Bhubaneswar: A state-wide campaign to create awareness on disability issues and the Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016, will soon be launched in the state.

Social organisation Swabhiman, which fights for the rights of the disabled, will launch the campaign in May for creating awareness on disability at district, block, panchayat and village levels.

The campaign, Sashakt, will be a multi-level, multi-stakeholder campaign to build awareness on disability-related issues, new laws and support for an inclusive and accessible environment for individuals with disability.

More than 20,000 disabled persons will come together to organise the campaign, while an awareness procession will reach out to more than 10,00,000 disabled people.

The campaign will be flagged off from Puri town in the first week of May and the procession will cover all the 30 district headquarter towns in the state by the last week of June. A chariot with messages on disability awareness and a mobile photo exhibition will move along with the campaign team. A seminar in this regard was hosted in the city on Saturday that was attended by a number of stakeholders in the fields of disability.

"Public meetings, audio-visual show, photo exhibition, distribution of leaflets and posters, wall painting, talent show by the disabled and press meet are the key activities that have been planned," said social activist and founder of Swabhiman Sruti Mohapatra.

The campaign will see up to seven mass awareness programmes every day in each area discussing, analysing and understanding disability and the laws and support system available for the disabled.

These programmes will include the participation of school and college students on the same platform along with political, legislative, and social leaders and the media.

The programmes will use conversations, theatre, music and folklore in local languages to create awareness and ensure action on the effective implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016. The campaign will be led by children, youths, women and men with disabilities forming various groups at district, block and village levels, including volunteers from schools and colleges, social activists, professionals in the disability sector, faith leaders, political leaders, and representatives from the government, corporate and media.

In addition, each district headquarter town, block and village will see partners and supporters of the campaign from local enforcement agencies, government wings, private companies, and youth organisations, besides media and social media, schools, colleges, religious groups and civil society.