Recently, the Governor of Maharashtra, Vidya Sagar Rao announced that special ramps will be constructed at the Raj Bhavan, to make the 47-acre Malabar Hill property disabled-friendly.
Close on the heels of this announcement, the Mayor of Mumbai took a massive step forward, to mark India’s 70th Independence Day, by distributing mobility equipment to 50 people, in his house. These types of equipment will offer ‘accessibility’, a major concern when it comes to persons with disabilities.
This was a part of Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust’s initiative in association with Rotary Club of Bombay Worli, whereby the ‘Make Mumbai Disability Free’ was launched at the Mayor’s bungalow. State Bank of India and Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited (killer jeans) are among the other partners.
Rajiv Mehta, Trustee, Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust said, “The Mayor’s initiative, Make Mumbai Disability Free works at multiple levels. The first is that we must continue to make equipment available to our persons with disabilities. Second is we should work towards Mumbai city being more accessible.”
Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar added, “The 2011 census puts India’s disabled at 2.21% of the population, and these numbers are increasing due to reasons such as accidents. Given this scenario, the support generated by Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust and Rotary Club of Bombay Worli for ‘Make Mumbai Disability free’ campaign is truly empowering. We intend to work towards making certain provisions for persons with disabilities in the next BMC budget. If every Indian decides to contribute for this noble cause, a solution will surely emerge”.
Rotarian Sandeep Shah, past president of Rotary Club of Bombay Worli said, “We firmly believe that everyone must make efforts in preventing the events which cause disability- crossing railway lines, accidents due to drunken driving, jay walking, not immunizing children with the polio vaccine, ignoring industrial safety and so forth.”
Dignitaries like Rtn Kalyan Banerjee, Past Rotary International President, District Governor Rtn Praful Sharma, Shri Yashwant Jadhav, Leader of House MCGM, Shri Ramesh Koregaonkar, Chairman, Standing committee, MCGM, Smt. Shubhadha Gudekar, Chairwoman Education Committee, Shri Anant Nar, Chairman, Improvement committee, MCGM marked their presence at the event.
Kewal Jain, Managing Director of Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited said, “We are happy to partner with Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust and Rotary Club of Bombay Worli in the noble initiative of “Make Mumbai Disability Free” and would like to take this mission on all India basis”.
“My 4 year old daughter, Tamanna was affected by polio in both her legs. At the age of 3, doctors suggested that she should wear a caliper to help her walk properly. I am truly grateful to Ratna Nidhi for providing her with a calliper so that she can now properly” said, Tamanna’s mother. Tamanna is among one of the 50 beneficiaries who recieved free mobility equiment.
