India striving to ensure visually impaired live with dignity, equality: Centre

New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) India is striving to ensure that people with visual impairment live with dignity, independence, and equality, said the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on World Braille Day on Saturday.

World Braille Day is observed annually on January 4 to commemorate the birthday anniversary of Louis Braille -- the visionary who developed a tactile script in the 19th century in France that revolutionised communication for blind and partially sighted individuals.

The day has been celebrated globally since 2019 and highlights the significance of Braille in empowering visually impaired individuals.

Braille is used by blind and partially sighted people to read the same books and periodicals as those printed in a visual font.

It is a tactile representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols using six dots to represent each letter and number, and even musical, mathematical, and scientific symbols.

“As we celebrate the achievements of Louis Braille and countless individuals who continue to champion accessibility, let us pledge to build a society where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their abilities,” said the Ministry.

According to the 2011 Census, there are 50,32,463 persons with visual impairment in India.

The Ministry also listed some of the important initiatives undertaken by the government for the empowerment of visually impaired persons.

The initiatives focus on the rights, education, employment, and overall well-being of the visually impaired in the country.

The government has collaborated with the National Association for the Blind to make approximately 10,000 pages of documents, including government schemes and legal reliefs, accessible to persons with visual disabilities.

MoUs have been signed with Inclusive Science, Mission Accessibility, and the National Association for the Blind to boost mobile application accessibility through AI technology.

Further, the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Impairment (NIEPVD) (Divyangjan) working for the education, training, rehabilitation, and empowerment of persons with visual impairment during 2023-24 benefitted 2,94,388 persons (New Cases, Follow-up & Supportive Services) via different services/programmes under the institute.

The government has also developed a Model School for the Visually Handicapped (MSVH) to impart education to children with visual impairment from the Bal Vatika to the senior secondary level.

It provides free education, boarding, and lodging, uniforms, books, and equipment, as well as curriculum activities. During the year 2023-24, Model school has provided education to 243 children with visual impairment, the Ministry said.

Notably, the Braille Development Unit, under the Department of Special Education and Research, contributed to the development of Braille Codes in different Indian languages. It is also in the process of developing a ‘Manual on Bharti Braille’ to further support Braille literacy and standardisation across India.

The NIEPVD is also hosting a National Accessible Library to provide learning materials in various accessible formats Braille, large print, audio, and E-pub to persons with visual impairment.

The library serves over 55,000 members and houses approximately 1,58,901 Braille volumes, 20,784 print books, and more than 7,100 audio titles. It also hosts an online Braille Library- Sugamya Pustkalaya having 6,79,120 titles.

“The initiatives reflect that India is making strides toward ensuring that visually impaired individuals can live with dignity, independence, and equality,” the ministry said.

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