Waking up to the plight of the disabled population, the Centre has finally given a go-ahead to a national institute, which will focus on creating universal designs to ease access for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). The proposal which is almost ready with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE) will be moved to the Cabinet for approval soon.
The National Institute for Inclusive and Universal Design (NIIUD), which will focus on designing products, buildings, software and transport facilities for the disabled, has been in the pipeline since its announcement in the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012).
It is close to a decade since the plan was first announced by the MSJE during United Progressive Alliance-I tenure. But nothing has moved so yet. “The national Capital has been chosen for convenience as it is the seat of several Government institutions. This, however, has to get a nod from the Cabinet,” said an official from the MSJE.
“The NIIUD has been a long-standing demand of people with disabilities. The institute would work towards exploring designing products among other functions to suit the requirements of the PwDs,” he said. The institution is aimed at making items of daily utility like remotes, switches, computer software, books etc easier for the PwDs.
Explaining the concept, the official said, “For instance, a TV remote can be used by a normal human being (without any difficulty). But, how can we make the device user-friendly for a visually-impaired person, who would want to tune into a news or a music channelIJ The institution would explore such modalities.”
The objective of the institute includes promotion of inclusive development in rural and urban pockets for PwDs and creating awareness about universal design among environmental design professionals. Only few institutions, dedicated to universal design, function in other parts of the world, the official added.
As per the 2011 Census, 2.68 crore PwDs were living in the country, which constitute 2.2 per cent of India’s population. Disabled Rights Activists argue that the figure is grossly under-reported and the actual figures are at least four times over, meaning there are close to 7-8 crore PwDs in India.