The ‘Ride for Accessibility’ event, a motorcycle comprising about 500 young men and women riders, was flagged off in New Delhi on July 24 by Thaawarchand Gehlot, minister for Social Justice & Empowerment; Prakash Javadekar, minister for Human Resource Development and Dr Harsh Vardhan, minister for Science & Technology. Krishan Pal Gurjar, minister of state for Social Justice and Empowerment also participated in the event. 

The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and some of the leading motorcycle groups of the NCR region came together to spread awareness about ‘Universal Accessibility’ through ‘Ride for Accessibility’ for the Accessible India campaign. A festival of ‘Roaring Wheels’ rolled out at the India Gate yesterday.

Indian film actor Vivek Oberoi; Thaawarchand Gehlot, minister for Social Justice & Empowerment; Prakash Javadekar, minister for Human Resource Development and Dr Harsh Vardhan, minister for Science & Technology. Krishan Pal Gurjar, minister of state for Social Justice and Empowerment at the flag off ceremony.
 

Speaking on the occasion, Prakash Javadekar said that chapters on disability will soon be included in school curriculums to sensitise youngsters and the educational institutes will also be made accessible for persons with disabilities in a phased manner. Dr Harsh Vardhan congratulated the department for the initiative by actively involving the youngsters to spread the message of accessibility. Thaawarchand Gehlot said that it was the moral duty of every citizen to come forward and support the cause. Indian film actor Vivek Oberoi, who is also the Brand Ambassador of Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) was also present at the event. 

Biker Groups come to the fore

Biker participants included riders from ‘Bikers for Good’, ‘Bajaj Avenger Club’, ‘We’re one Ride’, and ‘Save the Quest’. The rally also witnessed enthusiastic cyclists, joggers, school children, college communities, NGOs working for PwDs, coming together with the motorbike riders to spread awareness about Accessible India Campaign.

Before reaching India Gate, the bikers started from three different locations - South Ex Part -2, Vasant Kunj and Lodhi Gardens and passed through various areas of Delhi under the flag of ‘Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan’. The gathering then saw the dignitaries and the citizens alike pledging to support the campaign, before the rally of the combined bikers group was flagged off by the dignitaries.

Various cultural programmes, street plays by popular Theatre groups, Rock band performance by ‘Rangreza’ were also organised at the venue to sensitise general public about the campaign. All Central Police forces too extended their support to the campaign by nominating their officials and providing their bands.

The Accessible India campaign

The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) [DEPwD] is running the Accessible India campaign for creating universal accessibility in built environment, public transportation and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) ecosystem. The campaign was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 3, 2015, on the occasion of International Day for Persons with Disabilities.

The flag off ceremony garnered a lot of attention on social media with the #Ride4Accesibility official hashtag for the event trending on No. 7 in All India trends and No. 2 in Delhi trends on Twitter India. 

Images: PIB & Accessible India