same place,” Abidi said.

Thousands of disabled persons — whether visually, physically or mentally challenged —converged at the venue. And they came from all parts: from next-door Haryana and Rajasthan to far-flung Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar among other states.

Sumita Roy, a social worker with the Delhi-based Action for Autism, said such events and gatherings are a must. “It makes you familiar with people with disabilities and enables you to get in touch with organisations that work in other grounds,” the 46-year-old said. “This way we can share our experiences”.

Roy came with her 12-year-old autistic child and 30 other mentally challenged people. A non-profitable parental organisation, Action for Autism provides education and vocational training to autistic children and adults.

“At least they can become independent individuals afterwards,” Jayati Ghosh, an autism therapist and mother of a 13 year-old boy, said about the organisation.

After some initial hiccups, the organisers eventually got permission to hold it at India Gate on the last day.

“I am tired and a bit upset because we could have spent the last 48 hours to get prepared instead of dealing with the Ministry of Home Affairs for the permission,” Abidi said, as children with hearing difficulty performed a dance sequence. “But still, I am extremely happy and relieved that everything is going right.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who attends the function every year, promised to do her best to ensure deaf people could apply for a driving licence, something not possible at present. “She is also a great friend and supporter of the disabled,” Abidi quipped.

The police, though, copped some discredit after denying access to a wheelchair-user, Shivani Gupta, through the Rajpath side. Labelling her wheelchair a “vehicle”, the cops on duty asked Gupta to take it 500 metres further, and enter through KG Marg. “If disabled are denied entry, based on the ignorance that a wheelchair is a vehicle, in this day and age I do not think we have achieved anything. Not even after working for more than a decade,” an activist from Access Ability said.

‘Not a lot done for disabled’

Problems faced by disabled were discussed during an interaction session between policymakers, the media and children, organised by the NGO Bal Adhikar Abhiyan today. More than 80 disabled children and their parents attended the session.Sanjeev Sheel of Anchal said information made available under the RTI Act says the Department for Social Welfare was allocated Rs 30 lakh in 2006-07 to help mentally disabled children but spent only Rs 27,460.

Vinod (30) from the city’s Nand Nagri area, disabled from below his waist, raised concern that his application for a PCO booth has been pending for four years. In reply to an RTI regarding the same, the NGO was told by civic officials that Shahdara North Zone has not made any allotment as yet. All applications, they were told, are under process.Officials from the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, meanwhile, said no manufacturer has yet come up with a two-wheeler model designed specially for the disabled.


Source: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Mission-Chalo-India-Gate/246300/

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