The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) successfully concluded the four-day ‘Purple Jallosh’ festival, a landmark event dedicated to empowering disabled individuals through inclusive policies and community-driven initiatives. The festival, inaugurated by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on January 17 and graced by Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan on the closing day, announced several transformative measures to foster self-reliance, inclusivity and equality for the disabled community.
The event began with the ‘Purple Jallosh’ procession, a vibrant display of unity and resilience, featuring disabled individuals, their families, students and social workers. The procession highlighted the collective responsibility of society to value every individual, regardless of their abilities.
Pawar emphasised the government’s commitment to enabling self-sufficiency among disabled individuals through skill development programmes and access to modern assistive technologies. He announced that employment opportunities for disabled individuals will be prioritised to ensure their integration into the mainstream workforce. A dedicated fund will be introduced in the upcoming state budget to support disability-centric projects, including employment generation, education, healthcare and the distribution of assistive devices.
To ensure the effective implementation of welfare schemes, district-level coordination committees will be established across Maharashtra. These committees will oversee the distribution of resources and benefits, ensuring they reach those in need. A streamlined certification process will also be introduced to identify the specific needs of disabled individuals, enabling tailored resource allocation and improved access to welfare schemes.
The festival featured interactive workshops on assistive technologies, employment fairs connecting disabled individuals with employers and brainstorming sessions to address challenges faced by the community. Awareness programmes emphasised the importance of inclusive education, accessible infrastructure and public sensitisation. Free health check-ups were conducted for attendees, with commitments to enhance healthcare accessibility and develop inclusive public infrastructure.
PCMC Commissioner Shekhar Singh announced a pioneering early detection and intervention project targeting children aged 0–6 years. This milestone project will be undertaken in collaboration with Divyang Bhavan, District Disability Rehabilitation Centre (DDRC) and Mahatma Gandhi Seva Sangh (MGSS). The project includes home-based counselling, therapy and rehabilitation. MGSS, nationally acclaimed for its ‘Akola Pattern’—a home-to-home socio-economic mapping model for disabled individuals—will leverage its expertise to ensure effective implementation. The organisation was honoured with the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (2022) by the Ministry of Social Justice for its work in disability rehabilitation.
