PREAMBLE
Surendranath Law College strictly abides by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and rules, regulations, guidelines made there under from time to time that prohibits discrimination against individuals with physical and mental disabilities. In consonance with the “Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016” and the “Accessibility Guidelines and Standards for Higher Education Institutions and Universities” as specified, in the notification of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India vide notification number F. No. N-11018/01/2024 dated 19th January, 2024 made under clause (o) of “the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Amendment) Rules, 2024”, Surendranath Law College hereby adopts the “Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan)” policy and also abides by the norms laid out by the University of Calcutta for PWD (Persons with Disabilities) upon submission of appropriate PWD certificates issued by the competent authority.
DISABILITY (DIVYANGJAN) - Definition
“Person with disability” means a person with long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment which, in interaction with barriers, hinders his full and effective participation in society equally with others. Disability is a term that includes a number of conditions that can range from blindness, low-vision, leprosy cured persons, hearing impairment, locomotor disability, dwarfism, intellectual disability, mental illness, autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, chronic neurological conditions, specific learning disabilities, multiple sclerosis, speech and language disability, thalassemia, hemophilia, sickle cell disease, multiple disabilities including deaf-blindness, acid attack victims and parkinson’s disease. Many disabilities vary in degree and types of limitation; therefore, the college understands that accommodations must be tailored to the specific needs of the individual.
Objectives of the Divyangjan Policy:
- To provide accessible and inclusive education in the college.
- To create a culture that is inclusive, non-discriminatory, non-exploitative for all in all spheres of work and education.
- To create suitable and robust regulatory mechanism for effective delivery of services for differently-abled students and staff of the college.
- To ensure implementation of all legislations with respect to persons with disabilities.
- To ensure full participation of persons with disabilities in all academic and co-curricular activities of the college and to provide them equal opportunities for learning and development.
Institutional Support Framework for the differently-abled:
To build a mechanism for assessment of disability specific needs and arrangement of support provisions regarding admission, teaching learning, student activities, examination and evaluation.
- To make arrangements for accessible communication, assistive technologies, ICT and instructional materials for Divyangjan.
- To strive for barrier-free mobility (subject to financial viability of the institution) in the campus for Divyangjan.
- To ensure universal accessibility to classrooms, learning resources and materials, seminar room, library, auditorium, canteen, common rooms, washrooms and sanitary provision.
- To ensure assistive signage inside the campus.
- To provide concessions in examination for students with disabilities as per the regulatory framework of the affiliating university.
- To introduce healthcare and para-medical facilities and appropriate Grievance Redressal Mechanism for students with disabilities.
- To encourage representation and participation of differently-abled students in all co-curricular activities organised by various clubs in the college.
Implementation:
Surendranath Law College has constituted a specialized committee “Committee for the Differently-abled” which is responsible in preparing, executing, and implementing the policy and guidelines for differently-abled persons. All committee members are to be appointed by the Head of the Institute. The major functions of expert committee for persons with disabilities include:
- To ensure implementation of all legislations, entitlements and facilities with regard to admissions, examinations, and access as per government rules, and guidelines and regulations issued for PWD by the Office of the Faculty of Law, University of Calcutta.
- To provide guidance to avail various fellowships / scholarships of different funding agencies.
- To address grievances pertaining to any matter concerning persons with disabilities in consultation with the HOI.
- To provide career counselling and guidance for higher learning to students with disabilities and educate them about various concessions, financial assistance, reservations, scholarships and such other benefits that differently-abled students are entitled to.
- To ensure full participation of persons with disabilities in all activities of the college and to provide them equal opportunities to achieve holistic development.
- To conduct awareness programs for teachers on teaching-learning methods, pedagogy, evaluation procedures, etc., which they can adopt for differently-abled students.
- To conduct regular Remedial Coaching Classes for differently-abled students.
- To strive to build a disabled-friendly infrastructure for barrier-free movement in the campus, that includes physical access (such as ramps, hand-rails, lifts, wide doors, accessible washrooms, tactile paving), and technological aids for learning (such as screen readers, audio materials, scribe services during examinations).
Exam Policy:
Surendranath Law College abides by the examination guidelines and regulations issued for PWD by the Office of the Controller of Examinations, Faculty of Law, University of Calcutta.