CENTRE FOR DISABILITY RESEARCH AND TRAINING (CDRT) ANNUAL REPORT
2022-2023
Kirori Mal College established the Centre for Disability Research and Training (CDRT) in June, 2021, perhaps the first Centre of its kind in a college in India.
Disability studies today is a rapidly emerging interdisciplinary field of academic inquiry. The Centre aims to broaden the knowledge base of disability studies within the Indian context by encouraging committed research in the area.
The Centre engages with all aspects of disability experience ranging from the sociology of the phenomenon, its representations in literature and culture, disability politics, policies, law and human rights, to accessibility, universal design, professional training and employment.
CDRT aims to spread awareness about disability within the campus and beyond; and develop a culture of disability allyship in society.
If the year 2021-22 marked the laying down of a new centre and putting structures in place mainly through online academic and sensitisation events and the promotion of Inclusive Education Programmes on Kirori Mal’s campus, the academic year 2022-23 was a year of consolidation and expansion. CDRT under its Project, Sankalp, signed 5-year MoUs with St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad, Vasanta College, BHU and Arya Vidyapeeth College, Guwahati to help these institutions create within their respective campuses a centre like ours. Talks are on with Cotton University, Guwahati, Bhawanipur Education Society College, Kolkata, Khalsa College, University of Delhi and Ashoka University to forge similar collaborations.
Our activities encompass a wide terrain of varying engagement with disability- academic activities, sensitisation workshops and inclusive education programmes. In the academic year 2022-2023, the Centre organised a range of academic activities and awareness campaigns.
Academic Workshops Drishtikon 2.0
CDRT organised a week-long workshop on Disability and Hindi Cinema, Drishtikon 2.0 from
4th-9th July, 2022. The workshop began as a curated series of interactive, audio-visual sets of
events forming the foundation of disability and Hindi cinema. Although it was conducted online (zoom), there were 107 registrations, of which 88 succeeded in completing the workshop requirements. Participants submitted a 500-word abstract of which the best are intended to be collated as a book.
Inauguration of Project Sankalp with St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad
Centre for Disability Research and Training, Kirori Mal College in collaboration with St.
Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad conducted a Speaker session by Professor Someshwar Sati for the Students and Faculty of St Xavier’s College on 24th of March, 2023 from 11 Am to 1 PM. Professor Sati gave insightful arguments about the Concept of Disability being a Social Construct, questioning the understanding of the term ‘Disability’ in the Contemporary world. The lecture was followed by a QnA session wherein students enthusiastically sought ways to become better allies to the disabled community and improve university spaces for them.
This event marked the inauguration of our collaborative Project Sankalp in partnership with St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad.
STEM Project
At present, the Centre is also undertaking a research project to study and analyse the various challenges and solutions related to visually impaired students’ pursuit of STEM subjects. It
involves a team of 15 students in total from the Physics, Chemistry, Botany and Zoology departments of the college working under the guidance of respective faculty members.
As part of this project, the team is in the process of attending and organising workshops on
Accessible Content and use of Assistive Technology in Higher Education in collaboration with IIT Delhi. The objective of this project is to evolve a policy document that can be presented to
the government so that higher education in STEM subjects could be made accessible to students with disability.
Sensitisation and Awareness Workshops
SAMBHAV: Yes We Can
CDRT organised an awareness and sensitising simulation workshop, SAMBHAV: Yes We Can on 9th September 2022. The prime objective of this flagship event was twofold:
First, to promote the centre and disseminate information about its multifarious activities. For this purpose, an exhibition showcasing various initiatives and events organised in the previous
academic year was assembled. Secondly, and more importantly, Sambhav aimed at creating an awareness about the day-to-day functioning of persons with disabilities and the challenges they face during routine activities. The Workshop included interactive activities like engaging with Indian sign language, tic tac toe, blind cricket and a treasure hunt.
Awareness on Eye Donation
On 13th September 2022, Centre for Disability Research and Training in collaboration with Prayas- The Enabling unit, Kirori Mal College and Saksham Inderprastha organised an
awareness talk on Eye Donation. The Event was organised under the rubric of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav commemorating 75 years of India’s Independence. The Speaker for the session was Dr. Noopur Pandey from Delhi Lions eye centre, New Delhi, who specialises in the field of Ophthalmology. She discussed the procedure of eye donation as well as the legal aspects of the process. The anatomy of eye transplantation and the challenges one might face during donation
were discussed. The event succeeded in its goal of creating awareness and 38 participants signed a pledge to donate their eyes.
World Investor Week Celebrations
Kirori Mal College through CDRT and the Department of Commerce became the first college in the University of Delhi in joining the World Investor Week-2022 (WIW-2022) celebrations promoted by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and
co-ordinated by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) – the regulatory body of the securities market in the country.
On 10th October 2022, the SEBI team from the Northern Regional office of SEBI comprising DGM, Sh. Gyanendra Neeraj, AGM, Ms. Nanu Kaur and Manager, Mr. Kunal Kishore Bharti visited Kirori Mal College and the event was launched in joint collaboration with the Centre for Disability Research and Training (CDRT), Prayas-The Enabling unit and the Finance and Investment Cell of KMC.
The objective was to make this celebration more inclusive and diverse and more than 100 students benefited from the interactive session organised by the delegation from SEBI.
Nazar Ya Nazariya
On 3rd November 2022, CDRT, organised “Nazar ya Nazariya?”, a disability sensitisation workshop conducted by Mr George Abraham, CEO, Score Foundation. The event included Film Screenings and a Q&A session. The Screenings featured real life stories of visually impaired
achievers in the country. The session dealt with how stereotypes in society related to disabilities need to be broken. It aimed at questioning common perceptions and focusing on the immense
possibilities of life with blindness.
Antarchakshu
The series of Antarchakshu workshops with CDRT members proved to be a great success and so, the Centre for Disability Research and Training, Kirori Mal College in collaboration with
XRCVC (Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged), on popular demand repeated
the workshop on 7th November 2022 and 9th November 2022 for the volunteers of the Enabling Unit of the college, Prayas.
Conducted by Krishna Warrier from XRCVC the first day of the workshop, i.e. 7th November 2022, the participants were made to perform a series of activities like making a paper boat/plane/jet, drawing a heart with a pencil on a sheet of paper, pouring water from a jug into a glass and recognising currency notes with their blindfolds on. These simulation exercises gave
the participants a peek into the lives of those who cannot see and experience sightlessness first hand. The second day of the workshop, i.e, 9th November 2022, was indeed an eye-opener and gave participants a glimpse into the lives of blind people enabling them to understand blindness and blind people through inclusive and egalitarian prism.
Sambhav 2.0: Yes We Can
After a successful Sambhav: Yes We Can in September 2022, CDRT organised another
awareness and sensitisation simulation workshop, SAMBHAV 2.0: Yes We Can on 6th February 2023. Sambhav 2.0 aimed at creating awareness about the day-to-day functioning of persons
with disabilities and the challenges they face during routine activities. The workshop included interactive activities like musical chairs, cricket, football and chess with blindfolds on, displays of Canteen menu in Braille, teaching of English and Hindi alphabets in Braille and participants were also introduced to basic phrases in ISL.
Antarchakshu: An Awareness and Sensitisation Workshop
On 15th February 2023, CDRT in collaboration with Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC), St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai (Autonomous) organised Antarchakshu: An Awareness and Sensitisation Workshop. Mr. Krishna Warrier, the resource person from
XRCVC conducted a wholesome and engaging simulation workshop as an attempt to understand the experience of People with Disabilities. The simulation activities were followed by an
interactive session.
The Big Lie: Not an Inspirational Talk on Disability
On 18th March 2023, CDRT in association with SGTB Khalsa College, NSS, LAKSHAY presented The Big Lie: Not an inspirational talk on disability, for Lashkara’23. This theatrical performance laid stress on how society creates the stereotype of disabled people as either
sub-human or super-human. The purpose of the play was to demystify these notions and present disabled people as being as human as any other human being possessing the same emotions and aspirations like you and me, therefore we should neither look at them with pity and content nor with a sense of awe and admiration. The play concluded with a plea for treating disabled people as human first and not just as disabled.
The intention of this performance was to create an inclusive ecosystem in which corporeal
difference is not treated as a deviation or abnormality but just as another manifestation of human diversity that needs to be embraced and celebrated.
Device Distribution and Lecture on Assistive Technology for the Visually Impaired
On 21st March 2023, CDRT hosted a lecture on ‘Assistive Technology for the Visually Impaired’ by Dr. Piyush Chanana from IIT Delhi. The Centre for Disability Research and Training aims to create a level playing field for students with disability on campus and provide them with a
wholesome inclusive educational experience. 11 laptops, 2 refreshable braille displays and 2 daisy players were handed to Visually Impaired students of college.
Movie Screenings: Parde Ke Peeche
Centre for Disability Research and Training (CDRT), Kirori Mal College in collaboration with Montage: The Film Society of Kirori Mal College, aims to provide a lens through films to
explore and spread awareness regarding disability in movies.
Parde Ke Peeche
On 28th January 2023, CDRT held the screening of the celebrated movie, ‘Me Before You’, an adaptation of the novel of the same name written by Jojo Moyes. The movie revolved around the story of a successful banker who as a result of a motorcycle accident becomes tetraplegic and his relationship with his female caretaker. While the movie on the one hand portrays the precarious foundation of able bodiedness and the porous nature of the divide between the able bodied and
the disabled, on the other hand it transforms the disabled subject into an object of pity making the audience thank god that they are not disabled.
The discussion that followed the screening of the movie underscored the above points and questioned the way that ableist society others the disabled so that they themselves may feel good about their so called ‘normal’ bodies.
Parde Ke Peeche 2.0
On 23rd March 2023, CDRT held the screening of the 1997 drama movie, ‘Sixth Happiness’, an adaptation of the novel of the Trying to Grow by Firdaus Kanga. It was followed by a discussion on the various aspects of disability explored in the film such as infantalisation, sexuality, masculinity, special needs vs specific needs and embracing diversity.
Conclusion:
The academic year 2023 was highly fulfilling and saw CDRT expanding its footprints in educational campuses of the country. It came to our little surprise that Prof. Someshwar Sati, Co-ordinator, CDRT was conferred with national award on International Day of People with Disability by Hon President of India, Shrimati Draupadi Murmu on 3rd December 2022.
The year 2022-23 saw CDRT continuing its work towards the cause of creating a better world without prejudice and discrimination of any kind with the firm belief that labels are for jars, not people.
