Visually-impaired students get new hope

Vaishali Saraswat / TNN / Dec 4, 2005, 02:29 IST

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These visually-impaired seem determined to defy nature's wrath with their courage of conviction.

NEW DELHI: At first everything seemed lost to them in the darkness. But thanks to some help, there is a ray of hope yet again in the lives of 77 blind persons.
Today, these visually-impaired seem determined to defy nature's wrath with their courage of conviction. The All India Confederation of Blind (AICB) is helping them to become educated and also assisting them in getting employment.
And all this for free. This is a big boost for likes of Akbar (13), who lost his eyesight after a swimming session with friends and Narendra Tripathi, a pharmacist who lost his sight when he was 25.
But they have all put these tragedies behind them. Narendra, who has now learnt to perform daily chores without the help of sight, says: "I couldn't come to terms with the fact that I could not see anymore.

However, now I feel more confident now." Soon he will join the strong list of 900 blind persons whom AICB has trained and helped secure a job.
"There's no point in training blind persons if they are not able to turn the skills into gainful employment. So we help them with jobs as well," said Anil Aneja, secretary, AICB.
AICB, which started with Rs 300, has grown to boast of a budget of 3 crore this World Disability Day. Set up in Rohini, AICB has a recording studio where they prepare audio study material and produce monthly audio magazines in English and Hindi.

"We create audio counterparts �� New Watch and Shravanika �� and magazines in Braille format �� Braille Digest and Jigyasa.
We only charge for the printing cost or the price of the cassette from the students," informed J L Kaul, president. It has the largest Braille printing house in the country, printing around 25,000-30,000 pages per day.
The printing machines are now lying unused �� for the want of adequate Braille Maplitho paper. "Our orders are getting delayed.
National Institute for Visually Handicap (NIVH) is not issuing the adequate amount of paper to us," rued Kaul.
According to AICB, they have already submitted the challans of printing orders to NIVH and although, they have agreed to provide certificate for five tonnes, itis not enough to meet the orders.

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