· The Inclusive India Bharat Yatra is organised by Different Art Centre in collaboration with the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities
· Kerala Chief Minister Panayi Vijayan to inaugurate state-level programme on September 22 at the DAC campus
· The Yatra aims at spreading the message of Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities.
Thiruvananthapuram: The Different Art Centre (DAC), in collaboration with the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) under the Department of Social Justice of the Union Government, will kick off the fifth edition of the Inclusive India Travel Campaign on October 6, 2024. The Inclusive India travel campaign, which will begin from Kanyakumari and culminate in Kashmir on December 3, will aim at spreading the message of Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities.
Leading this Inclusive India Bharat Yatra will be Gopinath Muthukad, Executive Director of Different Art Centre. The DAC had earlier organised 4 similar Bharat Yatras, to promote Mahatma Gandhi’s messages against separatism and communalism in India. The Vismaya Bharat Yatra was undertaken in 2002, while the Gandhi Mantra Yatra was organised in 2004, Vismay Swaraj Yatra in 2007 and Mission India Yatra in 2010. The Inclusive India travel campaign is being organised after a gap of 14 long years, and has the approval of DEPWD.
Various aspects, ranging from changing the society’s perspective towards the differently-abled sector, ensuring equal justice for them like others, to bringing about a progressive change in the general attitude towards differently-abled people, would form the themes of the campaign. The Yatra will also introduce the DAC model that has been tested and proven successful. The travel campaign will also host one-and-a-half-hour long awareness programmes at around 40 venues across India, accompanied by Magic Shows by Gopinath Muthukad.
October 6 has been selected as the day to start the Inclusive India travel campaign as the World Cerebral Palsy Day falls on that date. The culmination of the Yatra on December 3 will coincide with the World Disability Day.
Organized in collaboration with institutes under DEPWD in various states, the beneficiaries of this programme would be the general public, persons with disabilities, parents, teachers, persons working in the field of disabilities, NGOs and government officials.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the state-level programme on September 22 at a function to be organised at the DAC campus in Kazhakoottam, Thiruvananthapuram. Social Justice Department Minister Dr. R. Bindu will preside. Paralympian PadmaSri Boniface Prabhu will be honoured at the function. Kadakampally Surendran MLA, DAC Director Jayadali MV and Executive Director Gopinath Muthukad will be among those who would participate. The occasion will also host a dance performance by famed danseuse Methil Devika, which will have sign language and music by Ullas Ponnadi, a famous bulbul player, as accompaniments. A presentation on the awareness programme based on magic performances would be done by Gopinath Muthukad.
A function to mark the official start of the Inclusive India travel campaign Yatra will be organised at the Chennai Kamarajar Arena on September 28. This apart, an introductory event will be held at Lakshadweep on October 2, and a farewell function to the Inclusive India travel team members will be held at the Kerala Raj Bhavan on October 4, prior to the commencement of the Yatra in Kanyakumari on October 6.
