On Wednesday, 8th January, 2025, the I for Humanity Foundation, and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), through its flagship scheme- Smart Cities Mission launched ‘Accessible Cities’ initiatives for the development of accessible and inclusive cities for diverse user groups, including the elderly, persons with disabilities, women, and children in the coming years.

The Foundation and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for enabling the development of accessible and inclusive infrastructure developed under DAY NULM and PMSvanidhi Mission and supporting specially-abled street vendors and self-help groups for financial/ welfare assistance and livelihood activities for persons with disabilities.

The launch ceremony and MoU signing ceremony took place at MoHUA, Delhi. The MoU was signed by Shri Rahul Kapoor, Joint Secretary- Smart Cities Mission, MoHUA, and Mrs Juuhi Rajput, Founder- I for Humanity Foundation in the presence of Hon’ble Minister of State, Shri Tokhan Sahu ji and other dignitaries.

Hon’ble Minister of State, Shri Sahu appreciated the initiatives launched and motivated dignitaries and participants present in the program to pledge to implement universal design and standards in all the projects and make sincere efforts to make our country inclusive and accessible. He also stated that these initiatives are aligned with India's 'Accessible India Campaign' (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan), which was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in 2015.

‘Accessible Cities’ is an initiative launched by I for Humanity Foundation through its platform ‘Alliance for Inclusion and Accessibility’, which aims to invite, motivate and guide 100 cities under the Smart Cities Mission in implementing universal design principles in their infrastructural projects. This includes inter alia,  residential & commercial buildings, public spaces, streets, parks, open and recreational spaces, etc. and also, making the existing built environment in cities more accessible and inclusive in due course of time. In the initial phase, 10 cities have been shortlisted including- Chandigarh, Sagar, Satna, Jabalpur, Dehradun, Belagavi, Pune, Raipur, Lucknow and Varanasi and the focus will be on creating awareness by organizing a training session on universal design specifications in the built environment involving different stakeholders including Mayors, City Leaders, Municipal Corporations, RERA, Smart Cities, ULBs, Housing Department, PWD, Development Authorities, Department of Country & Town Planning, etc.

Mrs. Juuhi Rajput stated that other than Accessible Cities initiative, ‘Accessible Housing and Commercial Buildings’ initiative was launched for sensitizing State Real Estate Regulatory Authorities and making universal guidelines mandatory in State RERA Acts.  This initiative will be instrumental in enabling persons with disabilities to live a better life. Also, ‘Accessible Hospitality’, Accessible  Banking and ‘Accessible Elevators’ initiatives were launched to guide hospitality industry, banking institutions, and elevators manufacturers in incorporating universal guidelines in hotels, banks branches and ATMs and elevators.