Fort trip for visually impaired students

Nagpur: To commemorate the 25th foundation year of the project ‘Madhav Netrapedhi’, Samadrishti Kshamata Vikas Evan Anusandhan Mandal (SAKSHAM) is organizing an unique expedition in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Nagpur Downtown wherein visually impaired students will be taken on an expedition to visit 13 forts in Vidarbha.

The foundation year also coincides with Golwalkar Guruji’s Jayanthi. He is the former sarsanghchalak of RSS.

The event aims to boost the confidence of visually impaired students. The organizing committee is striving to inculcate interest in the ‘History of Vidarbha’ and also to create awareness about the need for eye donation.

Commencing on February 9, the tour will end after 11 days. Mayor Sandip Joshi will flag off the event at the SAKSHAM office, Devdutta Bhavan at 7am. Collector Ravindra Thakre will be the guest of honour.

The expedition will end on Shivaji Jayanthi which is on February 19.

The 1905km journey will cover forts, namely Mahurgad fort, Sindkhedraja – Rajmata Jijau Mahal, Balapur fort, Narnala fort, Gavilgad fort, Anchalpur fort, Amner fort, Nagardhan fort, Ambagad fort, Pauni fort, Chandrapur fort, Vijaasan caves (Bhadravati), Markandeya Mandir, Navargaon caves, Gad mandir, Kalidas smarak and more.

Special training has been given to volunteers regarding how to handle these children and conduct a proper tour for them. The only aim of this ‘Journey to experience’ is to bring happiness to the visually impaired students.

It is for the first time that an educational tour like this has been undertaken for visually impaired students. 20 students are going to be a part of this expedition.

After every visit, a public programme is scheduled where these students are expected to give presentations based on their experience about the forts they visited. The programme will leave a cultural mark as local artistes would perform in the presence of dignitaries.

The expedition is expected to be supported by the directorate of information, the department of tourism, Maharashtra, the forest department and the directorate of archaeological survey of India, defence services and the curator of central museum, Nagpur.

(Reporting by Janhavi Dave)