Help desk for visually impaired students at DU’s Kirori Mal College

Samaavesh Eyeway Helpdesk aims to promote inclusion for blind and visually impaired students and will cater to every National Capital Region (NCR) student, regardless their enrolment with Delhi University.

In a significant step towards fostering campus inclusivity, the Centre for Disability Research and Training (CDRT) at Delhi University’s Kirori Mal College (KMC), on Wednesday launched the ‘Project Samaavesh’, in collaboration with the Score Foundation.

The help desk will be set up at the campus and is expected to be operational from next week.

As part of the initiative, Samaavesh Eyeway Helpdesk, will be set up at the campus and is expected to be operational from next week.

Someshwar Sati , KMC’s English professor and coordinator, CDRT said the initiative aims to promote inclusion for blind and visually impaired students and will cater to every National Capital Region (NCR) student, regardless their enrolment with DU.

The primary objective of the desk will be to provide counselling, Sati said, adding that every student will be profiled to better understand their needs and aspirations, following which they will be given customized solutions.

In addition to academic support, the help desk will offer skill enhancement training in such assistive technologies and personality development to improve employability, added Sati.

The working days and timings for desk will be announced soon.

Launched in September 2021, the CDRT aims to promote and popularize disability studies as a legitimate field of intellectual enquiry within the Indian academia.

KMC principal Dinesh Khattar said, “We need to work towards inclusion which is not just spoken about in policies but also a lived reality in classrooms and campuses. This initiative is a bold step towards that.”

Rajesh Aggarwal, secretary of Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment was invited as the chief guest at the launch event and expressed happiness over colleges taking step towards creating a more inclusive campus.

Sati said the CDRT will work towards establishing similar projects for helping students with other disabilities.

Narendra Kumar Kashyap, a third-year undergraduate in Sanskrit said, “This is definitely a great initiative. Sometimes, in classes students with special needs cannot interact as much as the other students, which of course causes inconvenience. This will be able to give focused help to students.”

Another student, Sachin Kumar, is currently pursuing postgraduate studies in Political Science from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Kumar was involved with CDRT from its initial days when he was a UG student at KMC.

“There are still colleges in DU which are not as inclusive as they should be. So to start talking on the topic, these initiatives are required. Additionally, initiatives like these create a safe space for all students, help unlearn prejudices and open a world where everyone can look forward to a brighter future,” Kumar said.