Stories of Impact — Initiation of Accessible India Campaign 2.0

We at Poornamidam and The Sangyan, are elated to share that the Social Justice and Empowerment Minister, Dr Virendra Kumar on Tuesday (11th June 2024) outlined the 100-Day Plan for his ministry of the newly-elected and formed Narendra Modi Government 3.0, underlining initiatives which included Accessible India 2.0. The Hon’ble Minister further added that “there must be stricter implementation of the Accessible India campaign to promote disability-friendly infrastructure.”

Image Description [Alt Text]: A poster with a beige background features the Ashoka Chakra (Dharma Chakra) at, the center, with logos of The Sangyan and Poornamidam placed at the top on either side, and hashtags “hashtag#BuildForwardBetter,” “hashtag#UnitedInAction,” and “hashtag#WeAllBelong” towards the bottom. The title text in brown reads, “Stories of Impact — Accessible India Campaign 2.0” The poster includes three screenshots on either side: one on the left displays the Charter of Demands highlighting the 10 demands, and another on the right features X (Twitter) screenshots from the official handle of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) [DEPwD, MSJE, Govt. of India]. The news article headlines from The Economic Times and Indian Express read, “Social Justice Ministry’s 100-day plan: Accessible India 2.0, drugs-free India.”

We are delighted to share that our ‘Charter of Demands: Call to Action for Disability Justice” which was launched on 14th February 2024 on the occasion of Basant Panchami (Saraswati Puja) included this very demand of “Initiation of Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan 2.0 [Accessible India Campaign 2.0] (सुगम्य भारत अभियान 2.0 [एक्सेसिबल इंडिया कैंपेन 2.0] की शुरुआत बड़ी दूरदर्शिता और बड़े लक्ष्यों के साथ।). It’s a moment of immense pleasure that the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India, has taken cognizance of our demand on behalf of the larger disability community and in pursuit of our collective disability inclusion movement.

For the inclusion and integration of our demands in laws and policies, we started the petition which witnessed generous support from the disability community, civil societies, and beyond. In addition to that, we reached out to all national and most regional political parties for inclusion of our demands in their respective election manifestos as well as the government policies and plan of action once the newly elected government is formed and takes in-charge of their respective offices.

We are grateful to one and all who supported and endorsed our “Charter of Demands: Call to Action for Disability Justice” as well as the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, GOI, for this decision that gives hope of a universally accessible and all-inclusive India. We look forward to the initiation of ‘Accessible India Campaign 2.0’ (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan 2.0) with greater vision, larger objectives and better effectiveness by course-correcting and learning from the pros and cons of the Accessible India Campaign 1.0 (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan 1.0), changing the accessibility landscape and contributing towards a truly ‘Viksit Bharat’ that builds forward better and leaves no one behind.

References

1. Social Justice Ministry’s 100-day plan: Accessible India 2.0, drugs-free India
[https://indianexpress.com/article/india/social-justice-ministry-virendra-kumar-accessible-india-drugs-free-9386105/]
2. Social Justice Ministry’s 100-day plan: Accessible India 2.0, drugs-free India
[https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/social-justice-ministrys-100-day-plan-accessible-india-2-0-drugs-free-india/articleshow/110916844.cms?from=mdr]
3. Making a Case for Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan (Accessible India Campaign) 2.0 [https://medium.com/@poornamidam/making-a-case-for-sugamya-bharat-abhiyan-accessible-india-campaign-2-0-061245e62614]
4. Charter of Demands | अधिकार मांग-पत्र: Call to Action for Disability Justice | विकलांगता न्याय कार्य के लिए आह्वान [https://www.thesangyan.in/charter-of-demands]
5. Petition — Charter of Demands: Call to Action for Disability Justice [अधिकार मांग-पत्र] [https://chng.it/qrHRJRpKRh]
6. X/Twitter Post of MSJE Links: [https://x.com/socialpwds/status/1800752937842684073 and https://x.com/socialpwds/status/1800753238960222511]

Authored by —

Adv. Abhishek Kumar — Founder and Curator, The Sangyan

Ar. Kavya Poornima Balajepalli, Founder and Curator, Poornamidam