India begins country-wide program to educate about disability

From IANS:

NEW DELHI, India -- In a unique awareness programme on disability, four different groups, each constituting a disabled person and four volunteers, will travel across the country and sensitise people on the issue through personal conversations. The groups will leave the capital Nov. 13.

An initiative of the National Trust, an autonomous organisation of the ministry of social justice and empowerment, the groups will take four different routes across India.

The campaign, called “Badhte Kadam”, aims at changing the perspective of people on disability.

The first route will be through Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The second route will cover Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa.

The third group will encompass Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Jharkhand and the fourth will cover Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

At various points along their travel, each team will hold a mobile exhibition highlighting the various feats achieved by people with disabilities, in an attempt to make local communities realise that people with disabilities are no different from others.

Interactions with communities and spreading awareness on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that talks about diversity and the rights of the disabled community to a fulfilled life will also be part of the mission.

The teams will return to Delhi Nov 30.