manish kumar, post news network, Bhubaneswar, July 22: According to the 2011 Census Orissa is home to 2,63,799 visually impaired people. Many of these are students, who face difficulty owing to lack of study materials, especially made for them. It is increasingly becoming difficult for the blind students to get Braille books in the market.
J K Pradhan, a lecturer of English language at the Dinakrushna College at Jaleswar in Balasore district, who is also visually impaired, said, “In our state we have some Braille books available up to Class X, but after that for college students there are hardly any Braille books to help them in their studies. We need more Braille presses to cope up with the demand of the blinds, living in the state, so that nothing prevents them from acquiring quality education.”
Orissa is home to a lone Braille press in Berhampur, which was established in 1986 to help the blind learn. Several blind students, teachers and activists in the state, however, complain of a dearth of proper books for the blinds as not even one new Braille press has been set up since.
Ram Kishore Sharma, assistant director of the Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for the Handicapped (VRCH), said, “There are many blind students in the state who need Braille books to prosper in their lives. Shortage of such books can hit their career prospects. The need of the hour is to open new Braille presses in the state to bridge the gap between demand and supply. I hope, authorities concerned will look into the matter and take corrective measures.”
The Centre in the 2014 Union budget had announced that 15 new Braille presses would be put up and old presses would be modernised. However, despite the Central government’s plan to establish 15 new Braille presses across the country, Orissa is not going to get any new Braille press from the Union government as not even a single application from Orissa has been received by it, an RTI filed with the Central government by this correspondent has revealed.
According to the RTI reply from the ministry of social justice and empowerment, the ministry in November 2014 had issued an advertisement asking all states to give proposals to set up new Braille presses in their states. The RTI reply also stated that not even a single application was submitted by any organisation or individual from Orissa, for establishing a new Braille press. Later, the department decided to establish new Braille presses in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh, on the basis of proposals submitted by organisations or individuals of these states.
The only Braille press in the state, however, is not free of problems. The press in Berhampur (Red Cross School for the Blinds) has been grappling with problems related to shortage of staff. Currently, only two people are managing the press, which prints Braille books for the blinds from Class I to Class X. The press also publishes a trimester science magazine, an Oriya calendar and sometimes, some literary works, despite the paucity of funds and other resources.
“We started the unit in 1986 with the aim of helping the blind learn and prosper in their lives. At the beginning, it was an initiative of some people with a noble cause in mind. Later, the state government too started helping us through grants. That despite challenges and shortage of resources we kept going, only bolstered our spirit,” says B K Ratha, the founder of the Red Cross School for the Blinds at Berhampur, the 5th Braille press in India at the time it was set up.
The lone Braille press of the state, unfortunately, is not in the Union list of presses that would be modernized. According to sources, here too, the state has lagged behind. According to the same RTI reply, the modernisation plan of the Central government has no room for Orissa.
The RTI reply from the Central government, said, “As per the Central sector scheme of ‘establishing/modernisation/capacity augmentation of Braille presses, 12 are to be modernised. 12 proposals for the modernisation of Braille presses have already been approved by the government on first-come-first-served basis. So, the proposal from the Red Cross School for the Blind, Berhampur, Orissa, for modernisation could not be considered.”
However, members of the Red Cross School for the Blinds claim that a Central team inspected their school’s premises in February and a proposal for the modernisation of their unit had been given to the Centre via the state government.
Bibhuti Patnaik, director, disability welfare, Women and Child Development department of the state government, said, “We had moved a proposal for the modernisation of the lone Braille press of Orissa and are still waiting for them to respond. Nevertheless, we often help the Braille press of Orissa through annual grants and often try to give them new instrument to keep them updated. Last year, we gave them a digital press from Germany. We look forward to supporting them.”
