DIMAPUR, APRIL 15 (MExN): The Nagaland State Disability Forum (NSDF) has called upon the Nagaland Government to put in place the ‘Tourism for All’ policy in the State Tourism Department and make tourism welcoming to all, including people with disability.
This was contained in a representation submitted to Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, C Apok Jami by the NSDF, a copy of which was made available to the media. The Forum, along with its Advisor and Disability Advocate Diethono Nakhro, also met the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, C Apok Jamir on Thursday. At the meeting, the Parliamentary Secretary was apprised of the need to usher in a ‘Tourism for All’ policy in the State’s tourism industry and for accessibility to be reviewed and improved in existing sites and events in the State, with particular mention of the annual Hornbill Festival.
With tourism a major focus in the State today and the industry only set to grow in the coming years, the Forum expressed concern that the Nagaland Government is excluding a large chunk of population in its tourism policy. It drew attention to an aspect in the State Tourism Policy that has been completely ignored and neglected leading to the complete exclusion of the disabled population – the aspect of accessibility at the various tourist sites and events. Besides violating the rights of the disabled community of the State, most of whom are still unable to participate in a major state-sponsored event even after all these years, the Forum maintained that unfriendly environment means that the State is losing out on a new and important market.
According to Census 2011, there are 29,631 people with various disabilities in Nagaland, which according to the Forum, is still a conservative estimation. It lamented that this “large section continues to live on the fringes of our society completely deprived of their rights and dignity and facing exclusion and discrimination from society as a whole.”
Accessible tourism, or ‘Tourism for All’, is making travel and tourism destinations, products, and information suitable for all those who have particular accessibility needs, including mobility, vision, hearing and cognitive dimensions of access, and even parents travelling with children, explained the Forum in the representation.
The Forum therefore urged the Nagaland Government to review and improve the accessibility in existing sites and events. It further said accessibility at the main venue as well as associated events of the annual Hornbill Festival should be taken up immediately and implemented.
The Parliamentary Secretary is learnt to have assured the Forum that he will take up the matter with the department on priority.
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