Published on December 4, 2023
Ahmedabad: Majority of city-based premier educational institutes are recording a slow but steady rise in students with multiple disabilities on their campuses. These students say that while quota helps to a certain extent, it is the learning environment complete with assistive devices, accessible facilities and peer support that makes it crucial for seamless assimilation.
At IIT Gandhinagar (IIT-Gn), the number has doubled in three years from four in 2020 to eight in 2023. Akshat Shah, who has enrolled for B.Tech computer science this year, has brittle bone disease that makes him susceptible to fractures. Shah lives with one of his parents in an apartment near the institute and is active in all academic and cultural activities. Institute officials say the entire campus is navigable with wheelchairs and elevators have Braille markers and voice prompts.
The National Institute of Design (NID) saw 11 students with disabilities in 2021 which rose slightly to 13 in 2023. At Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), the number of students with disabilities rose by 17% in three years from 36 in 2020 to 42 in 2023. For undergraduate courses, the rise was 22%, from 31 to 38 in the same period. Officials say the university took an accessibility audit in May 2022 and constructed ramps in areas where infrastructure was not present.
IIM Ahmedabad (IIMA) presently has 29 students with multiple disabilities, say officials. Shubham Garg, 23, a native of Delhi and a PGP student, says medical negligence claimed his eyesight when he was six years old. “I had prepared on my own and I study through voice recordings,” he says. Gudapati Akhil Murali Krishna from Hyderabad was paralysed after a vehicle accident and is a wheelchair user. “Peer support along with overall institutional assimilation has been great,” he says.
Prajakta Umbarkar, 24, is among the few women with disabilities who made it to IIM-A in recent years. An IISER graduate, Prajakta has visual impairment and uses screen readers and other assistive devices extensively. She says she wants to pursue a career in consulting.
Parth Shastri Archive 