Now Reading: Panjab University orders equal opportunity cells for disabled students
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Panjab University orders equal opportunity cells for disabled students
Panjab University has ordered all its affiliated colleges to set up Equal Opportunity Cells for Persons with Disabilities (EOC-PwDs) by August 31. The directive came after an RTI filed by alumnus Brij Bhushan Goyal revealed that while facilities existed at the main campus, there was no system to ensure affiliated colleges followed the norms.
Colleges must appoint a faculty member as coordinator or nodal officer and submit their details to the university. The cells will handle accessibility, academic support, grievance facilitation, and awareness programmes under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and UGC guidelines.
In a related development, SCD Government College in Ludhiana became the only college apart from Panjab University's main campus to install a KIBO device, an AI-powered platform that converts printed text into audio lessons in over 60 languages for visually impaired students.
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The directive comes months after a Right to Information application exposed a gap between Panjab University's own campus and its sprawling network of affiliated colleges in Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. Under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, every higher education institution receiving public funds must have an enabling mechanism, but enforcement has been patchy. The university can now use its affiliation powers to insist on compliance, which affects access for thousands of students across a hundred-plus colleges. The August 31 deadline will test how quickly institutions can comply, but the bigger test is whether these cells will function beyond paperwork. The KIBO device at SCD Government College shows what is possible when institutions invest in assistive technology, the same commitment needs to become standard across the board.
Source: hindustantimes.com
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