International Purple Festival, Goa 2024
The International Purple Fest took place in Goa this year, hosted by the Office of the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Goa. This was one of India’s first inclusive festivals celebrating persons with disabilities, emphasizing the importance of creating an inclusive world that highlights unity and diversity.
The event spotlighted 22 Purple Ambassadors, each representing one of the 21 types of disabilities listed under the RPwD Act, 2016 (including one with Spinal Cord Injury). From EMA, Anubha was the purple ambassador for Muscular dystrophy. She voiced a major concern that inaccessible environments make it impossible for people with mobility impairments to come out. She urged to make Goa and its tourism accessible for all including people with disabilities, as of now, hardly any tourist sites or accommodation facilities serve the purpose. During the meeting with state and central commissioners of persons with disabilities, she proposed to work on training on Accessibility and Universal design among urban and town planning departments and establishing electronic systems for building plan approvals to make the compliance check transparent.
The “Purple Fest” featured an exclusive exhibition of assistive aids, innovations, and emerging technologies supporting the needs of a diverse population. Here, EMA exhibited their work on solutions for infrastructure inaccessibility and shared knowledge through our innovative accessibility explainer videos, providing a deeper understanding of accessibility standards and laws. Also an introductory workshop to our advanced Accessibility training course was conducted and was joined by 12 participants.
Several events took place, with some worth mentioning being the concept of the “Human Library” where all Purple Ambassadors were welcomed to share their stories of overcoming challenges and the experiences they faced living with different types of disabilities. Another notable event was the ramp fashion show, which was of glam and glitter, exhibiting the strengths of 21 types of disabilities—a cheerful moment to celebrate. Participating in different panel discussions provided additional networking opportunities for EMA, such as meeting persons with disabilities and government stakeholders.
This event shows that India is on its path towards inclusion, and we as experts should collaborate to bring a change in society.