IAC and Jadavpur University hold inter-college debate to promote advocacy for differently-abled people

The topic of the debate was - inclusive community living pushes the differently-abled more towards institutionalized residency.  

India Autism Center, an initiative by Ratnabali Group, is building a development center for individuals with autism on a 52-acre land parcel at Sirakole on Diamond Harbour Road on the fringe of Kolkata.

The center will be equipped with residential, day-care and vocational training facilities for its residents and visiting students and aims to be completed by 2022. 

“A society wherein diverse abilities is respected and complement each other, where dignity and purpose is something that not just a handful of people seek out for is a society that we all should put in our efforts to build," said Suresh Somani, Chairman and Managing Director, IAC.

The debate among college students was an initiative to discuss various factors impacting the lives of the differently-abled wherein change in people’s attitude, acceptance and inclusion, equipping the differently-abled people with quality education and offering them employment opportunities for their overall growth and development.

The debate was designed in Oxford and Parliamentary style.

Eighty students from 15 colleges, local, national and international, participated in the debate with six teams qualifying for the final.

Participating colleges included St Xavier's College, Loreto College, Presidency University, Bethune College, Department of Law, Calcutta University, Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri College, Heritage College, Xavier's University, South Calcutta Law College, Shri Shikshayatan College, NRS Medical College , Calcutta National Medical College, King's College, London, Heritage Institute of Technology, Dublin City University.
  
Judges for the debate festival were Dr. Amrita Panda, Rehabilitation Psychologist, Dr. Amrita Roy Chowdhury, working on developing Community Rehabilitation Service System, Samarjit Guha, Director of Operations at Future Hope, Arvind Sood, mentor to India Autism Center, Saugat Upadhaya, Advisor to India Autism Center, and Suresh Somani.
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Commenting at the event, Dr. Amrita Panda, said, “We need more sensitization programs for the differently-abled people and an inclusive ecosystem to make them feel better around us. They need a conducive environment to nurture their unique talents and foray into the mainstream society.”

The 2011 census reveals that India is home to 2.6 crore differently-abled people including bodily and mental impairment. In an age where ‘inclusive development’ is being emphasized as the right path towards sustainable development, focussed initiatives for the welfare of differently-abled people are essential for socio-economic development of the country.