"Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start." Even a journey of thousand miles begins with a single step. Through this small initiative, the students with impairment can reach towering heights by competing with the rest of the society guided and supported by the empathizing crowd not by the sympathizing narrow- minded population. Taking the guidance and motivation from the UNCRPD “nothing for us without us” along with the path shown by the 2016 RPD act (“the appropriate Government shall ensure that the PWD enjoy the right to equality, life with dignity, and respect for his or her own integrity equally with others), I would like to emphasize that a disabled person can understand the needs and requirements of the other fellow disabled students.

I am teaching in his college more than 13 years. I have performed my duties despite lack of resources and modern facilities. I am treated by most of my colleagues with proper dignity. Those students studying in this college should also experience the same dignity not through sympathy and should play a role in the altruistic growth of the college along with their temporarily able-bodied friends. Keeping these goals as a fuel for this enabling unit, it will function as a bridge between the general public and students with impairment in creating a conducive atmosphere for both the stake holders to interact and contribute for the growth of our university through proper guidance and suggestions from the IQAC and EOC of our college.

Center for inclusiveness which is already established in our college will deal with students’ motivation and inclusive participation of disabled students in all college and events across the university. This enabling unit will operate by focusing purely on fulfilling the intellectual requirements of the disabled students and creating awareness among the general public through academic courses and programs. All the above-mentioned goals will be reached through grant from UGC to purchase proper equipment’s such as 3 to 4 computers with screen reading and book reading software’s along with voice enabled scanning machines in a full- fledged enabling unit room with properly divided cabins. This center will also offer diploma and certificate courses on disability as per UGC guidelines and initiatives for scholars across universities in order to create awareness on legal literacy and advocacy related issues. “Every production of genius must be the product of enthusiasm,” said Benjamin Disraeli. Let us work together with great enthusiasm for the betterment of the lives of the disabled by reassuring their dignified position in the society. (Relevant circulars from UGC are attached for your perusal.)

• Providing required facilities and gadgets for students and teachers with disability to carry out their studies and research in a comfortable and conducive environment through enabling unit following the guidelines issued by article 39 of UNCRPD act 2016.

• Creating reading center for the disabled students with the help of non-disabled students to fulfill the reading and writing needs of disabled/visually impaired students which will enable them to write their end semester exams without difficulty.

• Conducting short-term/diploma and certificate courses for non-disabled students, scholars and teachers across universities to create sensitivity towards the understanding on disability related issues.

• Conducting outreaching programs to build a sustainable social environment for the disabled students to mingle with their non-disabled counterparts.

• Organizing sensitization cessions for the students and faculty members across Delhi University to create familiarity with the life style of the disabled individuals.

The Enabling Unit of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (M) in collaboration with IQAC held its inaugural talk on the life of renowned disability activist Helen Keller on June 27 th , 2023. The chief guest and keynote speaker was Mr. Prashant Ranjan Verma, who serves as the General Secretary at the National Association for the Blind, Delhi.

The session began with the speaker’s introduction delivered by Dr Komal Agarwal, which was followed by a welcome note by the enabling unit co-ordinator Dr S. Varadharaj.

In his address, Mr. Verma noted that Helen Keller was among the first to use assistive technology to aid the lives of people affected by various forms of disability. This was owing to the fact that her teacher employed many creative ways and novel techniques to make the teaching process more effective, particularly while dealing with disabled individuals. Resultantly, Helen Keller not only gained an education, she also became an erudite scholar with a knowledge of five languages.

In his address, Mr. Verma noted that Helen Keller was among the first to use assistive technology to aid the lives of people affected by various forms of disability. This was owing to the fact that her teacher employed many creative ways and novel techniques to make the teaching process more effective, particularly while dealing with disabled individuals. Resultantly, Helen Keller not only gained an education, she also became an erudite scholar with a knowledge of five languages.

As technology becomes more integrated with the human body, these devices will only become more sophisticated and more effective, claimed Mr. Verma. He mentioned that many companies are in the process of developing devices that can be controlled by voice and thus eliminate the need to rely on tactile devices. Digitization, according to Mr. Verma, would also reduce dependence on other humans, as well as increase accessibility.

The address ended with a question-answer session where those present asked some interesting questions that were quite comprehensively answered by the speaker.

The vote of thanks was delivered by Dr. Santhosh Kumar associate professor Department of Hindi.