Special cell at IIT-Bombay to help students with disabilities

MUMBAI: In a step towards inclusivity, the premier IIT-Bombay set up a cell for students with disabilities on its campus, with help and concerted efforts from a section of students and faculty members. As the number of these students grew over the years on the campus, the need to address their concerns in an organised manner was felt.
A circular issued by the director's office mentioned that 'students with disabilities have been facing a variety of challenges in their day-to-day life and in their academics and the cell has been created to address their issues'.
The seven-member committee, with four professors and three students, was formed through the circular issued on December 15.
While student members will have a term of one year on the committee, the faculty members will be for three years. The terms of reference for the cell include preparation and maintenance of guidelines for students and faculty, with special attention to academic evaluation, organisation of awareness sessions (including online sessions for students, before they physically join the campus), address grievances of students in a time-bound manner, create support systems including mentorship, timely audit of facilities and policies of the institute, advise on facilities such as transport.
Tony Kurian, one of the students, who was spearheading the project, thanked the institute and everyone who supported the initiative of setting up the disability cell. "Hope the cell will transform the campus into an inclusive space," he said.
The institute already has a library for visually impaired students with all necessary software, which is another initiative to support inclusivity on the campus, said Kurian.
A student said that the initiative was long pending. Another student mentioned that the attempts to set this up were being made for the last two years.
"The institute was never reluctant in setting it up, it only took time. A few months ago, concrete work on it had started, like defining the statement, structure, and action plan of the cell," he said.
A senior official from the institute said that the Persons with Disabilities cell was needed since the institute was getting more students and both students and the faculty teaching them needed guidance/guidelines.
"We have been handling the concerns of Persons With Disabilities students with support from the academic office and library till now. Students have been getting support but we felt more and better organised support is needed," he said.
The reservation went up from three per cent to five per cent for 'Persons with Disabilities' students in recent years, after the implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.