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Within walls, without boundaries
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People talk of superstars going places every year. This year, spare a thought for silent achievers who overcame odds to succeed, says ANJANA RAJAN.
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WHILE THE `beautiful people' are always in the news in a city obsessed with money, glamour and power politics, what has the year gone by yielded for the physically and mentally challenged members of society?
Many in the disability sector are optimistic about the spread of awareness about the disabled, the implementation of The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Right and Full Participation) Act, and the Capital's progress in creating a barrier-free environment. India's favourite and first citizen Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam set an example by inaugurating a Tactile Garden within the Rashtrapati Bhawan premises for the visually impaired in April. Dr. Uma Tuli, Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disability, names the National Awards presented every December to mentally and physically challenged achievers in various fields, as an important annual measure that helps boost morale.
Perhaps the spirit of joy well earned is epitomised by one of this year's winners, the 11-year-old mentally challenged Delhi girl Benzy, whose second music album, Koshish has sold nearly 8000 copies.
George Abraham who co-edited Sage's September release, "Within Walls, Without Boundaries - A Handbook of Inclusive Education for Educators, Administrators and Planners" with Madhumita Puri, enumerates among the year's highpoints, the visit of the Indian Blind Cricket team to Pakistan in February, when the stars of the national team were hesitating to go. "The kind of camaraderie, bonhomie and the media coverage we got was pretty historic. It generated a lot of happiness," he says. Besides, he mentions the Supreme Court intervention making polling stations in Maharashtra accessible to the disabled, and Ravi Arora's court victory against the Indian Administrative Services' discriminatory policies regarding the disabled as significant achievements of 2004.
Special, not separate
Meanwhile on the education front, points out Madhumita Puri, the progress of the Government's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan ensured that a lot of information was passed out by the disabled sector. The issue of whether segregation through special schools is required was "viewed in a different light," she says. Significantly, some of Delhi's Government schools have been made accessible to the physically challenged, and the numbers of such children in schools increased. So while "the numbers are far from satisfactory," 2004 has seen "an attitudinal change too." And inclusion is an important buzzword.
Neerja Chowdhury of the Shri Ram School's Parents' Support Group, which works with the school's Special Needs Department, lists inclusion and preparation for careers, besides workshops throughout the year, as the Group's main focus areas. While some Shri Ram School students with special needs were given training as teachers' assistants in primary classes, plans for the coming year include a buddy system to link the special needs students with the rest, and raising awareness among peer leaders to inspire the student community.
Informs Dr. Tuli, whose office has come out with informative films and a CD Rom with data on inclusive education and employment, 2004 saw the reservation of 158 posts in the Government and aided sector for the disabled and two reservations in the IAS. She has also received assurances that all the country's Administrative Training Institutes are to be made barrier free with funds from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
"The real barriers are in our minds," she points out. May they disappear, as surely as the New Year ushers in a new spring.
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