Thankyou for sharing your work. very nice article. I read about braille currency notes in one news paper and 15 Braille presses in another. but your article summarizes it all. thanks again.
On 8/11/14, avinash shahi <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear All > I often keep sharing others articles who have enriched my > reading/writing skills and helped me to grow as a student. sometimes > I should share my own work also... isn't it?(Smiles). Do read my small > piece on the Union Budget 2014 which I wrote for general readers. Keep > shouring your blessings so that I continue to write and keep > disability issues in the policy coridors. Quality publications in the > months to come! Thanks to Mr Akhilesh Shrivastava for giving this > opportunity to roll my fingers and devote my mind on the Union Budget > 2014-15. > > URL: > http://icareinfo.in/budget-2014-a-great-policy-beginning-for-the-blind/ > August 7, 2014 > > > The Union Budget 2014, which was the first full-fledged Budget > presented by the Modeled NDA government envisaged several schemes for > persons with blindness in India. It proposed to lay foundation of 15 > more Braille presses, aimed to prepare a plan with RBI to provide > Indian currency with Braille signage, called for the establishment of > National Institute of Inclusive and Universal Design and proposed for > National Centre for Disability sports. The Indian government for the > first time allocated Rs 560 crore to the Department of Disability > Affairs under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for five > years. Such huge budgetary allocation to the disability sector created > a buzz in the print media and some of the prominent national daily > published an Editorial lauding government's initiative. > Despite the slue of measures proposed by the Finance Minister Arun > Jaitely in the Union Budget 2014, Activists working with blind people > expressed apprehensions on realizing these goals. They strongly argue > that proposal for providing currency embossed in Braille to blind > people is not feasible. Notes with Braille signs will wear out > soon.Raised dots will not remain on banknote in the long run. RBI, > India's apex bank proposed to introduce plastic notes of Rs. 10 but > its trial has been delayed for indefinite period. Many countries such > as Canada and Chile provide tactile feature in a corner on printed > notes for the blind people. But such feature is of no help for those > who do not know Braille and become blind late in their lives. Given > the technological advancements over the years, many techy tools > couldprove handy for identifying different denominations of notes by > the blind. > > The persons with disabilities were expecting doubling of tax exemption > but the Finance Minister did not address this concern. The Union > Budget also disappointed disability sector by not proposing measures > to fulfilling long pending demand of 3 per cent employment despite > recent Supreme Court's landmark judgment. Blind women who face > discrimination in myriad ways in the society have not received any > specific attention in the Union Budget. Over the last one decade > Screen reading software such as JAWS has become popular among blind > computer literate. But this software is too costly to afford for > majority of blind students who belong to humble family background. > They hoped that the Union Budget 2014 would provide import duty > waivers and excise exemptions so that majority of poor blind people > could be able to buy software for their educational needs. But Budget > had no provision facilitating such relaxation. > > The proposed schemes for blind people in the Union Budget 2014 clearly > manifest government's conventional understanding about the challenges > face by blind people. The Union Ministers and the senior bureaucrats > are yet to be made aware about the technological developments which > have proved boon for blind in the country and need consistent > governmental support. Nonetheless, Budget 2014 was historic in many > sense for disability sector. Now onus lies on the disability rights > activists to unitedly negotiate and lobby with the government to see > the proper implementation of the proposals in the Budget. Right to > Information (RTI) Act could be wisely used by activists working with > the blind people to highlight the sectoral spending of huge outlays > proposed to the Department of Disability Affairs in the 12 5 year > plan. Narendra Modi government deserves kudos for embarking on a > progressive policy initiative; which if properly actuated on the > ground may usher in transformative change in the living standards of > blind people in the country > Avinash Shahi > a Visually Impaired, at present Ph.D student at the Centre for the > Study of Law and Governance Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi > > > -- > Avinash Shahi > Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU > > > > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of > mobile phones / Tabs on: > http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the > person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
