New Delhi, Aug 11: It’s a desi Zindagi Na Mile Dobara with a
difference. Four professionals- a TV network owner, an offshore
construction company director, a tax accountant and a businesswoman-
will travel to 40 cities across 28 states in India, by road, on a trip
they’ve been planning for a decade. The difference is that all of them
are confined to wheelchairs. Apart from having the time of their
lives, they will also write a report on how disabled friendly India’s
tourist facilities are and will also sensitise tourism officials and
professionals to makes Incredible India inclusive too.
The Beyond barriers Incredible India Tour, which will take place from
September 28 to December 20, was formally flagged off by union tourism
minister Subodh Kant Sahai today. Sahai, who seeks to use their audit
to make India’s tourist facilities accessible to the disabled, dubbed
their trip as a “daredevil mission.”
“Incredible India (his ministry’s punchline) must have credible means
for the handicapped,” said the minister. “Their report will be an
asset for us as we are committed to implement UN Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities.”
He added that his goal is that disabled tourists in India should get
the same amenities as their counterparts in developed countries.
Throughout this year his ministry would focus on this aspect, he said.
The four travelers Arvind Prabhoo, Nishant Khade, Sunita Sacheti and
Neenu Kewlani are all from Mumbai and are associated with the Vijay
Merchant Rehabilitation Centre for the Disabled. At every stop they
will be liasoning with local NGOs and state tourism departments for
carrying out the access audit. They will also try to meet Chief
Ministers and Disability Commissioners of every state to sensitise
them on the travel needs of the disabled.
“We will collect data and will write to hotels, ministries and other
(tourism related) organizations with our findings. We will also follow
up the progress on the reforms we suggest to them,” said Prabhoo, who
is quadriplegic.
The four will be driving in three cars with drivers and care-givers.
Their journey will take them to all the corners of India from Silvassa
to Imphal and Sawai Madhopur to Cooch Behar. People can follow their
daily updates of facebook and twitter and regular video uploads on
youtube.
By the end of the 16,000 km drive they will publish a comprehensive
report which will also serve as a guide for the disabled. “Despite
being disabled we still have the will to travel. Being in a wheelchair
is not going to stop me from seeing Incredible India,” Prabhoo added.
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