Prateek Khandelwal’s life took a significant flip in 2014 when he fell from an under-construction constructing. The accident left the IT engineer paralyzed from the waist under and in a wheelchair.
On the time, Prateek was an brisk younger skilled with a profitable profession and an energetic social life, very like many others of their mid-20s. As we speak, he runs RampMyCity in Bengaluru, a startup that works to enhance accessibility for folks with disabilities and the aged in India.
As he tailored to his new actuality again then, he knew that he wasn’t going to let his wheelchair cease him from residing totally. Though public attitudes in direction of him modified, with some associates providing him sympathy whereas others turning into distant, he dedicated himself to strenuous bodily remedy throughout the first 4 years after the accident.
Confronted with problems akin to bladder points and muscle atrophy from his spinal twine harm, Prateek selected to give attention to his progress over dwelling on the challenges.
4 years of bodily coaching helped Prateek make important progress, however he confronted a brand new downside: he couldn’t exit to eat at his favorite eating places or some other locations he loved earlier than. This led him to create his startup as he understood simply how essential ramps have been in breaking obstacles and accessing the world outdoors.
Based in 2020, RampMyCity goals to supply full infrastructure options for each private and non-private sectors. This contains ramps, accessibility audits, retrofitting, and extra. Thus far, Prateek has helped set up over 530 ramps in cities like Bengaluru, Goa, Gurgaon, and Mumbai.
‘Why ought to I cease residing my life when my thoughts and spirit are free?’
Prateek’s brother Nirbhik recollects that in his remedy, his probabilities of survival have been slim. Nevertheless, Prateek vowed to his physician, “I’m going to return to you after two years and present you that my life doesn’t finish right here.”
This promise was the start of Prateek’s journey to restoration. Initially, he noticed his associates drifting away and a critical relationship coming to an finish. “We noticed his social life disappear and his state of affairs worsen,” shares Nirbhik.
However, coaching underneath his physiotherapist for 8-10 hours a day, Prateek rigorously monitored how his bladder and abdomen reacted to each chunk of meals and sip of liquid. “Restoration concerned lots of trial and error. Over time, I realized that enchancment comes slowly, however persistence is vital,” he shares.
By 2017, he might stand with a walker and carry out duties like cooking, and even use crutches. It was then that he questioned, “Why ought to I cease residing my life when my thoughts and spirit are free regardless of my challenges? I’m formidable, a big-time foodie, and love assembly my associates. Why ought to a wheelchair put an finish to it?”
Decided to not let his wheelchair restrict him, he started reaching out to his associates after 4 years of isolation. “Although they have been initially uncertain, they finally realised I used to be nonetheless the identical individual and invited me again into their social circles,” he says.
However the household struggled to seek out accessible places for Prateek, in order that they took it upon themselves to put in ramps. This fashion, he might be part of them of their outings to eating places and theatres. “The objective wasn’t to begin an enormous enterprise however to enhance accessibility for folks like Prateek, serving to them take pleasure in a life just like anybody else,” says Nirbhik, including that having the ability to exit for weekends and date nights boosted Prateek’s confidence.
“Giving him a traditional life was the largest success for us,” he remarks.
In his effort to reconnect with the group, Prateek confronted a harsh actuality: the shortage of accessibility in India. Regardless of residing in a prestigious constructing, he found that neither the constructing itself nor public areas like banks, eating places, metro or police stations, theatres have been accessible to him.
“This realisation hit me onerous, making me really feel as if I have been in a everlasting lockdown,” he says.
Many individuals with disabilities are compelled to remain indoors due to such infrastructural obstacles. The World Financial institution reviews that about 15% of the worldwide inhabitants has some type of incapacity. Given India’s inhabitants of over 1.4 billion, this interprets to roughly 21 crore folks with disabilities.
This raises the query: The place are these people?
The disabled group is among the largest and most marginalised teams, usually unseen and confined to their houses. An necessary query to think about then is what the federal government is doing about accessibility. The Rights of Individuals with Disabilities (RPwD) Act of 2016 mandates equal entry and common design requirements, however enforcement is commonly insufficient within the nation.
“Authorities initiatives usually function substandard accessibility options, with ramps that don’t meet crucial requirements. There’s a notable lack of motion from startups, NGOs, and wheelchair advocates as effectively,” Prateek remarks. To fill this hole, he created RampMyCity.
“RampMyCity wasn’t created simply from my concepts alone,” Prateek says. “It grew out of my real-life experiences. We go to every location to determine the ramp necessities after which devise an answer that works with out disrupting the present setup. Our strategy is all the time sensible and begins from the underside up.”
The initiative started with a marketing campaign to influence eating places to put in ramps, aiming to alter the view of accessibility from a charity situation to a preferred trigger. Its first product was a easy, attention-grabbing ramp designed to make accessibility extra seen and mainstream and market it in standard places.
A key problem for Prateek was the lack of knowledge in regards to the want for ramps, making it robust to draw sponsors. “Being convincing is essential when the necessity isn’t clear to others,” he displays.
“Ramps don’t want any cement or brickwork. We determined to fabricate metal and aluminium ramps in our workshop, which may be shortly put in at any location with no downtime,” he shares. This makes it a easy and environment friendly answer.
Initially, RampMyCity centered on eateries as a result of they appeal to lots of people. Between 2018 and 2020, it had arrange ramps at 60 places. “As our work turned extra seen, we started receiving requests from different sectors like banks, faculties, and hospitals,” says Prateek, including that despite the fact that COVID-19 slowed issues down a bit, the staff of 9 continued to make progress and put in over 70 ramps at major healthcare centres in Bengaluru.
Making Bengaluru one among India’s most wheelchair-friendly cities
In Bengaluru, the startup has ramped Church Road, over 100 eating places, 50+ police stations, malls, and ATMs, making it one of the vital wheelchair-friendly cities in India.
“Though our staff is small, we’re continually working within the area. Putting in a ramp isn’t so simple as it sounds; it requires a number of rounds of audits and surveys as a result of metropolis’s unorganised progress,” he reveals.
Whereas legal guidelines have outlined ramp requirements, the present infrastructure usually doesn’t meet these requirements on account of house constraints and obstacles like parking and drainage. “We first conduct a technical audit to find out the most effective kind of ramp for every location, making certain that each ramp is customised to suit the positioning’s wants,” Prateek states.
In accordance with Ipsita Sarkar, who has identified Prateek since faculty and has labored with RampMyCity since 2018, the important thing to the organisation’s success is Prateek’s drive to encourage himself and people round him. She describes how they began by inviting wheelchair customers to occasions to assist them get away of their shells.
The turning level for Prateek got here in 2022 when Lok Sabha MP Tejasvi Surya took discover of his work and requested him to put in ramps at 10 outstanding authorities buildings in Bengaluru. The startup efficiently put in ramps in a park, a hospital, and at different websites.
“With Dunzo sponsoring the initiative, they added 10 ramps in simply 20 days. That second marked a brand new chapter for us and gave us the visibility we wanted,” Prateek says.
As we speak, RampMyCity has expanded to varied cities, together with Delhi, Cyber Hub, Galleria Market in Goa, and standard markets in Mumbai. At the moment, it’s engaged on ramping up police stations and eateries in Mumbai.
RampMyCity handles all the things – from ramps and railings to furnishings and loo equipment, elevators, wheelchairs, and emergency evacuation options. As an example, the staff gives particular wheelchairs that may navigate stairs throughout emergencies when elevators can’t be used.
It sources these merchandise from throughout India, each domestically and centrally, to fulfill varied wants. By way of this, it has reinvigorated the trade, growing provide and opening the market to new gamers centered on incapacity options.
“We’ve been requested by quite a few organisations to create end-to-end accessibility options for his or her workplaces, which embrace all the things from accessible parking and entry routes to doorways and charging factors. We additionally handle how workspaces, card-punch areas, washrooms, and canteens are all designed to be inclusive and user-friendly,” he notes.
“Everybody talks about how India shall be developed by 2047, however we should keep in mind that true growth begins with accessibility,” Prateek shares, whereas remarking that international locations like Singapore and people in Europe are thought of developed as a result of they’re accessible. “For India to achieve that degree, accessibility should come first. That is the imaginative and prescient we attempt for.”
Tapping into the company market
“The truth is that many individuals have restricted budgets for accessibility options,” states Prateek. Cafes would possibly solely spend a couple of thousand on ramps, however correct ramps with the proper size and gradient value extra.
This was the problem for Prateek and his staff as a result of folks wished ramps however weren’t keen to pay for high quality. “We would have liked to discover a solution to scale up shortly, aiming for 1000’s of ramps per 12 months, not simply dozens. Even massive firms with substantial revenues usually don’t funds for true accessibility. We noticed a possibility in CSR and philanthropic funding to assist us develop and meet our targets,” Prateek says.
In whole, 70% of the entire Company Social Duty (CSR) spending from 2018 by way of 2021 went to training, healthcare, rural growth, environmental sustainability, and poverty, in response to a Bain & Firm report. RampMyCity approached these firms, proposing they put money into public accessibility initiatives.
“We supplied to handle installations in public locations, hospitals, and police stations, with the federal government offering the mandatory permissions. This mannequin has helped RampMyCity scale quickly, shares Prateek, including that the startup is presently working to faucet into this massive pool of CSR cash to enhance public infrastructure.
When requested how he stayed motivated throughout the early days of his startup whereas adjusting to life in a wheelchair and an unclear path forward, Prateek says it was all about taking child steps. “When you’re constant in working in direction of your objectives, there’ll all the time be a method ahead,” he shares, quoting his private mantra: Kismat ke bharose mat baithiye; kismat khud aapke bharose baithi hai (Don’t await luck/kismet; it’s ready so that you can make a transfer).
“My harm compelled me to face myself. I might both change into my best ally or my largest enemy,” he shares. Years after the accident, when Prateek reviewed his life, his previous achievements, and took word of the go-getting angle he had all the time had, he was capable of piece collectively his id. This led to a renewed give attention to his objectives.
For these dealing with comparable struggles, his recommendation is to belief the method. “Over time, you will note how the larger plan was made for you.”
He additional provides, “I’ve by no means regretted my harm or my life in a wheelchair. As a substitute, I see it as a tremendous alternative that I wouldn’t have had in any other case. It’s allowed me to see how many individuals with disabilities can dwell full, regular lives; journey, work, and be a part of society.”
Edited by Padmashree Pande; Footage Courtesy: Prateek Khandelwal
Sources:
https://www.bain.com/globalassets/noindex/2022/bain_report_india_philanthropy_report-2022.pdf. Bain & Firm India Philanthrophy Report 2022
https://www.worldbank.org/en/matter/incapacity#:~:textual content=Onepercent20billionpercent20peoplepercent2Cpercent20orpercent2015,experiencepercent20somepercent20formpercent20ofpercent20disability. Incapacity Inclusion – World Financial institution
https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/15939/1/the_rights_of_persons_with_disabilities_actpercent2C_2016.pdf. The Rights Of Individuals With Disabilities Act, 2016
