Most of the time the sense of touching is perceived by sighted people as nuisance and it is seen as something out of the normalcy. It comes out of lack of understanding about visually impaired.
On 10/18/16, Boopathi P <pathis...@gmail.com> wrote: > Disability access ‘worsens’ in Kolkata’s Durga Puja pandals > On October 9, when the city was soaking up the Durga Puja festivities, > Rubia Chatterjee, national gold medallist para athlete, decided to go > pandal hopping with other para athletes. She was shocked to find that > she could not enter many of the pandals . “It was horrible. I was > accompanied by another para athlete Sandhya Mondal, who was walking > with crutches. She fell down at various places,” Ms. Chaterjee told > The Hindu . Ms. Chaterjee, who was a part of a group of ten > sportspersons, had informed major Puja pandals of their visit. Many of > the pandals have average footfalls of 4 lakh people per day and are > constructed at a cost of several crores of rupees. Ms. Chatterjee and > Ms. Sandhya found no wheelchairs or ramps or even volunteers to help > them. The ‘Disability Access to Durga Puja Pandals in Kolkata: 2016’ > survey of 14 marquees conducted by the Kolkata-based Civilian Welfare > Foundation (CWF) echoes these findings. CWF’s Abhirupa Kar, who has > been involved in documenting disability access at Durga Pujas pandals > for the past three years, said that the situation has worsened this > time instead of improving . “There is so much competition among Durga > Puja organisers for awards but the basic question of accessibility to > the disabled is far from receiving the serious attention of > organisers,” she told The Hindu . The report points out that giving > the disabled a restricted view of a pandal or asking them visit only > in the mornings just shows the organisers’ “discrimination, and lack > of sensitivity and understanding with regards to the disabled > population”. The report also points out that most of the pandals have > staircases, “thus rejecting the person with a disability to the major > attractions of the pandals ”. Ms. Kar said that despite the Central > government’s Accessible India campaign, no effort has been made to > include the disabled part in the celebrations for the festive season. > “The situation relating to accessibility for the disabled has not > improved over the past three years,” she said. “At a time when the > State government wants to showcase Durga Puja as a major carnival, it > cannot remain ignorant to the organisers’ apathy in keeping a > significant population out the celebrations.” > > -- > Regards > Boopathi P > PhD research scholar, > department of English Literature, > School of literary studies, > EFL University. > Hyderabad-500007 > India. > Mobile: +91-9843693951 > -- Regards Boopathi P PhD research scholar, department of English Literature, School of literary studies, EFL University. Hyderabad-500007 India. Mobile: +91-9843693951 Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
