– Nearly Rs.6 Crore Grant for Creation of Barrier-Free Environment at UoH
– To install 18 lifts in fifteen buildings on the campus
– Disability audit done on the campus for the first time by a Central University
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, has approved a Grant-in-Aid to the University of Hyderabad (UoH) for creation of Barrier-Free Environment and other facilities for persons with disabilities. A total grant sanctioned for the purpose is nearly Rs.6 Crore and the first installment of over Rs.4 Crore has been released this financial year. This grant has come under the schemes arising out of the implementation of persons with disabilities (Equal Opportunities Protection of Rights and Full Participation Act, 1995-SIPDA).
The grant given will be utilized for installing 18 lifts in fifteen buildings on the campus. Each lift needs to be fitted to accommodate wheel chairs in accordance with the Bureau of Indian Standards. Other fittings like auditory signals, Braille signings and accessible control panels and other works relating to creation of Barrier-Free Environment and other facilities for persons with disabilities also need to be done.
The Vice-Chancellor took the initiative of making the campus disabled-friendly. As a consequence of this, a disability audit was conducted on the campus by Ms. Shivani Gupta of Access Ability, New Delhi. This has been done for the first time by a Central University and the proposal sent by UoH has been approved by the Ministry. The buildings that have been identified include Admin Building, Chief Warden’s Office, Academic-(Extension to Admin), Science Complex, Social Sciences, MBA Building, USIC level-II + M.Sc Electronics, Humanities, School of Life Sciences, Centre for Integrated Studies, Library Building, A.I Lab (four blocks), New-Lecture Hall Complex, Networking Laboratory (Chemistry) and New Science Complex (Chemistry).
The project needs to be completed within 12 months.