National Council of Churches in India

Indian Disability Ecumenical Accompaniment

Interfaith Round Table on Disability

August 7 – 9, 2017, Pallottine Animation Centre, Nagpur, Maharashtra

Press Note

The NCCI – Indian Disability Ecumenical Accompaniment (IDEA) is organizing an ‘Interfaith Round Table on Disability from 7 – 9 August 2017 at Pallottine Animation Centre, Nagpur.  It is jointly organised with the World Council of Churches – Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network, Spalding Trust, World Vision India and Christian Service Agency. The theme for the Round Table is “Faith Journey Together Towards ‘Inclusive Communities”

It is a first event of its kind. There would be around 60 participants including clerics, theologians and academicians from  major faiths including Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Indigenous, Jainism, Sikhism  faith traditions from all over India participating in this round table.

This Round Table aims to…

• invite different faith communities, to engage in conversing on ‘disability’ from their own faith and theological perspectives and experiences.
• suggest and facilitate ‘faith-alliance building’ among the faith communities at leadership and religious adherents’ level to serve PWDs and strengthen advocacy and policy development initiatives.

Feature of this Round Table is to …

• Listening to Scriptures: “ What do our ‘Holy Books’ say about Disability?”
• Exploratory exercises of our Religious Traditions: “How our faiths treat PWDs?
• Look at whether our ‘holy shrines’ accessible and inclusive?”
• Government Interventions: “Getting to know the policies and programmes of the Governments that ensure inclusion and how faith communities could join together to make those policies accessible to the PWDs and Public.
• Common and collective Faith Based Action Plans.

The inauguration of the Round table is scheduled on the 7th August 2017 at 10:30 am. Honorable Prof. Dr. Siddharthavinayaka P Kane the Vice Chancellor of the Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur, and Most Rev. Dr. Michael G. Jackson, the Arch Bishop of Dublin, Church of Ireland, have consented to be guests of honor in this inauguration. The Rev. Dr. P. C. Singh the President of NCCI, Rev. Dr. Roger Gaikwad, General Secretary – NCCI, Rt. Rev. Paul Dupare, Bishop, CNI, Nagpur, Mr. Thomas Cherian, World Vision of India, Rev. Dr. Joshva Raja, Church of England also have consented to jointly inaugurate the round table along with Ven. Bhante Dhammashree Sarathi, Mr. Santosh H. Chahande, Mr. Ankit Bhuptani, Janab. Ahammad Kutty, Prof. Dr. Amrit Kaur Basera , Swami  Kedar Joshi Ji and Shri. Hamant Lodha and other faith representatives.  As to celebrate the unity t these interfaith leaders join the other participants in planting a tree symbolically at 10.30 am at Pallottine Campus. The Round Table will be concluded on the 9th Aug 2017.

The participants would collectively engage in conversing through input sessions, panel discussions, talk-show, group discussion, practical talks, story-telling and interfaith worships.

For more details please see the Concept Note (.pdf | 371 kb).

Yours,