Accessible India Campaign

Polity & Governance glossary

Also called: Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan · Topic: Safeguards for Vulnerable Sections: SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Women and Children · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Accessible India Campaign, also called Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan, is a national campaign launched on 3 December 2015. It aims to make three things accessible to persons with disabilities: buildings, transport, and ICT (information and communication technology, such as websites and phones). "Accessible" means a person with a disability can enter, move around and use something without help. The campaign treats access as a right, not a favour. Census 2011 counted 2.21% of Indians as disabled.

Example

Under the campaign, ramps, lifts and accessible toilets are added to government offices, and railway stations are made easier to use. Government websites are also changed so that screen-reader software can read them aloud for blind users.

Don't confuse with

  • Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016: this is a law that creates legal duties and rights, including reservation. The Accessible India Campaign is a government programme that puts accessibility into practice. It is not a law.
  • Rajive Raturi case (2024): a Supreme Court judgment that ordered the Centre to frame mandatory (compulsory) accessibility rules. It is a court ruling, not a campaign.

Related concepts

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