Disability Initiatives, University of Jammu in collaboration with the National Federation for the Blind, New Delhi, India today organized an online webinar on the theme ‘Rights and Challenges of Persons with Disability in India’. Prof. Rajni Dhingra, Dean Research Studies, University of Jammu was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Prof. Dhingra in her address thanked Prof. Manoj K. Dhar, Vice-Chancellor, University of Jammu for his vision of nominating a Coordinator for Disability Initiatives in the University and also appointing an Advisory Committee comprising of eminent academics and members of civil society to develop a road map for creating an accessible and inclusive ecosystem at the University. She mentioned that Jammu University is in fact the first University in the entire country to have constituted such an advisory committee. Further, she said that it is our collective responsibility to help persons with disabilities be integrated into the social mainstream.

Prof. Kusum Lata Malik, President of the National Federation for the Blind and the key resource person highlighted that accessibility should be ensured at all levels. Persons with disabilities frequently face multiple hindrances and their inclusion is often impacted adversely by our lack of empathy and compassion. Based on surveys conducted by NFB, New Delhi she mentioned that most children with disabilities face discrimination within their home and society also fails to acknowledge the needs and requirements of such individuals. She also discussed the need for course redesigning in higher education institutes.

Earlier, Dr. Sarika Manhas, Coordinator Disability Initiatives, JU and organizer of the webinar mentioned that the University of Jammu envisions to create a disabled-friendly campus/ barrier-free environment based on dual principles of “Inclusion and Accessibility”. It is working towards ensuring that students with disabilities receive equal treatment and opportunities in all aspects of campus life and are not placed at a substantial disadvantage in their access to services, assessment and teaching. She highlighted the need for developing sensitivity, especially among the youth towards the needs of the disabled to build a sustainable future. She informed that under Disability Initiatives more webinars, live interactions, and outreach activities are in offering.   

Sh. Umesh Sharma, President of Disabled Care Foundation also shared his views in the webinar. He mentioned that in 2011 when the persons with disabilities were included for the first time in the census their number was noted to be 2.21%, whereas, in reality, this number is much higher. This lack of rigorous and comparable data and statistics hinders the inclusion of persons with disabilities.

Mohd. Ashaf, Vishav Preet Singh, and Haleema Lone students with disabilities enrolled in various courses of study at JammuUniversity also shared their views and expectations.

Prominent among others who attended the webinar included Prof. Samridhi Arora, HoD, Deptt of Home Science, JU, Ms. Sandhya Dhar, President, JIGER Ngo, Sh. M.K. Badyal, Blind Home, Roopnagar, and Ms. MegavikaChangotra, special educator.

The webinar was ably conducted and coordinator by Ms, Vinish Malik and Ms. Kanika Gupta, research scholars, Department of Home Science, Jammu University.