Volume 6 Issue 2

Feature

• Inaccessibility keeps disabled students away from Delhi University
  

  Delhi University has 1,589 seats reserved for students with disability, of which, hardly one-third get filled up every year. Dorodi Sharma of D.N.I.S. tries to find out why, despite claims made by the University on making their campus disabled friendly, more than a thousand seats go vacant every year.

Interview

• 
  
  “ The key to accessible transport is a complete accessible trip chain,
  Jamie Osborne is a Transit Planner and Accessibility Specialist with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. His stint as a rehabilitation engineer started with Universal Design. Dorodi Sharma of D.N.I.S. talks to him about accessibility and public transport in India.

News

• MSJE urges Finance Minister to “keep people with disability in mindâ€�
  D.N.I.S. News Network: With the Union Budget likely to be out in the first week of July, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has written to the Finance Minister to keep the needs of disabled people in mind while preparing the budget.
• Ministerial faux pas – D. Napoleon lets slip his ignorance on disability issues
  D.N.I.S. News Network: Disability comes under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, or so we are made to believe. Because apparently, the Union Minister of State, D. Napoleon is yet to find out some key information about this sector.
• N.A.S.S.C.O.M. to set up accessibility forum
  D.N.I.S. News Network: There is good news for the Indian disability sector. After much rallying, N.A.S.S.C.O.M. has decided to set up a forum on accessibility. Currently, they are in the process of identifying subject matter specialists who would be able to provide valuable guidance to the accessibility policies and processes that can be adopted by its members.
• Barrier free constructions in the next three years
  D.N.I.S. News Network: In what can be seen as a path breaking decision, the Central Government has drawn an action plan to provide a barrier free environment in all major public buildings in the country.
• 99.8 percent disabled students do not make it to Class XII
  D.N.I.S. News Network, India: Statistics can be terribly misleading. And nothing proves it better than the much hyped results of students with disabilities in this year’s Central Board of Secondary Education (C.B.S.E.) examination.
• C.D.P.F. Executive Committee workshop in Uganda
  D.N.I.S. News Network: The Commonwealth Disabled Peoples’ Forum (C.D.P.F.) had its Executive Committee workshop in Kampala, Uganda from 14th to 18th June.
• Core Group on Health to look into disability certificates
  D.N.I.S. News Network: N.C.P.E.D.P. has launched a three year project –“Mainstreaming of Disability in the National Agenda – Policy to Practice” in partnership with the British High Commission to focus on 5 key issues – health, employment, accessibility, communication & information technology and rural development.
• ‘Readable’ to be launched soon
  D.N.I.S. News Network: Inclusive Planet, in collaboration with the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore (C.I.S.), is launching ‘Readable’, perhaps the world’s largest user generated library of books specifically designed for visually impaired people, on July 15th. In a remarkable achievement, they have already added nearly 5,000 titles to ‘Readable’.
• Semi low floor buses not disabled friendly
  D.N.I.S. News Network: The Government of Delhi is determined to give the city’s public transport system a complete overhaul before the Commonwealth Games. Accordingly, it decided to include low floor buses in its fleet - a move that was welcomed by disabled rights groups across the city.
• Visually impaired person treks to Beas Kund
  D.N.I.S. News Network: R. Gopalakrishnan has proved that you need vision more than sight to achieve impossible feats.