The Government of India’s flagship programme for Persons with Disabilities, Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan, or the Accessible India Campaign, completed 9 years on 3rd December 2024.

The Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan, or the Accessible India Campaign, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 3rd December 2015, on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The Campaign aims to raise public awareness about the challenges faced by persons with disabilities or Divyangjans in accessing public buildings, public transport, etc. It aims to solve these problems by creating an accessible environment.

India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and has committed to creating an accessible environment for people with disabilities.

Aim of the Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan/ Accessible India Campaign

The Campaign aims to achieve universal accessibility for Divyangjans across India.

The key focus of the campaign is as follows:

Improving Built Environment Accessibility in public spaces,
Enhancing Transportation Accessibility for independent mobility,
Creating accessible Information and Communication ecosystem, and
Expanding Sign Language Access through interpreter training and better media support.

Simply, it means building ramps in public buildings and public transport areas like bus stands, airports, railway stations, etc. It also includes building accessible toilets, helpdesks and lifts with Braille and auditory systems on these premises.

The Government had set a target to achieve these targets by March 2024, but the campaign objectives have been absorbed into the Creation of a Barrier-Free Environment Scheme under the broader umbrella of the Scheme for Implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (SIPDA).

International Day of Persons with Disabilities

In 1992, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to observe 3rd December every year as the “International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Since then, every year, the 3rd of December is observed across the countries in the world as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The Day aims to raise awareness about the situation of persons with disabilities in society and promote their rights and well-being in all spheres of society.

Theme of the 2024 International Day of Persons with Disabilities

The theme of the 2024 International Day of Persons with Disabilities is “Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future”.

National Awards for Empowering Persons with Disabilities

On the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2024, President Droupadi Murmu will confer the National Awards for Empowering Persons with Disabilities in New Delhi on 3rd December 2024.

The award is sponsored by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Union Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. It is given to 33 individuals and institutions for their contribution to empowering persons with disabilities.