The Disability Support Group’s (DSG) history traces back to the formation of the Diversable Alliance (DA) in 2019. The DA was started by the first 100% blind student on campus as an informal collective of PWD students to address the challenges they faced. At the time, campus infrastructure—particularly older buildings posed significant mobility and navigation barriers. The DA focused on building awareness around disability identity and advocacy, including writing for campus publications such as The Quirk.
The alliance’s early advocacy helped institutionalise disability support within the university. It worked with faculty to implement reasonable accommodations, including accessible reading materials and inclusive teaching practices. These efforts aimed to ensure smoother onboarding and integration for students in the PWD category. The DA continues to exist today and includes all PWD students enrolled in the NLS on-campus programme.
In 2022, DSG was formed to assist visually impaired individuals on campus. In 2023, recognising the need for a more structured collective focused on disability issues, volunteers formalised DSG with a membership application process and two coordinators as its first leads. Membership was open to both disabled and non-disabled students.
Since then, DSG’s mandate has expanded beyond visual impairment to supporting students with all types of disabilities.
DSG attempts to promote accessibility for life in NLSIU. It engages with the university administration on matters in academics and residential life, while also engaging in broader disability-rights advocacy on campus.
To raise awareness and educate incoming students, DSG conducts disability orientation sessions and workshops on disability-related issues. Its early initiatives included helping students with disabilities access mess services remotely through a coordinated volunteering system and coordinating with the university administration for a guard escort facility to assist those with mobility issues.
DSG also interacts with other committees and activity-based groups within the University, providing relevant feedback to ensure accessibility within their events or functions. Additionally, the group conducted a disability walk with the administration to address accessibility issues on campus.
As a new collective recognised under the SBA, DSG has made relevant breakthroughs in terms of its mandate. However, the group seeks to further its work and research in addressing inaccessibility as an issue in legal institutions and providing further insight into the Disability Rights movement.
Coordinators
Gaurav (III Year BA LLB):
Aditya Maheshwari (III Year BA LLB):