Targets missed, Accessible India campaign’s deadline extended

News: The deadline for the Accessible India campaign has been extended to March 2020.

Facts:

Accessible India Campaign- Sugamaya Bharat Abhiyan

•  It is a nation-wide Campaign launched by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment in 2015.
• It aims to provide universal accessibility to persons with disabilities by developing an accessible physical environment, transportation system, and Information & communication ecosystem.
• The campaign targeted to complete accessibility audit of 25-50 of the most important government buildings in 50 cities by 2016 and making them completely accessible by 2018.

Additional Information:

Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016

• The types of disabilities increased from 7 to 21 
• Reservation in higher education, government jobs, poverty alleviation schemes, etc.
• Right to free education for every disabled child between the age group of 6 and 18 years 
• Calls to ensure accessibility in public buildings 
• Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities and the State Commissioners act as regulatory bodies of the Act.

Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana for Disabled Persons: It is a scheme for providing Physical Aids and Assisted-living Devices for Senior citizens belonging to the BPL category. It was launched by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in 2017.