The visually challenged see a ray of hope

Budget has spelt out assistance to State Governments for establishing 15 new Braille presses

The Union Budget 2014-15 has certain incentives for the visually challenged but this has evoked a mixed response from this section of the society.

The Budget spelt out assistance to State Governments for establishing 15 new Braille presses and to modernise ten of the existing ones to meet the demand for textbooks for visually challenged students in the current financial year. It also stated that the Government will print currency notes with Braille like signs to assist the visually challenged.

The move has been welcomed as an optimistic step in recognising the needs of visually challenged persons. However, Ramdas Shivhare, a visually challenged M.A History student from St. Stephens College felt it was just a fledgling effort. “Braille is certainly needed for primary education, but what we need is accessibility to educational material in whichever form -- audio, e- text or Braille.”

These people access e-text by transcribing the written word into audio through a screen reading software. “Subsidising assistive technology such as laptops would have been a better proposition for us,” said Ashu Mishra, a Hindi lecturer at Delhi University.

While India is home to 15 million visually impaired people, Delhi has the second largest population of visually challenged persons in India, next only to Uttar Pradesh.

J.L. Kaul, general secretary of All India Confederation of the Blind (AICB), New Delhi, shared some deficiencies of the proposed budgetary measures for the visually impaired, stressing that he saw the measures as an optimistic attempt. “No matter how many new Braille presses are started, the maintenance of the existing ones remains an unanswered puzzle,” AICB is India’s largest producer of books in Braille.

The Braille presses are sourced from abroad and their spare parts remain unavailable here. In such a scenario, their operation stands in jeopardy in the event of a breakdown. As for the issue of currency notes, Mr. Kaul said Braille dots on paper currency will wear off quite soon due to handling. “In the matter of coins, more than one size is prevalent for each currency denomination, which is inconvenient for us sight-challenged people”, he said, adding, “May everyone stay blessed with vision, but close your eyes for a moment and you will understand my point”.