TV channels asked to lay emphasis on programmes for disabled

In a bid to give a push to the Centre's flagship Accessible India initiative, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has asked television channels to lay greater emphasis on airing programmes for disabled persons.
In a letter to broadcasters, the ministry said that recently a joint meeting was held between its top officials and those of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disability (DoEPwD) to discuss advocacy and dissemination requirements for 'Accessible India Campaign' which aims at making public spaces accessible to people with disabilities, and other issues.
Certain areas were highlighted in the meeting where support of I&B Ministry was solicited such as awareness generation about Accessible India Initiative, increased frequency of programmes for disabled persons, showcasing films on achievements of disabled persons through TV channels and working towards captioning for hearing impaired and audio facility for sight impaired in programmes, the letter said.

The ministry also requested broadcasters to include the facility of providing sub-titles for the hearing disabled and audio support for programmes for visually disabled.