Started in 2020, Prateek’s social startup wants to be the ‘solution’ that ensures end-to-end delivery of infrastructural solutions for public and private sectors, ranging from ramps, accessibility audits, retrofitting, recommendations, implementations, urban planning, training and awareness. .

Prateek, just like any mid-20s’ working professional, had a job of his own, a successful career and was a social butterfly. However, in 2014, life presented itself with a tragedy that made Prateek wheelchair-bound. He had a fall in an under-construction building that led to paraplegia due to spinal cord injury.

He was paralyzed waist down. It took 18 months for Prateek to lead a new phase of life after he endured social rejections and more importantly found it difficult to access places such as restaurants, public transportation, and police stations which are not wheelchair accessible.

“However, after the fall my turnaround time to spring back to a new life was just 18 months. I had to come to terms with reality. I realized that my life can only be one thing – fantastic. That is the soul I am gifted with,” said Prateek.

He believes that the negligence towards making places more inclusive and accessible is due to the lack of micro engagements between the abled and the disabled.

According to the WHO and World Bank, about 15 percent of every country’s population lives with some form of disability. That means India has at least 100 million people living with some disability. Although the government has formulated laws such as building codes, Rights of PwD Act, they are very idealistic in nature and not enforced effectively. As a result, it leads to lack of inclusive and accessible infrastructure further resulting in the gap in understanding between the abled and the disabled,” says Prateek who used this problem as a hook to ideate an end-to-end infrastructure solution.

Prateek’s social startup is mostly bootstrapped while he also collaborates with corporates to initiate CSR activities aimed at making more accessible public spaces for the differently-abled.

Prateek first started off by manufacturing metal ramps in a workshop and installing them on sites. The second approach, included popularizing the ramps by targeting higher footfall places like restaurants, government offices, police stations, hospitals, educational institutions, banks, parks, and commercial establishments, among other public places.

So far, Prateek has been instrumental in installing more than 530 ramps in various social spaces across cities including Bengaluru, Goa, Gurgaon and Mumbai.

“However, the biggest challenge was to convince the owners of establishments or buildings about the purpose of installing ramps. Some of them remain with the stigma that no wheelchair bound individuals visit the building and the purpose of installing ramps falls flat. But the problem is only when you make buildings more accessible and inclusive with the right infrastructure, you will have people with disabilities access the place,” said Prateek who is also providing end-to-end infrastructure solutions making lives of PwD more easily accessible.

He is also engaging in high-stake projects with focus on building and planning for cities with both the Karnataka and the Central governments. Recently, he also received grants from the Australian Consulate in Bengaluru to work on accessibility measures for 6-12 months in public parks, toilets and other social spaces in Bengaluru.

“The government should strictly enforce the laws and guidelines to make buildings and public spaces more inclusive. There should also be a penalty attached for failure to comply with the building codes. I also appeal that urban planners should equally prioritize designing buildings and public spaces which are wheelchair friendly, which otherwise is seen as a last course measure,” says Prateek.