Championing the cause of the differently abled in Madurai

For G. Shankar Ganesan (37), a recently recruited visually challenged railway employee, his life would have been different if he had not been a part of the Indian Association for the Blind (IAB) in Madurai.

Many people like Mr. Ganesan had their lives transformed with the help of IAB.

The 37-year-old man from Virudhunagar lost his vision at the age of 18 years as a result of an accident that happened during his childhood days. This tore apart his life completely, pushing him to discontinue his education.

| Video Credit: G. Moorthy

It took another two years for him to regain his lost confidence to restart his education when he joined IAB in 2005. He completed his school and college education staying at the IAB’s hostel and started working there from 2014 till 2023.

Most people of Madurai would probably not have missed the sight of freight vans of the bakery outlet ‘Thank U,’ bearing the photo of Mr. Ganesan.

‘Thank U,’ a bakery started in 2020 by the IAB administration with the sole aim of providing job opportunities to the differently abled people, has provided the chance for many differently abled to live on their own.

M. Abdul Raheem, vice-president of IAB, said that his father and founder of IAB S.M.A. Jinnah himself being a visually challenged started the association to champion the cause of differently abled.

“His assertion that the visually challenged people’s potentials were undermined made him create opportunities for such people rather than running just a charity for them,” he added.

“We strive to create an inclusive environment in the business by providing an equal opportunity for differently abled too,” said Mr. Raheem.

IAB, which was started in 1985 just with a hostel facility for the college going visually challenged people, has evolved into a centre meant for improving the lives of differently abled.

The IAB school established in 1994 has 80 students on the roll, mostly visually challenged, studying in classes from grade 6 to 12. “Students after their schooling pursue their higher education by staying in the hostel,” he added.

One such student named R. Vasanth (23), a native of Dindigul, after his higher education at the Thiagarajar College started working at the IAB’s braille press while preparing for government exams.

Likewise, G. Manimaran, who joined here in 2003 after pursuing his school and college education, joined as a teacher in IAB school.

Pointing to this, Mr. Raheem, said, “Differently abled should live a self-sustaining life rather than depending on others’ sympathy, which stood as the prime motive for my father to create varied opportunities for them.”

Many businesses started by the IAB like Business Processing Outsourcings (BPO), phone booths, hardware manufacturing, due to various reasons could not survive as a long-lasting job provider, he added.

“After failing in many businesses, we opted for bakery as the food industry which would not get outdated at any point of time, thereby creating a constant job opportunity for differently abled,” Mr. Raheem said.

Currently, the bakery has six outlets in Madurai, two kiosks in Coimbatore and one in Hyderabad. Raheem explained that differently abled would be given work according to their abilities.

“As each one has a unique role in the work area, they would not feel alienated from the other people,” he added

“IAB strives for an inclusive environment whatever business it might be. Till now, we have never thought of charging for the education, accommodation and other services, thereby shouldering my father’s dream and responsibility,” added Mr. Raheem.