Additional Chapter on National Institute of Universal Design

Role of the National Institute

The institute will primarily be to assist the nation in becoming more inclusive in terms of accessibility. This will be in the letter and spirit of the UNCRPD pronouncing reasonable accountability.

Vision

To make this nation universally accessible and paving the way to equal access. upholding the principles of Indian Constitution and UNHCR.

Curriculum objective

  • The curriculum should generate the scope for opportunities to integrate experiential and explorative learning in order to understand and achieve a high degree of inclusiveness and to enhance quality of life of persons with disabilities.
  • A flexible framework for student-centered learning, whereby courses and assignments are able to harness the potential each student has in terms of creative expression and multi dimensional learning in breaking barriers.
  • Each programme must provide the opportunity to identify, plan and achieve learning goals through an understanding of cultural, social and technological and biological developments in the context of historical, contemporary developments in the field of disability access in wider spectrum.
  • The objective, learning value and standard for each course should be predetermined but context and relevance is repositioned by the faculty depending on the changing realities of the universal design and the level of professional competence achieved and demonstrated by the each group of students.
  • To provide interdisciplinary and progressive knowledge of design but with a focused understanding of an area of specialization with wide spectrum of disability suiting to the codes universal design practice.
  • There should be ample opportunity to develop innovative and exploratory thinking, necessary technical skills and the ability to locate individual design and graduate thereon to the universal accessibility codes sustaining approaches within the appropriate professional context.
  • To enable the students to develop a sense of social and professional commitment to the concept of inclusiveness. They must learn to own the responsibility for their professional decisions.
  • The ability to develop critical, analytical, speculative and reflective problem-solving skills in an integrated manner to make infrastructure truly integrated for all persons with disabilities. To understand the scenario cum user based and culture centric approach of designs leading to accessibility.
  • To provide thorough understanding of technical, managerial and design fundamentals along with a strong exposure to the real life situations of disabled/ so that they are able to experience as how the intellectual, creative and other skills acquired could be adopted to benefit the user, society and industry to become inclusive with better access for persons with disabilities.

STRUCTURE

  • Principal secretary to the Prime minister can be the chairman
  • Member Secretary.
  • Vice-Chairman of the council will necessarily will have to be a person with disability serving as fulltime director of NIUD. S/He must be having experience in the field of disabilities and universal design for not less than 10 years.

Members of governing council:

  • Reputed person from the field of civil engineering.
  • Reputed person from the field of Architecture
  • Reputed person from the field of Electronics.
  • Reputed person from the field of Medicine.
  • Reputed person from the field of Public Finance.
  • Three reputed experts from the field of design
  • Ex-Officio members -
  • Secretary -
  • Ministry of Social Justice & empowerment/ Disability affairs
  • Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
  • Ministry of Telecommunications
  • Ministry of Information Technology
  • Ministry of Urban Development
  • Ministry of Rural Development,
  • Ministry of Health
  • Ministry of Tribal affairs,
  • Ministry of Surface transport,
  • Chairman Railway Board
  • Ministry of Tourism & Development
  • Ministry of Science & technology
  • Ministry of Finance
  • Representative from Planning Commission
  • Ministry of Civil aviation
  • Chairman of the Disability Rights Authority
  • Ministry of Human Resources Development
  • Ministry of Environment
  • 10 people (including 5 women) representing cross disabilities with not less than of 10 years experience in the field of disability sector.
  • The NIUD is envisaged to be an Institute of National Importance under the Central Ministry of HRD with autonomous provisions and powers. Regional chapters of the Institute in 6 zones are envisaged. The institute shall have its presence in the regional metropolitan cities / the premier technical institutions to make the presence felt to the government and to all the stakeholders.

Teaching

  • The institute shall develop a curriculum to the standards of under-graduation level to enable students to understand the need and importance decides technical inputs in designing infrastructures with universal designs. This will be mandatorily included as an examination paper in curriculum of mainstream education courses of architecture, engineering, paramedical fields and related areas. This cannot be an optional course and completion of this course with passing the exam will be essential for final degree certification.
  • The institute shall offer a post-graduation level course offering specialisation opportunities in this field. Entrance examination.

The institute shall fix the tenure for the period of study or the programme along with the eligibility criteria which dually be endorsed by the governing council of the institute.

  • It shall take into consideration the expert opinion from the technical experts and also from disability sector.
  • The institute shall also run need-based courses which are short term in nature for the corporates, voluntary sectors, disability activists, designers and all those interested in universal designs.
  • Certificates awarded to them shall be recognized by the Government of India and also be recognized by the federal governments. The NIUD is proposed to be the sole nodal certification entity for all universal design courses in the country, thereby controlling relevance, timeliness, quality and consistency.
  • The eligibility criteria for the course shall also be decide by the experts in consultation with the governing council.

Consultancy

This role of the institute is deemed to be very crucial as it directly envisages the principles, vision and mission statement of the organization.

The issue of time lack and also the lack in numbers will be filled by the institute's services as the consultant to the union government, federal government, corporate sectors, voluntary organization and even to the unorganized sectors making this institute as the nodal agency for the accessibility technical inputs.

Research & Development

The institute shall undertake research & development activities to further the technological innovations to provide that will enhance accessibility with ease. It shall also develop an evidence based national accessibility code by rigorous research & development initiative. This should be undertaken with the motive of synchronizing this aspect into the national federal building code. This process shall be completed within two years time frame.

Research & development shall undertake researches pertaining to development and adaptation on many forms of performing arts and sports in order to enable all section of the society to engage themselves and participate.

OPTIONS ON AS TO HOW NIUD CAN BE INCORPORATED:

  • The NIUD can be envisaged to be an Institute of National Importance under the Central Ministry of HRD with autonomous provisions and powers. Regional chapters of the Institute in 6 zones can also envisaged. The institute shall have its presence in the regional metropolitan cities / the premier technical institutions to make the presence felt to the government and to all the stakeholders.
  • The disadvantages of being under the MHRD would be that it might loose the focus on universal design innovation which is integral to NIUD and might become just an educational institution.
  • NIUD can be a grant-in-aid autonomous institution under the aegis of the Ministry of SJE, Government of India.
  • The disadvantage of this could be that it becomes another institute under MSJE. For the NIUD to be an autonomous body it has to be linked to all important Ministries like Transport Ministry, Ministry of Rural development, Ministry of urban development to name a few.
  • 4. NIUD can be a division of the existing NID. The synergies are obvious and it can gain by the established presence of design innovation experience gathered over 50 years by NID.

How was the NID Ahmedabad established?

  • NID is a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860) and also registered under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1960 (29 of 1960) and established in 1961 as an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Industry (now known as the Ministry of Commerce & Industry).
  • NID is a grant-in-aid autonomous institution under the aegis of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India.
  • NID has been recognized as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India.

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