Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, on Tuesday, announced that the government would provide smart white canes to the visually challenged.
The government has allocated around Rs. 1.58 crore for the purpose. The technology was developed under the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi’s Assistive Technologies Group a couple of years ago.
The canes have a device with ultrasonic sensors to detect objects up to three metres and produce vibrating signals, thus alerting the user.
The government will provide the smart canes to 5,000 visually challenged persons this year.
A senior official from the Department for the Differently Abled said this is the first time that a State government had come up with such a scheme. Currently, the government provides white canes with reflectors to identify the users in darkness. “Until now some NGOs have been providing these devices, but no government has so far attempted such a scheme,” the official said.
D. Elumalai, whose four siblings are also visually impaired said, “I am using the smart stick now. I received this when it was first introduced last year. It is good for those who have mastered mobility techniques as sometimes the cane would vibrate extensively and we don’t know what is ahead. It is welcome that for the first time the State government has launched the programme. We hope the project would be extended to at least 50,000 persons.”
According to him, Vellore district, where he lives has around 23,500 visually disabled persons and he hopes that the government would consider providing advanced technology such as GPS-enabled shoes.
“The Central government’s National Institute for the Visually Handicapped offers a range of products. I hope the State government would consider doing the same,” Mr. Elumalai said.
