Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Make museums accessible to the disabled: experts

CHENNAI: If you have ever wandered inside a museum lost in the remnants of history, you would agree that the experience can be both awe inspiring and educative, but as with most public institutions such facilities have remained inaccessible to the differently-abled.

The Regional Museum of Natural History (RMNH), Mysore, sought to change that. The work of its officials has since branched out in attempt to make museums across Indian accessible to everyone. On Thursday, the RMNH together with the Tamil Nadu Science and Technology (TNSTC) inaugurated a national conference on museums and persons with disabilities.

Scientist in Charge, RMNH, B. Venugopal, said: “Museums are meant to serve the public, this includes those with disabilities. From 2006 onwards, we have not only established spaces such as the museum garden for the disabled at RMNH, but also taken the message across the country through seminars such as these.”

Mr. Venugopal said that the seminars and workshops aimed to push towards the creation of a national policy. “The recommendations that come out of this workshop will be called the Chennai declaration,” he said.

Chief Guest of the conference, Madras University Vice-Chancellor S Ramachandran said: “Museums are public spaces that can be a source of great excitement and are increasingly seen as part of entertainment as much as education. There is, therefore, a need to take pro-active steps to create a barrier free environment for everybody. This is mandatory under the law,” he said. He urged for such meetings to be conducted at the district-level as well.

Secretary-General, International Council of Education for visually impaired, M.N.G. Mani, said all public institutions should ensure that at least the minimum standards required to ensure accessibility are followed. “But it is more important to sensitise the public and those who run the institutions on the special needs for the disabled. It is also important to understand that different types of disabilities exist and each of these needs to be taken into account when seeking to create a disabled-friendly environment,” he said.

TNSTC Executive Director P. Iyamperumal said that they had been conducting various programmes for those with disabilities and intend to continue this. “We have also introduced the idea of “Learning through doing,” as a part of this we have introduced Braille and audio messages on displays. Nobody should feel deprived. Science should be open to everyone, he said, emphasising the need for everyone to recognise the potential of differently-abled persons.

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