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WHO BENEFITS FROM PURPLE FESTS?
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WHO BENEFITS FROM PURPLE FESTS?

Purple fest October 11, 2025 , by

By Avelino de Sa

THE third edition of the International Purple Festival will be getting over shortly. Over the last three years we have seen that crores of rupees are spent on one week of entertainment, conferences and temporary infrastructure for persons with disability. Last year the budget was Rs30 crore and this year also it is expected to be the same. Have these international so called “purple” festivals been able to make a difference in the lives of people with disability at grass roots level in the villages of Goa or is the situation still the same?
How many people with disability in the villages in Goa are empowered due to the purple fests? Does the government even know how many people with disability are there in Goa? The government is giving social security pension of Rs2,000 per month to 12,000 persons with disability in Goa. Is this amount sufficient for a month? Is the government serious about empowering persons with disability in Goa?
DISABILITY AFFECTS US ALL
WE cannot talk about the rights of children, women, senior citizens, prisoners or migrants without talking about the rights of persons with disability because disability is a cross cutting issue and it affects every section of society be it children, women, senior citizens, prisoners or migrants. India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability as a result of which India notified the Rights of Persons with Disability (RPWD) Act 2016. This Act focuses on non-discrimination and equal opportunity for persons with disability and gives many rights to persons with disability in terms of education, employment, accessibility, art and culture, health, sports, justice and social security but the foundation of all these rights is accessibility because we cannot talk of right to education if schools and colleges are not accessible to children with disability. We cannot talk of right to employment if work places and transportation is not accessible to people with disability. We cannot talk of right to art and culture, health, justice and sports if public places like theatres, auditoriums, health centers, courts, stadiums, market places and bus stops are not accessible to persons with disability and we cannot talk about right to social security if banks, panchayats, municipalities and government offices are not accessible to persons with disability. In short we have failed as a society to empower the weaker sections of society if we cannot provide accessibility to persons with disability.
ACCESSIBILITY is not only in terms of physical infrastructure for persons with orthopedic disability but also in terms of information, communication and technology for persons with visual and hearing impairment. Goa has many persons with disability who are educated, employed, empowered, self-reliant, tax payers and role models even at national level, but their mobility and contribution to society is hampered due to inaccessible infrastructure.
Section 40 to 44 of the RPWD Act 2016 mandates that no public buildings shall be given construction licenses or occupancy certificates if the building does not conform to the accessibility standards laid by the Central government in terms of ramps, lifts, handrails, tactiles, fire alarms, accessible toilets, signages, etc. Section 45 of the RPWD Act 2016 mandates that all existing public buildings before notification of the Act should be made accessible within a period of five years of notification the Act. However it is seen that despite laws and directions in place including court orders, crores of rupees are spent on new buildings and to make existing buildings accessible for persons with disability but they are not as per the specifications mandated under the RPWD Act.
Also it is seen that public programs are organized in places which are not accessible for persons with disability. This is a criminal waste of public tax-payers money which includes people with disability and trampling of their rights, but sadly there is no accountability among government authorities. Even the poorest of the poor pay taxes like GST, road tax and panchayat tax and he has a right to accessibility in public buildings and public programs — because it is mandated under the RPWD Act 2016, but nobody cares even though 8% of our population comprises of persons with disability, senior citizens and people with temporary disability who will benefit from accessible infrastructure.
The government of Goa has spent crores under the Accessible India Campaign to make existing public buildings accessible for persons with disability. But we can only see signages and nothing else even though five years have passed. Where have the crores gone? Four beaches in Goa were to be made accessible under the Accessible India Campaign. How many have been made permanently accessible till date? If we have funds to make them accessible for purple fests why not make it permanently accessible?
CHENNAI DID IT!
IF Chennai can make its beaches permanently accessible why not Goa? How many hotels and restaurants are accessible for persons with disability in Goa? Why are they not accessible till date even though its mandatory? Isn’t Goa an international tourist destination?
The government of Goa started a separate department for empowerment for persons with disability last year, but what is the use of it? The government still does not know how many people with disability are there in Goa, neither does it have any staff to do the work. In July 2025 we put a seven-point demand to the government which is not resolved till date. So who benefits from the crores spent on these purple fests?
(The writer is founder-president of Disability Rights Association of Goa and a financial consultant by profession.)

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