All India Confederation of the Blind (AICB)

All India Confederation of the Blind (AICB) is a body of blind persons working for and with the blind community. It is made up of various state level associations/organizations, starting from the grass root level. It has 24 affiliates across the country, over 100 staff members, budget of over 25 million rupees, and over 20 projects and services. The activities on AICB include:

• AICB Capt Chandanlal Special School

This model school provides a program of multifaceted educational activities.

For details check Schools for the Blind in India page.

• Community Based Rehabilitation

CBR is intended to facilitate maximum inclusion and participation of our clients within the rural communities. Under this identified blind and low vision persons are imparted training in self-help skills and are provided training in vocational skills most appropriate to their specific family situations.

For details check Support Groups and Services for the Blind in India page.

• Braille Press

Set up in 1997 with assistance from the Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted (NABP), also assisted by the Swiss Umbrella Association of the Blind (SNAB) the Press today is the largest Braille printing house in the country with many notable accomplishments to its credit. It has received Best National Braille Printing Press Award twice (2009 & 2012) from the Union Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. 

For details check Braille Production Centers in India page.

• Women Empowerment

AICB continuously endeavors to provide women opportunities for adequate participation in all of its on-going educational, training and rehabilitation activities. Besides, the Confederation conducts the following special programs exclusively for the benefit of visually impaired women:

• Merit Scholarships

• Intensive Training Course For Visually Impaired Women

• Award of Computers

• Women Magazines

• DVBS Supported Hostel for Blind girl-Students/trainees

For details check Support Groups and Services for the Blind in India page.

• Advocacy

Creating a just and equitable society by combatting all forms of discrimination against the visually impaired and helping them obtain their rights, is at the core of AICB's advocacy initiatives. 

For details check Advocacy and Awareness for the Blind in India page.

• Computer Training

To enable visually impaired youngsters to keep pace with rapid changes in technologies and job-market requirements, AICB provides training in the use of computers. Speech synthesizers and special software which convert text to speech are used for the above mentioned purpose.

For details check Training and Vocation for the Blind in India page.

• Stenography

In early eighties, we started training in Braille shorthand and typewriting, in both Hindi and English. This has helped in creating a totally new employment possibility for persons with visual impairment. Over 350 blind men and women have been placed in Govt. departments, nationalized banks and public sector undertakings.

For details check Training and Vocation for the Blind in India page.

• Mobility & Orientation

Restriction in the ability to move around is viewed as a major limitation of visual disability. AICB strives to help its clients overcome this limiting condition as well. 

For details check Training and Vocation for the Blind in India page.

• Crisis Management

AICB supports persons losing sight later in life either during young adulthood or during employment through counselling and skilling.

For details check Support Groups and Services for the Blind in India page.

• Employment

AICB is committed to the principle that training in itself is not enough and must result in placement in remunerative work-opportunities. Thus, the major focus of our placement services is to secure meaningful jobs for our trainees, commensurate with their qualifications and at par with their sighted counterparts in respect of salaries and work conditions. 

For details check Employment for the Blind in India page.

• Resources

AICB provide a lof of resources for the blind, including:

• Audiobooks

• Audio Magazine

• Braille Books

For details check Learning Resources for the Blind in India page.

Blind Organization of India

Blind Organization is an organization that is working for over 16 years for the individual and also for the family of blind people and also fights for the rights and needs of the peoples who are visually impaired or blind. To work for the welfare of blind and rehabilitate the lives of the blind peoples irrespective of the nationality, religion or socio-economic status. To Eradicate curable blindness. To fulfill the basic needs of the individual and family of blind people. Socio-economic rehabilitation of the visually challenged in mainstream, through education, training and employment

Blind People's Association

Activities

• Blind Women Association: Help women with visual impairment by providing scholarship, education and self-employment

• Distance Education Department: Offering Educational Planning & Management, Curriculum Designing & research (Course code: MMD-013), Teaching of Science (Course code: MMDE-017) of RCI

• KAUSHALYA VARDHAN KENDRA (Skill Enhancement Center): Trades in Repair and Maintenance of Cellular Phone and Craft and Design trained at KVK, VASTRAPUR

• Talking ATM Project with XRCVC, https://talkingatmindia.org/

Publications

• The World of the Defenseless by Einar A Helander, Blind People’s Association, 2007

• Community Based Rehabilitation by Bhushan Punani, Nandini Rawal, and Jasmine S. Sajit , Blind People’s Association, 2002

• Visual Impairment Handbook - 2nd Edition by Bhushan Punani and Nandini Rawal, Blind People’s Association, 2000

The Blind Relief Association

For seventy-five years we have believed and will continue to believe that children and adults with visual impairment and other disabilities are invaluable human assets.  They deserve the right kind of recognition and opportunity in an inclusive environment.

Provision of such need-based services for the visually impaired to enable them to develop their latent talents and realize their fullest potential is what the Blind Relief Association, Delhi strives for.

Activities

• Education

• Vocational Training

• Services

• Promotion of Sports

Blind Welfare Society

Blind Welfare Society is a registered non-government voluntary Organization. It was founded to undertake various projects in the field of Education, Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation for the people with visual challenges. Since inception, Blind Welfare Society meaningful initiatives have bagged various accolades in its shelf.

Empowering visually impaired girls was one of the prime objectives behind establishing the Blind Welfare Society as there is a dearth of organizations working for the betterment of visually impaired girls in India. We affirm that visually impaired young girls and women are more vulnerable and thus need extra support. It is our endeavour to create an environment where the lack of money or opportunities does not make blind girl’s situation worse.

Blind welfare society strongly resents any action which could show the visually impaired people as disabled. Blindness is just the physical loss of eyesight, nothing more. Blind people are like everyone else, and can be expected to perform on a par. BWS has a crucial role to play in creating a world where there are no barriers to people with sight loss. We strive to increase the independence, access to education, equal opportunity, social security and quality of life for people with vision loss.

We have continued to expand our programs and services to meet the needs of the community we serve.

Activities

• Hostel for Blind Girls: We run a very clean, hygienic and professionally managed high-quality hostel for the college going visually challenged girls.

• Free Folding Sticks Distribution Project: The organisation disburse folding sticks to blind persons without any cost as white cane has proved

• Marriages of Needy Blind Couples: We believe that visually challenged Boys and girls should live as normal life as possible…

• Financial Assistance Scheme: In modern society, finance is the fulcrum around which most of the activities move

• Braille Learning Project: There is no substitute for the ability to read, and therefore no digital alternative can replace Braille completely.

• Seminars & Workshops: We understand the importance of learning in the lives of people with vision loss.

Donation

• Donate a Walking Cane, Give independence to Blind: The Walking Canes have proved a useful tool to millions of blind people in navigating their environments with confidence and ease.

• Sponsor a meal on any special occasion: It has been a dream for many of us to celebrate our birthday with the underprivileged visually impaired girls.

College of Fragrance for the Visually Impaired

COFVI is a unique education initiative in Mumbai, India, funded by fragrance industry partners.

Research conducted by us with the help of BPA & fragrance partners clearly shows that a heightened sense of smell in the visually impaired

Based on these finding COFVI was established by Trustees Sheetal Desai & Renuka Theaogaonkar In 2013. COFVI’s purpose is to educate the under privileged visually impaired students and find them employment in the fragrance, flavour and FMCG companies.

EnAble India, Bangalore

EnAble India conducts training courses for disabled and thereafter makes efforts to place with corporates. To improve employability, various courses are taught: Computer training, medical transcription, technical writing, life skills etc. Primary activities EnAble India that helps training and employment include:

Services for PWDs

• Career Counseling

• Job opportunities

• Training

• Self-Employment / Entrepreneurship

• Support in your job

• Open Forum with Enable India Leaders

Mail to: helpdesk@enableindia.org for services

Enable Academy

• Livelihood Resources

• Community Driven

• One-stop Shop for Scaling

Enable Community

• Inclusion for Everybody

• Exploring Passion

• Creating an Inclusive Country

GarvSe Center

• Strengthen Livelihood Ecosystem of Persons with Disabilities

• Community Driven

• Replicate and Scale Nationwide

Enable Inclusion

• Recruitment under Quota System

• Equal opportunity for Employees with Disability

• Making workplace inclusive for person with disability

Enable Vaani

Uses mobile phone connectivity to reach the unreached and connect the community in Karnataka, through 

• Namma Vaani, in Kannada: +91-9266344111

• Hamari Vaani, in Hindi: +91-9266344222

Enable Vision for Visually Impaired

• Spreading Awareness

• Enabling Digital Literacy

• Scaling via Capacity Building

Discovering Hands

• Meaningful Employment Opportunities for Blind Women

• Early Cancer Detection

• Women Empowerment

Soapstone Fellowship

• EnAble India is committed to sculpt the human capital for the sector with the Soapstone Fellowship.

• The Soapstone Fellowship is a yearlong full-time program. The participants get an enhanced perspective on the livelihood of persons with disabilities while leveraging their subject matter expertise to benefit the sector. 

• The Fellowship is filled with opportunities to engage with diverse stakeholders and harness the power of the collective. It promises to be an experiential and reflective journey for all.

• We named the program the Soapstone Fellowship because a soapstone is durable and can be carved easily – just the right qualities we believe anyone working in the disability sector should possess!

The Hans Foundation

Help the Blind Foundation

The main Objective of the HTBF is to ensure that every visually impaired student in India gets college education and does not become a school drop-out due to lack of resources. We, therefore, provide financial support for college bound visually impaired students pursuing graduate course from reputed colleges in integrated education system. To achieve our main Objective, we have developed a sponsorship program. This is done by selection of eligible students and providing them financial support to meet the cost of tuition fees and hostel fees covering their boarding and lodging expenses of hostels managed by Colleges. We also provide annual stipend to day scholars and students residing in private accommodation. Apart from the sponsorship program, we also support these visually impaired students to excel in extra-curricular activities. We consider selectively:

• Provision of computer centers and equipment

• Provision of music rooms and instruments

• Provision of facilities for sports and outdoor activities

• Infrastructure development for secondary schools / colleges

• Provision of laptops and recording devices

India Vision Institute

• Walk in the Dark: A walk that rotates between cities since 2014 – Chennai (November 2014), Hyderabad (April 2015), Delhi (October 2015), Mumbai (March 2016), Bengaluru (October 2016), Panjim (November 2017), Kolkata (April 2018), and Aizawl (June 2018). This is an initiative of India Vision  Institute (IVI).

Indian Association for the Blind (IAB)

Nestled in the village of Sundarajanpatti in the outer fringes of Madurai in Tamilnadu, the Indian Association for the Blind (IAB) promises the visually challenged a life of confidence and opportunities. Started in 1985 by S.M.A. Jinnah, a visually challenged activist, IAB has been the pioneer in empowering the visually challenged towards self-reliance through various initiatives.

Having undergone numerous struggles to complete his education, Jinnah envisioned a changed future for thousands of visually challenged children by providing them education. This dream led to establishing IAB, the institute that has made remarkable progress, be it in the number of lives it has touched or numerous services that are being offered. Currently, in Tamil Nadu, out of the 30,000 x educated and vocationally trained visually challenged people, 20% are being educated, rehabilitated, and even employed by IAB.

Education

• Realizing the importance of education in empowering the visually challenged, IAB provides free education to students from low socio-economic groups. The students at IAB prove the fact that they have skills and capabilities that are at par with sighted students. Since 1995, the school has achieved almost 100 % results in the class X and XII board exams.

• Higher Secondary Special School: In June 1992, IAB took its first step towards its mission of making the visually challenged independent by setting up the IAB Higher Secondary School.

• College Education: Under and Post-graduation: In keeping with its mission to empower the visually challenged to realize their potential, IAB took yet another gigantic step with the inception of the Integrated Education Program in 1985.

• Library: Audio and Braille Library: IAB has always believed that the visually challenged should enjoy equal opportunity. In line with this vision it was important to provide them with ready access to information. This led to the establishment of a well-equipped Braille and Audio Library in 1995.

• Scholarships: IAB’s philosophy is to look beyond itself and reach out to the visually challenged in various ways. This has seen the organization take several unique initiatives over the years.

• Extracurricular activities: IAB has always believed in the holistic development of the visually challenged. Treating them on par with sighted individuals, IAB has ensured that on its campus academics goes hand-in-hand with extra-curricular activities.

Career and Skills Training

Since inception the primary goal of IAB has been to make the visually challenged independent in every which way. Apart from providing education that equips students with knowledge, confidence and independence, IAB takes several initiatives to ensure that its students are highly employable. Comprehensive skill training is imparted to train students in areas of their interest and to enable them to access mainstream employment opportunities.

• Computer training: Realizing the importance of computer literacy, IAB began its IT programme in 2005 with specially qualified Teachers.

• BPO training: BPO skills and are gainfully employed through the active on campus employment cell. Students have found placement in Tata DoCoMo, Sun Direct and other well-known organisations.

• Printing and book binding training: This is the latest initiative from IAB that began in 2013. The training programme aims to impart useful printing and packaging skills to the visually challenged.

• Finishing school: Besides vocational training IAB coaches visually challenged students to confidently take up competitive exams for public and private sector jobs.

• Basic engineering: IAB established a basic engineering course in 2010 that trains visually challenged students to operate machines. The useful initiative also addresses the employment needs of the visually challenged who are non-graduates.

Employment

IAB has has paved the way for the visually challenged. With its specialized training initiatives that backs the visually challenged with skills, several IAB alumni are gainfully employed in the government sector in sectors like teaching, railways and banking. So far about 750 IAB alumni have been employed in Government sectors. In a unique initiative several IAB alumni have been reemployed in IAB after retiring from Government service. The channels of employment are:

• In House Placement: Keeping pace with current market demands and trends IAB has reoriented its employment avenues. Among its initiatives is a BPO that offers support services to impressive clientele include Tata DoCoMo, SUN Direct and Bharath Post Graduate College, Chennai.

• Government sector: Since 1991 several IAB alumni are employed in the government sector. The implementation of Persons with Disability Act 1995 which mandates 1 percent of jobs for people with visual disability has boosted employment opportunity for visually challenged in government and public sectors. This farsighted intervention has enabled several thousands of visually challenged people to be employed in services like teaching, railways and banks.

• Private Sector: IAB has taken the initiative of identifying employer needs and then placing students whose skill and capability match the requirement in the right position.

• Self-Employment: Self-employment is another area that IAB encourages students towards by providing vocational training.

Residential Services

Since inception the primary goal of IAB has been to make the visually challenged independent in every which way. Apart from providing education that equips students with knowledge, confidence and independence, IAB takes several initiatives to ensure that its students are highly employable. Comprehensive skill training is imparted to train students in areas of their interest and to enable them to access mainstream employment opportunities.

• Food and Accommodation: Today with the support of well-wishers, the accommodation has grown to an impressive 60,000 sq ft building on a lush 3 acre campus. The facility is home to around 300 children who stay on the campus and make the most of the thoughtfully-planned facilities.

• Medical Care: Medical care is utmost priority at IAB. Every step is taken to ensure that the the visually challenged students are in the best of health.

Support Services

• Braille Books Production House: Established in 1999, the Braille book production house makes all printed materials accessible in Braille format for children and adult with visual challenges. It began as a small initiative that made available Braille books for students of IAB. Currently the braille books produced in IAB are available to all visually challenged people in Tamil Nadu.

• Audio Books: IAB’s audio book service was launched in 1995 to make more books accessible for people with visual challenges. Currently IAB’s audio books are available for visually challenged people through out Tamil Nadu

• Independent Living Skills: This program helps visually challenged children and adults to develop, acquire and apply life skills to live independently.

• Technology Support: Through this initiative IAB bridges the gap between conventional technology and the visually challenged by helping them use specially adaptation that make gadgets like phones, computers to talking books completely accessible and user friendly for visually challenged.

• Legal Aid Service: Initiated in 2013 this project provides provide various legal entitlements for persons with disabilities.

Indian Blind Sports Association (IBSA) is a non-profit organization, established in 1986 that works primarily in the domain of Sports and Specially Abled. IBSA was established as a national level sports body with the initiative of The Blind Relief Association (BRA) Delhi.

India Blind Sports Association is the largest body in India that promotes sports among the visually impaired section of society. Its objective is to promote national level sports for the blind.

The organisation is recognised by bodies like The Indian Olympics Association, International Blind Sports Federation (IBSF) and Paralympic Committee of India.

It has been organising the National Sports Meet for the Blind every two years that invites and encourages many visually impaired athletes to participate. The sports that are held include races, long jump, javelin and discus throws, shot put, swimming along with indoor game event of chess.

Due to its association with the International Blind Sports Federation it is enable to send contingents from India to participate in world level blind sports competitions. It adopts the international standards of the IBSF to train the athletes keeping international rules and regulations in mind thereby equipping them with the knowledge and capability to participate in world level games.

It organises coaching camps for the blind athletes regularly. Experts and coaches guide the athletes in playing the sport of their choice. Here they are imparted the practices of scientific training, sports medicine, health and diet etc. Attempts are made to introduce other sports like football, judo, powerlifting, table tennis together with traditional sports like kabaddi through demonstrations and audio mediums. Seminars are conducted where experts discuss sports and the participants get to exchange their views and experiences.

It is encouraging football in a big way to blind athletes by designing a special 5-a-side football. It was gifted these footballs by the Government of Brazil. The manufacturing of these footballs have hence been taken up to satisfy the growing demand due to visually impaired people taking interest in it.

Mitra Jyothi

Mitra Jyothi is aimed at empowering the visually impaired by supporting their educational needs, finding suitable jobs and making them independent enough to take charge of their lives. The organization’s most popular initiative is its Talking Book Library. Text books and books for general reading are given a voice by volunteers, and cassettes and CDs are recorded for circulation. Over 22,000 cassettes of more than 2000 books have been recorded till date. Mitra Jyothi set up its own recording studio to provide this service professionally. Notably, Mitra Jyothi’s effort in this front was the first of its kind in Karnataka and over 5000 people have benefited from the library.

The organization is also extensively involved in Braille transcription and providing computer education to the visually impaired. Mitra Jyothi runs a full-fledged job placement cell for its members, a service that has helped its members find suitable jobs in corporates and manufacturing units. Another admirable service is that the organization runs special courses for women to impart independent living skills.

Education Resource Centre

Mitra Jyothi provides accessible reading material to people with print disabilities. Our Education Resource Centre has close to 3000 books mainly spread across three languages, Kannada, English and Hindi and in various accessible formats such as e-Text, ePub, DAISY, mp3, Braille print and large font. Register to be a Mitra Jyothi Library Member to have access to a varied collection of text & reference books, magazines, fiction & non-fiction books. Major activities include:

• Talking and Digital Accessible Books Library

• Braille Transcription Centre

• Publication from Education Resource Centre

• Mitra Jyothi – Radio Udaan

For details check Learning Resources for the Blind page.

Independent Living Skills (ILS) Training Program

The Independent Living Skills Program is the most fundamental hands-on program at Mitra Jyothi that initiates self-reliance and instills confidence in people with vision impairment. It caters to the basic needs of people with visual disability. 

This program though primarily caters to the need of visually impaired girls from marginalized communities, it also provides need-based support for men with vision impairment. Many young men specifically request for cooking lessons along with lessons in orientation and mobility skills. Mitra Jyothi and the ILS program supports all such requests.

For details check Training and Vocational for the Blind page.

Computer Training Centre

The Computer Training Centre imparts basic and advanced computer usability skills to people with various levels of vision impairment, from low vision to total blindness. This training is provided through the use of Non Visual Desktop Access or NVDA which is a free screen reading software that enables blind and vision impaired people to use computers.

The Computer Training Centre (CTC) was started in 2005 with capital investment support from IBM. The CTC imparts basic and advanced computer usability skills to visually impaired and low-vision students. This training is provided through the use of Non Visual Desktop Access or NVDA which is a free screen reading software which enables people with blindness to use computers. The CTC runs three batches of computer training every year. These programs make visually impaired people “Computer literate” and opens up the world of Computers and the Internet to people with visual disabilities.

For details check Training and Vocational for the Blind page.

Placement Cell

The Placement cell provides job placement assistance to people with various disabilities. Providing the necessary grooming, soft skill training and logistical support are part of the holistic readiness support provided by this cell. Since its inception in 1999, the cell has achieved major success in identifying job opportunities in the IT sector as well as other government and private sectors. 

For details check Training and Vocational for the Blind page.

Centre for Women Empowerment with Disabilities (CEWD)

With a focus on women empowerment, Mitra Jyothi has set up the "Centre for Empowerment of Women with Disabilities (CEWD)" in Electronics City, Bangalore. CEWD is a state-of-the-art disabled-friendly, safe and secure accommodation for working women with disabilities.

Mitra Jyothi in collaboration with The Hans Foundation started CEWD with hostel facility in January 2016. 

For details check Support Groups for the Blind page.

Building Awareness

For true inclusivity of people with disabilities in mainstream society, the society needs to have a conducive environment that nurtures and builds awareness in the minds of one and all. Mitra Jyothi conducts various programs throughout the year to build awareness in the minds of people. 

Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)

GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) access / inclusion and people with different disabilities. The 4th and 5th GAAD India events were held at Mitra Jyothi auditorium in March 2018 and June 2019 respectively. 

Awareness Workshops at Corporates

Mitra Jyothi has regularly conducts awareness workshops, blindfold walk, tactile identification and the like for the Corporates, Institutes, NGOs and Schools.

For details check Advocacy, Awareness and Education for the Blind page.

National Association of Blind

Empowered and well-informed visually challenged population of our country, thus enabling them to lead a life of dignity and productivity.

Prevention of preventable and cure of curable visual impairment.

Socio-economic rehabilitation of the visually challenged in mainstream, through education, training and employment.

To take up advocacy against all types of individual and structural discrimination and ensure full legal capacity.

Donation

• Sponsor construction of a PCO booth, which costs between Rs.25,000 to Rs.30,000

• Donate old newspapers for making of paper bags

• Assist in organizing training programs to augment employability of the blind

• Employ suitable blind persons in your organization

National Association for the Blind - Karnataka

NAB is a one-of-a-kind organization with unique infrastructure in Bangalore and supplemental units in Mysore, and rural areas. NAB's wide-ranging projects (screening camps, eye camps, extend to the rural interiors of Karnataka.

NAB's mission is to champion the cause of the visually challenged in Karnataka and enable them to live their lives confidently, independently and with dignity through economic rehabilitation. Keeping this goal in mind, the Association positions itself as a trainer and grooms visually challenged citizens ready to take up a host of jobs in different industries.

• To make visually challenged self reliant in mobility

• Basic education to visually challenged

• Training in vocational skills

• Vocational skill training to educated visually challenged

• Training visually challenged in technical skills

• Training visually challenged in Information Technology

• Rehabilitation of visually challenged in rural areas in Karnataka

• Assist visually challenged in seeking/ getting suitable earning opportunities

NADE - National Association of Disabled's Enterprises

NADE is a national level Non-Governmental Organization, registered with both Union and State Governments. It’s main objective is to provide Special Education to Mentally Challenged Children and Vocational Training , Employment, Self-Employment and other Welfare opportunities to unemployed disabled persons like Visually Impaired, Hearing Impaired, Orthopedically Challenged and Mentally Challenged persons from all over India.

Activities

• Special School: A Special School for the benefit of Mentally Challenged Children at Kannamwar Nagar, Vikhroli (E), Mumbai

• Vocational Training: A Vocational Training Centre for all categories of disabled persons like Visually Impaired, Hearing Impaired, Orthopedically Challenged & Mentally Challenged persons at Kannamwar Nagar, Vikhroli (E), Mumbai

• Employment: An Employment Project(Workshops) for the disabled at Tagore Nagar, Vikhroli (E), Mumbai & Rabale MIDC, Navi Mumbai.

Depending on the type of disability, disabled persons are specially trained and provided employment through various contract jobs like Printing & Book-Binding, Tailoring, Assembly of Mechanical, Electrical, Electronic & Plastic Components, Pin Bunching, Packing, Finishing and Manufacturing various types of Umbrellas, Imitation Jewelry items, Bags, Jewelry Pouches, Stationery items, Wax Candles, Paper Bags, Laundry Tags, various Handicraft items like Diwali Lamps, Rangolis & gift items, cloth bags, garments and various other jobs and trading of various Hygienic Products, etc.

These Employment projects are undertaken in the name of a Cooperative Society viz. INDIAN DISABLED’s SERVICE COOPERATIVE SOCIETY LTD. which is specifically formed for undertaking such Manufacturing/ Service Contracts and Trading activities.

NADE also distributes free food items like pulses, grains, oil etc. to poor disabled persons from the various Districts of Maharashtra State on the occasion of Diwali, etc.

Further reading

• Made By Specially-Abled Folks, Nethra Umbrellas Are Stylish, Robust And A Rain Essential!

• Facebook

• Project Heena

National Federation for the Blind of India

The National Federation of the Blind, the voice of the blind, is the largest self-help organization of the blind in India. It is founded on the philosophy Let the Blind, Lead the Blind. 

Objectives

• To strive for equality of opportunity for the blind in their education, training and employment.

• To stimulate the provision of remunerative employment for the blind in all occupations which they can successfully practice.

• To explore new avenues of employment for the blind.

• To promote the production and distribution of educational & recreational materials to the blind in all available media.

• To promote the education of the blind in the light of modern and practicable concepts.

• To undertake or promote public education with a view to disseminating information to the public at large regarding the potential of the blind as students, workers & citizens.

• To establish, sponsor or collaborate with other agencies in establishing organizations, institutions or services in fulfillment of any or all the above objectives.

• To undertake or promote research, designed to stimulate progress in any aspect of the rehabilitation of the blind.

• To cooperate with local, national and international agencies having objectives similar to those of the Federation or with likeminded individuals for such purposes as the Federation may deem fit.

• To acquire, sell, mortgage or dispose in any fashion such property as may be considered necessary or expedient for the efficient functioning of the Federation.

• To establish branches in any part of the union of India on such terms as the Federation may decide from time to time.

• To raise funds by subscriptions, donations, grant-in-aid, bequests or in any other form that the Federation considers appropriate provided that such method of raising funds does not contravene any provision of the law in force for the time being.

• To do such other things as are incidental or conducive to the achievement of any or all of the above objects. 

Residential Schools For The Blind

The main thrusts of the activities of the Federation are twofold. On one hand it aims at undertaking activities and projects to empower the blind and low vision to live a life with dignity and self dependence right from his/her childhood throughout his life and on the other hand it strives to protect the rights of the blind and low vision in all spheres of life and fight against discrimination on the ground of blindness and also against the refusal of any entitlement available to them. It also undertakes advocacy initiatives through all permissible means to prevail upon the Government to make necessary changes and formulate new policies for grant of rights of persons with disabilities in general and blind in particular. These activities and advocacy initiatives are spread in different spheres of life as reflected herein below:

Residential School for the blind children at Kanpur, Bilaspur and Jammu.

The Federation is running residential school for the blind children in the above said three cities with its own resources. The blind students are provided this all facilities including boarding & Lodging, Medical, free Braille books and uniform.

Hostels For Students Pursing Higher Education

Hostel for College Going Blind Students at Bangalore, Ambala and Ajmer.

The hostels being run at Delhi is exclusively for Girls while at Bangalore, Ajmer and Ambala are for boys. In these hostels those students are given admission who have no accommodation or those who could not get admission in collage hostels in these hostels boarding and lodging facilities providing free of cost.

National Scholarship Schemes

The scholarship scheme was launched during the year 2006-07. Under this scheme during the Financial Year 2014-15 a total number of 986 blind students got the scholarship to the tune of Rs. 4482900/-. So far since the launching of scheme a total number of 5816 blind student have been sanctioned scholarship worth rupees 29559900/-.

Eligibility criteria

1. The student applicant should have obtained minimum 50% marks in the qualifying examination and there should be no break.

2. Scholarship shall be given to those who are pursuing Graduation, Post Graduation, B.Ed., B.T.C and Special Teacher Training course for the blind.

3. The amount of scholarship shall be Rupees 1000/- P.M. and will be decreased in purportion to the amount of scholarship being given by the State Governments.

4. The scholarship application should be recommended by the President/General Secretaries of Branches Affiliates and Units. But where there is no Branch/Affiliate/Unit it may be recommended by the Zonal Vice President and Secretary.

5. No Scholarship Shall be given for pursuing PHD

Educational Loan

National Federation of The Blind provides education loan to visually impaired students. Under this scheme, the blind students who are pursuing B.Ed. or Special Teachers Training and other professional courses are allowed loan for their admission in College/University to pursue the said courses. During the Financial Year 2015-16, a total number of 40 blind students were sanctioned Education Loan of Rs. 996000/-. so far. Since the launching of scheme approximately 350 blind students have been sanctioned Education Loan worth rupee 8219661/-.

Eligibility criteria

1. The Guarantor should be the Govt. of employee and duration of refund of loan shall be five years from the date of loan sanctioned.

2. The applications should be accompanied by the following documents;

• Identity Card of the Federation as well as of the course being pursed.

• Copy of marksheet of the last qualifying course.

Orissa Service Centre for the Blind

The OSCB is the only State Level Private Organization in the Odisha at visually disability sector is running with the donation and contribution of people, which speaks on behalf of the visually challenged people.

OSCB provides all kind of information regarding health, rehabilitation, education etc. to different challenged people, that is, Blind, Deaf, Physically handicapped, Mental illness. It also provide information about Government and Non-Government facilities for disabled people and how to avail those facilities, health check up camps. Disable certificate, concession certificates, scholarships, job information, economical and social rehabilitation etc.

OSCB has continuing a “Residential Model Girls School For The Blind” . This is a unique school in all over odisha where various parts of odisha state blind girls are studying and residing.

The Project Vision

The fact of every third of the 39 million blind in the world being an Indian challenged us. A group of fifty of us took the challenge.

The outcome was The Project Vision.

A new vision was needed. We came out with a movement model. An army was needed to make it successful. We invented the concept of Vision Ambassadors. We knew that creative programs were critical to spread the message. We did worlds’ first Blind Walk.

Our activities include:

• TPV Programs: 

  • Eye Donation Program

  • World Sight Day & Awards

  • Vision 15: Special program to celebrate New year 2015 for 200 Visually Challenged persons

  • Visually Challenged Book: A book on the visually challenged persons who have done exceptionally well in life is being compiled by The Project Vision. This is a book on high achievers among the blind (an edited volume containing short biographies on blind achievers). 

  • Cataract Operations

  • Socio Economic Rehabilitation Programs

• Vision Ambassadors: 

Enroll people for eye donation in your neighborhood or among your contacts. 

• Million Eyes Fest

The Million Eyes Fest signifies the objective of reaching the message of eye donation to one million people through this film festival.

• Blind Walk

BlindWalk is the largest Eye Donation Program in the World. It is a very successful event to express solidarity with the visually challenged people and also to promote the message of eye donation all over the world, specially in India. The Project Vision has been organizing BlindWalk across cities of India since 2014. 

Check Advocacy and Awareness page for details of various BlindWalk programs.

• Voice of the Eye - Global Speech Competition 

On the auspice of World Sight Day 2020 (Oct 14, 2020), a Global Speech Competition on the theme of An Appeal for Eye Donation

People around the world submitted a 90 second recorded speech and to get selected from the respective Country or State in India. Selected ones to competed for attractive global prizes on live virtual platform on Dec 3, 2020 on International Day of Persons with Disabilities. From the 14 States and Union territories of India and 7 countries internationally 371 submissions for this competition were received.

Check Advocacy and Awareness page for winners and details.

ROSHNI Foundation

ROSHNI Foundation is a capacity building and training organization. ROSHNI is a collective of young professionals working in different sectors and want to bring social change through collective action.

We strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations to represent the rights of communities at local, national and international levels. In doing so, we support civil society in playing its crucial role to make sustainable changes towards a healthy life for all with specific focus on the blind and the visually impaired. 

The activities in this area include:

Readers and Writers for Visually Impaired Students

Every year, just before exams begin, we hear of school and college visually impaired students struggling to find writers for exams. We try our best to provide reader, writer to visually impaired students. We try to assist our differently abled friends by offering them voluntary assistance in the following ways:

• Reader: We try our best to channelize volunteer efforts to assist visually impaired students in reading aloud the contents of study material, books for visually impaired

• Writer: We try our best to channelize volunteer efforts to assist visually impaired students as Writer (Scribe) during exam. Volunteer have to assist in writing down the examination answers as dictated by the visually impaired students.

• Audio Recording of study material / notes on Mobile (Volunteer from Home): Citizens can volunteer by recording audio notes from the study material, text book content, notes or novels for visually impaired students. Here's a call to all those who can help us in recording notes in English or Hindi or Marathi etc. for the visually impaired.

You can also Volunteer for

• Writing assignments – You can volunteer to assist the visually impaired students to write assignments. Visually impaired student dictates the content to volunteer.

• ROSHNI Differently Able Mentor Program: Assisting visually impaired students in their needs to begin as early as possible and include self-awareness and career exploration activities, job seeking skills instruction, information about job keeping, and encourage opportunities for gaining work experience.

• Teaching visually impaired students for their personal enrichment: Vocal music (like Carnatic, Hindustani), Spoken English, Computers, etc.

• Assist in conducting and organizing advocacy workshop: For sensitizing Regular Schools, Institutions, Corporates Staff and Effective Parenting session for Parents of differently abled child.

• Coordination of events / workshops / special events / interactive sessions

Advocacy for Inclusion of the Differently Abled

We liaison and advocate in crisis situation with stakeholders, government and private organizations in respect of issues affecting the lives and dignity of people who are differently-abled.

We try our best to sensitize and reach out to all possible stakeholders about the policy changes required for inclusion of the differently abled and visually impaired in mainstream society; and try to provide all possible assistance from us or from our partner.

Saksham Trust is a National award-winning NGO founded in 2003 by Mr Dipendra Manocha and Ms Rummi K. Seth. We believe that every person with visual impairment and low vision deserves the best chance for a bright future and we work to make sure they have these opportunities to thrive throughout their life. To turn this vision into a reality, we run programmes in the field of inclusive education, assistive technology, accessible books and cultural inclusion.

Our Founders, Mr. Dipendra Manocha and Ms. Rummi K. Seth were driven to set up Saksham Trust with a belief that persons with visual impairment or low vision can do everything with only one change – the way things are done.

This powerful belief has since then led Saksham Trust to establish centres in Delhi, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. We also run a school in Noida for children with visual impairment and multiple disabilities.

In 2017, our technology-providing arm – Saktek Foundation – was launched to further our belief that power of technology can redefine what persons with disabilities can or cannot do.

Activities

• Inclusive Education: Saksham School Noida provides quality education and rehabilitation services for children with visual and multiple disabilities while also taking care of their psychosocial needs.

• Saksham Digital Library: Accessible books produced and distributed by Saksham library can be read by persons with sight loss themselves. This opens the world of fiction and non-fiction literature, text books and competitive examination preparation materials to persons who can not read normal print.

• Audio-description of movies and cultural rights: We believe films, theatres, monuments and galleries and other cultural spaces must be accessible so that persons with disabilities are able to enjoy cultural mediums on an equal basis with others.

• Assistive Technology and Training: Brought more than 100 Assistive Technology under one roof. Customized solutions which were available internationally to made them appropriate for their use in Indian scenario.

Useful APPS

Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled

Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled is a National Award winning NGO established in the year 1997 by Founder Managing Trustee Mahantesh G Kivadasannavar and his schoolmate and childhood friend, Late Sugur Paramashivaiah Nagesh.

Samarthanam, one of the biggest NGOs in India, works for the empowerment of persons with disabilities and the underserved through its diverse initiatives focused on providing quality education, accommodation, nutritious food, vocational training and placement based rehabilitation. It facilitates opportunities to enable persons with disabilities and the underserved to keep pace with the rest of the society.

Today, Samarthanam Trust stands to be a complete solution provider by supporting education and livelihood needs of persons with disabilities and those from underprivileged backgrounds. The organization also facilitates direct livelihood opportunities to hundreds of persons with disabilities and women in distress through its Social Enterprises. Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI), the cricketing arm of Samarthanam, fosters the game of blind cricket and the visually impaired players across India.

Blind Cricket

Sarthak Education Trust

Centers: New Delhi, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Lucknow

Sarthak develops skills in young people with disabilities through basic training program, corporate linked training program, employability training program and rural training program. These candidates are placed with their partners Aegis, Infosys, Team Computers, Plan India, Yum International etc. Sarthak also conducts job fairs. It is a holistic platform for providing skills and empowering the disabled.

To Empower Persons with Disability, enabling them to live their life with dignity and respect.

Sarthak Educational Trust was started in year 2008. To achieve this vision of empowerment of persons with disability team Sarthak is geared "To establish SARTHAK ADARSH Kendras (Skill Building & Early Intervention Centers) across the Nation" Sarthak is aimed towards carving an equal stature for persons with disability by providing them a platform wherein, they have equal access to opportunities and resources. 

Education

Children with Disability are either not enrolled in regular schools or paucity of Inclusive Education system leads to drop out. And, once they are segregated from the mainstream it gets difficult to integrate at later stages. Inclusive Education is an effort to ensure Right to Education despite the special requirements or needs of children with disability.

Inclusive education works on ensuring inclusion of school going children with special needs in regular education setting with required intervention and support. Inclusion strategies includes range of services, namely, co-teaching, consultative services, paraprofessional support, modifications to curriculum or testing, accommodations for specific disabilities, and others.

Skill Building

Sarthak JEET (Job Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Training) Program for Persons with disability addresses the requirements of PwDs aged between 18-35 years by providing vocational skill building training and sustainable employment opportunities.

The 3-month skill building program comprises of

• Basic Skill Building: 1.5-month basic skilling (Computers, English, Life skills)

• Sector-Specific Training: 1 month sector specific (IT/ITes, Retail, Hospitality and Ecommerce) 

• Pre Employment Module: 15 days pre placement modules

Further, various allied activities (guest lectures, exposure visits, parents’ workshops) and corporate volunteering activities are part of 3-month extensive training programme.

For enrolment in Sarthak JEET Program, Persons with disability can register online Click here or drop an email to trainings@sarthakindia.org 

Employment

Employment Drivers of Change – Equal Opportunity Employers

With the support of our 1050+ Equal Opportunity Employers Sarthak provided sustainable employment support to 18000+ Persons with disability across different sectors. The indicative list of employers are given on the left.

Digital Literacy Program

Sarthak Educational Trust provides free Digital Literacy Training of 15 days to PwDs, so that after training they can start their own business/ enterprise or get self-employed.

Program Focus 

• Govt. Schemes, Loan Opportunities available for PwDs by Govt.

• How to start small business

• Digital Literacy (How to use smart phones, how to operate basic computers, how to make online payment etc.).

• Case Stories of other PwDs benefitted from Sarthak.

• Overcoming Disabilities.

• Soft Skills, Time Management, Communication Styles etc.

Enrollment Criteria

• Disability Type - OH/ HI/ Low vision

• Age - 18 to 51 years

In case of any further queries, email to us at sarthakedu@gmail.com 

The story of a doctor who lost his eyesight; fought back and helped 10,000 people with disability find jobs, Social Story - Your Story, 2017

Score Foundation

Partners XRCVC on Exam Evaluation

Score Foundations envisions a future where people with visual impairment are regarded as full fledged members of family, community and society. Our motto reads,

• Space for all

• Contribution by all

• Opportunity for all

• Recognition for all

• Equality for all

Project Eyeway

People with visual impairment are usually treated with pity and charity in our country. Their ability and potential are not fully recognized, often the focus is on their limitations, not on the possibilities available. Consequently, they are often marginalized, ill informed, and not stimulated to explore their potential. They are viewed as liabilities as opposed to potential human resource for a developing country.

India accounts for around 20% of the global blind population. A large chunk of this population is ignorant. We believe there is a deficit in terms of Awareness, Resources, Reach and Perception. The deficit is also reflected in the policies formulated. Attitudinal biases act as barriers pushing blind people towards exclusion. There is also a lack of trained personnel like counselors and special educators.

Eyeway was formed to address this deficit by providing relevant information collected from multiple sources and communicated through a team of trained counselors, a majority of whom are visually impaired as well.

Eyeway was set up as a one-stop knowledge resource for living life with blindness. Eyeway operates a national toll free number, 1800 53 20469. People call in with questions regarding education and employment opportunities, mobility, assistive technology, legal rights and so on. Eyeway also disseminates relevant information like news alerts and job updates through a Whatsapp group and other social media platforms. We also give out information and sensitization messages through our Radio and TV initiatives. Score Foundation also takes up matters of advocacy, where rights are violated and people are discriminated against.

At present, Eyeway is a network of ten organizations

• National Association for the Blind

• Saksham Trust in Delhi

• Score in Delhi

• EnAble India in Bangalore

• MitraJyothi in Bangalore, 

• Navchetna Institute in Patiala, 

• Victoria Memorial School for the Blind in Mumbai, 

• Little Flower Hospital in Kochi, 

• HELP Foundation in Jammu and Kashmir and 

• Blind People’s Association in Ahmedabad. 

We also have a partnership with the Human Rights Law Network to take up advocacy cases pan India.

Training and Capacity Building

• The significant work of Sense India is to build the capacity of various stakeholders like persons with deafblindness, their parents and caregivers, special educators, senior professionals, caregivers, teachers from inclusive education system, medical and para medical professionals and government officials on identifying and understanding the needs and issues on deafblindness. 

• Online Course: For details check Training and Vocation for the Blind in India page.

Awareness and Advocacy

Advocacy forms an integral part of Sense India’s strategy for influencing others to make a bigger impact. For details check Advocacy and Awareness for the Blind in India page.

Sightsavers

https://www.sightsaversindia.in/about-us/ 

Working in India since 1966 to eliminate avoidable blindness and support people who are irreversibly blind to lead independent lives. 

People with visual impairment should be able to develop their potential to the full.  work with disabled people and others to promote equal rights and opportunities. Strengthen organizations and communities to develop practical and enduring solutions.

Forge alliances and partnerships to ensure a positive and long term impact on people’s lives. Our supporters are a key part of the solution. We work together to accomplish our goals. Sightsavers India works in 13 states, extending eye services to the least served areas, enabling people to lead lives of independence and dignity.

Society for the Visually Handicapped

SVH was founded in 1983. The key goals are

• Reaching Education to the Sightless Citizens

• Braille Literacy for the Print-disabled

Activities

• Education Empowerment Project includes Scholarship & Assistive Devices

• Talking Book Project for academic material school to Ph D level

• Computerized Braille Book Production Project

• Special Awareness Events

• Publications Ink-print & Braille Book

• Life skill empowerment through trekking, rock-climbing, mountaineering, jungle & nature camp, river rafting, kayaking and coastal trek.

Technical Training Institute of Poona Blind Men's Association

The only think worse than being blind is having sight but no vision - Helen Keller

Late Tukaram Sahadev Bamankar, blind himself, established PBMA in 1952 in a tiny room at 82, Rasta Peth, Pune. Later, he was joined by two other visually impaired men, Mr. Nanabhoy Mancherji Merchant and Mr. Niranjan Prashankar Pandya. Together the team of three built up PBMA to its present structure and status.

Though PBMA has been established primarily as a training institute (Check under PBMA in Training and Vocational page) with the intent of empowering the visually challenged with knowledge and skills required to lead independent lives; it runs several related programs and projects including:

• Shankarsheth Sable Institute of Ophthalmology

• Laxmiben Rangildas Suratwala Institute of Ocular Surface Management

• PBMA’s Dharamsey Nensey Super Specialty Eye Care Institute

• PBMA’s Kamla Amul Massand Technical Training Institute

• PBMA’s Shirdi Sai Baba Home for Aged Blind Woman

• Talking Book Library

• Braille Press project

• Antar Jyoti Marathi Braille magazine

Overall PBMA through its eye hospitals has conducted 5,45,574 eye surgeries. Out of these surgeries 65% surgeries have been performed absolutely free of charge along with one months’ medicine free.

Volunteer For a Cause 

VFC is a non-profit, registered organization founded on Nov 30,2012. Volunteering for the overall development of society is our main objective. 

Many a times it happens that even though we are interested, we are not able to participate in our chosen volunteering events. This is because, we do not receive sufficient information prior to the events. At VFC, we encourage volunteers to participate in various volunteering activities by notifying about event details at the right time. We are also involved in creating opportunities for volunteers in various fields.

Volunteer for a Cause is a great way for volunteers to meet new people and become better connected to the community.

Our Causes for the blind and the visually impaired are:

• Pen Pals - Voluntary Writers for the needy

• What ?

Pen Pals is a cause which aims at connecting Visually Impaired Students with the Voluntary writers who can assist them in writings exams.

Voluntary writers also assist students with chronic medical conditions, students with cerebral palsy and students with temporary injuries like a fracture, etc

• Why ?

While a majority of the students appearing for their examinations worry over what questions to expect and whether they will have sufficient time to answer them or not, there is a category of students sharing a very different fundamental concern.

Every year, hundreds of students with disabilities and chronic medical conditions are taking their examinations with various agonise over uncertainties such as whether they will find a Pen Pals (voluntary writers to write exam) on time, whether the handwriting will be legible enough or whether he or she will be quick enough to cover all the questions.

At times, Visually Impaired students are even forced to pay hefty amounts to the scribes for assisting them. Pen Pals was conceptualized to help Visually Impaired students find scribes who can volunteer to write exams.

• When ?

Volunteers are notified as and when the need arises.

The requirements will be posted in the WhatsApp group and in all social media handles.

Online timetable is regularly updated according to the requirement, kindly check bit.ly/penpalstt

• Where?

As per the requirements: Across India. Actively arranging Voluntary Writers at Bengaluru, Mysuru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, etc.

• How?

Once the volunteers confirm his/her availability after checking the timetable, we connect the volunteer with Visually Impaired student. 

The details related to the examinations such as exam center, time and location will be shared with the confirmed volunteer. Guidelines(Do's and Don'ts) will be briefed in prior to the volunteer.

On the day of the exam, volunteer appear for the exam along with the required documents (like Govt ID proof) to assist the Visually Impaired student in taking their exams.

If you're willing to help, please drop your details here

• Dhvani Granth - An audio library for the differently abled

  • What? Dhvani Granth is a cause aimed to provide Visually Impaired(Blind) students with study materials in audio form.  

  • Why? Finding study materials is the biggest hurdle for Visually Impaired(Blind) students as not many textbooks are available in Braille/audio format. This being the case, Visually Impaired(Blind) students have no resource that they could refer to during exam times. Dhvani Granth was conceptualized to record study materials in audio form and share it with Visually Impaired(Blind) students.

  • When? Volunteers are notified about book recording as and when the students come with requirements.

  • Where? Volunteers can record from their homes. We have active volunteers from Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, and few other cities. Also 3 months once we conduct Voiceathon wherein volunteers meet in a school and do the mass recording.

  • How? Before volunteers can record books, a sample recording is checked for voice clarity and recital  tempo. If the volunteer’s recording is satisfactory, they are assigned a few pages of recording. Volunteers can record books from their home or meet at a place for recording. Soft copy of the book to be recorded is shared with volunteers and volunteers are required to record 10 pages or one chapter of the the text books. Volunteers will be notified how many pages should be recorded in how many days. Once all the recordings are collected from the volunteers, it is shared with the blind students.

If you're willing to help, please drop your details here

WeCapable

Blogs about various aspects of all kinds of disabilities including the blind and visually impaired. It has a number of informative videos, stories of individuals, tips about Rights of the disabled and so on.

The Xavier's Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged

Breaking Barriers... Achieving Access

The Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC) is an integral part and department of St. Xavier's College - Autonomous, Mumbai.

The XRCVC was started in 2003 as an effort to ensure an inclusive environment at St. Xavier’s College, one of the most well-known educational institutions in the country, for its students with blindness and low vision. Having created an inclusive set-up for its own students, keeping with the college’s long tradition of creating social impact within the larger community, the XRCVC has today become a national advocacy and support center for the blind and low-vision across the city and the country. It has several activities as given below.

Direct Support Training

The XRCVC offers a range of direct support and training services to persons with vision impairment, caregivers, educators and institutions.

• Assistive Technology Support

At the XRCVC, you can come and explore to know more about a full range of assistive technologies and their use. You may contact us either as a user to pick the best product for your needs or as employers, education institutes, support service providers or any other organization/individual/group who would like to know more about assistive technologies and how they benefit persons with vision impairment.

• Talking ATM Project with XRCVC

XRCVC partnered with leading ATM manufacturers and the banking industry in India to launch India’s first Fully Accessible Bi-lingual ATMs in 2012 by Union Bank of India at the Blind People's Association, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad. This has been followed by deployment of more ATMs by UBI and SBI. The XRCVC has also worked with leading banks to create material for accessible ATMs in accessible formats, be it Braille or DAISY. It also launched Talking ATM India - the first ever website on Talking ATMs

Check Technologies available at the XRCVC and Guidelines for Parents & Caretakers of the Blind for details.

• Training Services

With the right skills and know-how, independent living and working is an increasing reality for persons with vision impairment. At the XRCVC, you can equip yourself with various training programs.

• Computer and Assistive Technology Training

• Braille Training

• Orientation & Mobility Training

• English Language Training

• Life Skills Training

Check Training and Vocational for the Blind in India page for details.

• Volunteer Support

The XRCVC provides volunteer services for:

• Reading

• Making material into accessible formats – through typing, scanning, editing, recording

• Examination taking – scribe facilities

• Teaching – for any subject

Request for volunteers and service rules

Check Support Groups for the Blind page for details.

• Personal & Career Guidance

The XRCVC guidance services offer individual and family guidance for persons with vision impairment to be able to make the right choices and not let the impairment be a hindrance in their lives. These services are available on an appointment basis and you may contact our office for the same.

Employment Expanding Reach

XRCVC organized a career guidance seminar, Employment Expanding Reach sponsored by IBM, in order to inform visually challenged students about the career choices available to them.

Click here for brief descriptions of each session along with audio podcasts

The 35 videos are available on XRCVC YouTube Channel.

Check Employment for the Blind in India page for details.

• Accessible Content Creation: E-Library

The XRCVC 

• Offers services to create content in accessible formats - Braille, Audio, E-Text, DAISY. If you need a book to be converted in any of these formats, please feel free to contact us.

• Has an existing database of a rich resource bank. Chances are that we may already have the book you need in our E-Library and database. Feel free to check XRCVC DAISY Catalogue and contact us to access the other databases.

• Recreation & Sports

The XRCVC’s cricket tournament involves mixed teams of the sighted and the non-sighted having a go at winning the tri-college tournament. It  has also ventured in training of visually challenged persons in football.

• Scholarships & Loan Schemes

In order to prevent financial challenges from stopping the achievement of goals, the XRCVC, in partnership with Tech Mahindra Foundation, runs an annual higher education scholarship program. Watch this space for our annual announcement of applications in the month of July/August.

Check Guidelines for Parents & Caretakers of the Blind page for details.

Advocacy

Ensuring environmental access is a key factor in determining that vision loss does not result in a disability. The XRCVC’s advocacy initiatives work in four main areas of print access, financial access, education access and independent living to create accessible environments.

• Print Access

• Financial Access

• Education Access

• Independent Living

Check Advocacy, Awareness and Education for the Blind page for details.

Awareness

XRCVC drives several awareness initiative, through mega events, workshops and talks, aims at breaking myths resulting from both lack of information and a closed mindset to help individuals, groups and organizations rethink their ideas of disability and inclusion.

• Antarchakshu® The Eye Within™ and Antarchakshu® 2.0 Season 3

The one–of–a–kind disability and simulation experience, Antarchakshu, conceptualized and developed by the XRCVC, is a leading event to spread awareness about the lives of persons with blindness and low-vision.

• • A Report on Antarchakshu® 2017 - To Inclusion and Beyond!

• The ABC of Accessibility

• The ABC of Inclusion In Education

• The ABC of Inclusion at Workplace

• Special Programs

Target-specific, need-based and skill-oriented disability sensitization workshops and program are a key aspect of the XRCVC’s awareness initiatives. 

Check Advocacy, Awareness and Education for the Blind page for details.