Planet-Abled is a company started by Neha Arora which provides accessible
travel solutions and leisure excursions for people with different disabilities. Neha
says that as a child she only visited her grandparents or school picnics since her
mother is a wheelchair user.
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36
a) b)
How do you think Neha’s mother would have felt going to places with no facilities for disabled?
List three provisions stated in Disabilities Act passed by Government of India in 1995.
Answers
Explanation:
a)For Neha Arora, a family vacation with her parents, who are suffering from physical disability, is always more of a challenge than a leisure activity. Most, if not all, holiday destinations in India are marked by an utter lack of infrastructure and facilities for the differently-abled. In a conversation with Guardian 20, the 33-year-old tells us how her not so good travel experiences led to the inception of Planet Abled, a first-of-its-kind platform that organises customised tours for the differently-abled.
Recalling her childhood, Arora confides that unfortunately for her as a kid, travel was always about school picnics and grandparents’ houses—since her father is visually-impaired and mother is a wheelchair user.
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Breaking free: Travel made accessible with Planet Abled
Breaking free: Travel made accessible with Planet Abled
Shivangi Mishra
Published : September 16, 2017, 9:45 pm | Updated : September 16, 2017, 9:45 PM
Neha Arora, Planet Abled, Universal Design, travel, Adobe, wheelchair user
For Neha Arora, a family vacation with her parents, who are suffering from physical disability, is always more of a challenge than a leisure activity. Most, if not all, holiday destinations in India are marked by an utter lack of infrastructure and facilities for the differently-abled. In a conversation with Guardian 20, the 33-year-old tells us how her not so good travel experiences led to the inception of Planet Abled, a first-of-its-kind platform that organises customised tours for the differently-abled.
Recalling her childhood, Arora confides that unfortunately for her as a kid, travel was always about school picnics and grandparents’ houses—since her father is visually-impaired and mother is a wheelchair user.
“When I grew up and started travelling, as a family, we would face a lot of issues in terms of accessibility and the kind of leisure activities available when we travelled. There came a point when my parents stopped travelling, saying that they were not able to enjoy, and that it was always a hassle dealing with the inaccessibility and insensitivity of our society,” said Arora.
It was then that she started looking for solutions, only to be disappointed as there seemed to be none. She finally decided to take matters in her own hand, thinking of this as a general problem faced by the different-abled across India.
“I could not have waited till eternity to have the government make the country more accessible. Every day at work was like, if not now then when? Then I started talking to more and more people and researching on what kind of experiences would suit them and give them a wholesome travelling experience. What were the fears and what stopped them from taking that plunge? What efforts would be needed to make travel possible for them?”
After working for more than two years on the project, she finally left her job at Adobe in November 2015 and officially launched Planet Abled on 1 January 2016.
The platform gives people with disability the freedom to travel.
Talking about the hurdles faced while executing the idea, she said, “The hardest part I feel has been that though there is a market, those people had to be made aware at first that yes, accessible travel is possible for the differently-abled. While I was doing my customer validation work for Planet Abled, I realised everyone wanted to go out and enjoy and experience the beautiful world out there, but people with disabilities were doubtful that if it was really possible.