[LIS-Forum] Fwd: [IFLA-L] To fulfill the provisions of the Marrakesh Treaty, Indian Government launched 'SugamyaPustakalaya.in', an e-Library

Shamprasad Pujar pujar at igidr.ac.in
Mon Aug 29 14:24:04 IST 2016


FYI

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: anup kumar das <anupdas2072 at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Aug 28, 2016 at 11:49 PM
Subject: [IFLA-L] To fulfill the provisions of the Marrakesh Treaty,
Indian Government launched 'SugamyaPustakalaya.in', an e-Library
To: ifla-l <ifla-l at infoserv.inist.fr>
Cc: rscao-l <rscao-l at infoserv.inist.fr>, diglib
<diglib at infoserv.inist.fr>, salis_info at yahoogroups.com


To fulfill the provisions of the Marrakesh Treaty, Government of India
launched "Sugamya Pustakalaya": An e-Library for Persons with Visual
Disabilities at New Delhi on 24 August 2016.

Web portal "SugamyaPustakalaya.in" is an online library for persons
with visual disabilities. Over 200,000 books available in several
languages in accessible formats for people with visual impairment and
print disabilities.

"Sugamya Pustakalaya: A step towards an Accessible Digital India" (An
online library for persons with visual disabilities) was launched by
Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Law & Justice and Electronics &
Information Technology at a function organized by Department of
Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice &
Empowerment here today. Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot, Minister of Social
Justice & Empowerment presided over the function. Shri Prakash
Javadekar, Minister for Human Resource Development and Ministers of
State for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar and
Shri Ramdas Athawale were the Guests of Honour. Before the inaugural
function, there was a panel discussion on the subject of “Accessible
Digital India”. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said this is an era of
Information and Technology and both are powers. Through Digital India
we are seeking to bridge the Digital Divide between have’s and have
not’s. We have linked Divyangjans with the common service centres in
our country.  National Informatics Centre (NIC) is in the process of
making 100 Government websites Divyang friendly of which 16 have
already been made Divyang friendly. He asked NGOs and citizens to use
“My Gov” to provide valuable inputs on Government of India schemes.
Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot said his Ministry is dedicated to the
Sugamaya Bharat campaign and buildings in several Indian cities will
be made accessible. Over 600,000 Divyangjans have been provided
equipment and 4000 camps have been organized nationwide to facilitate
and upgrade the lives of Digvaygjans and downtrodden sections of
society. Permission has been given to establish 18 new Braille
Printing Presses. The Divyang College in Trivandrum will also be
converted into Divyang University. A new world record was created when
1500 Divyangans were provided equipment in Varanasi. Shri Prakash
Javadekar in his address said HRD Ministry will provide just
assistance to facilitate the Divyangjans in our country. He said his
first convocation address will be at the Divyang University at
Chitrakoot. Shri Kishan Pal Gurjar said that Divyangjans don’t need
the sympathy of the people but deserve their love, affection and
support. Through this launch of “Sugamya Pustakalaya” they will be
able to get all valuable information. He also sought cooperation from
publishers in this endeavour. Shri Ramdas  Athawale said that it is
the prime responsibility of his Ministry is to look after the interest
and wellbeing of the Divyagjans and backwards sections of our society.
He hoped that this initiative will achieve its objectives. Shri
Dipendra Manocha, Managing Trustee of Saksham Trust gave a brief
introduction of the E-library “SugamyaPustakalaya” on the occasion.

"SugamayaPustakalaya.in" is an online platform that makes accessible
content available to print-disabled people. The library houses
publications across diverse subjects and languages and multiple
accessible formats. It has been created by Department of Empowerment
of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice
and Empowerment in collaboration with member organizations of Daisy
Forum of India and powered by TCS Access. Books are available in
Accessible formats for people with visual impairment and other print
disabilities. Over 200,000 books in diverse languages. Integrating
libraries across India and the Globe, including the largest
international library, ‘Bookshare’.
In case of End User i.e. person with Print Disability: The next time a
person with Print Disability needs to read a book, he can skip the
laborious process of looking for volunteers to read them to him or
scan and edit them. A quick search on the Sugamya Pustakalaya may land
him with the book of his choice at the click of a button. He will need
to be a registered print-disabled member with one of the member DFI
organizations to download the book or procure it offline through their
member organization. He can access all the books in the library at a
click of a button. He can read the publications on any device of his
choice- mobile phones, tablets, computers, DAISY players or even in
braille using refreshable braille displays. He could also request for
a braille copy through member organizations that have Braille presses.
In case of a School/College/Library: Universities, School Library,
Public Libraries or any such institution can become a member of DFI or
subscribe to the online library to offer the entire collection of the
Sugamya Pustakalaya to their members or students with print
disabilities. Educational institutions can also contribute accessible
format books produced for their students so that students from other
educational institutions can access the same and avoid duplications of
creation at multiple locations.
In case of a Publisher/Government House/Textbook Production House:
They can be part of creating history by creating the largest
accessible online library in a developing country. Increase their
reader base to include persons with print disabilities by sharing
accessible formats of their publications to be put up on Sugamya
Pustakalaya. The library already hosts publications such as Reader’s
Digest and India Today and seeks to have new partnerships with a large
number of private and government publishing house and publications.
Textbooks production houses, state text book boards (SCERTs/NCERT) can
meet their obligations under the Right to Education Act (2009) by
providing their content to students with print disabilities through
this platform. Sugamya Pustakalya will provide protection to books and
limit distribution to only those who cannot read normal print.
In case of an NGO: They can begin a library service for persons with
print disabilities by joining as a members and offer the complete
content provided by the Sugamya Pustakalaya to their members.
In case of a Corporate: Their employees can volunteer for accessible
content creation and help reach out to millions of users with print
disabilities. The IT industry can contribute with technology
development to fill gaps in authoring and reading of digital content
in all Indian languages.

Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=149198 &
https://youtu.be/KxUQX_P5LqQ


Need a news item on this topic for your Magazine/ Newsletter? Please contact me:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Anup Kumar Das
Centre for Studies in Science Policy
School of Social Sciences
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi - 110067, India
Email: anupdas2072 at gmail.com
Web: www.anupkumardas.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




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