Denial of banking rights
 
Twenty-three-year-old Kalyan lives in Lakhimpur, Assam. Born totally blind, he studied in a special school up till 8^th class. After that he moved to a regular school. But Kalyan and his family lacked awareness about the possibilities of life with blindness.
 
It was during the Covid lockdown, that Kalyan encountered the need for acquiring an ATM card from his bank. Earlier he didn’t feel the need for online transactions but during the pandemic, there was sudden shift to UPI payments. And to create an account and set a PIN, Kalyan needed an ATM card. He went to his bank, but the authorities denied issuing him one on grounds of blindness. Ignorant of his rights, he accepted that persons with vision impairment were not meant to have ATM cards.
 
A couple of years later, a friend of his who is also visually impaired shared that he owned an ATM card. This got Kalyan thinking and he decided to make a second attempt. This time, he approached the Eyeway Helpdesk for support. The counselor equipped him with the banking guidelines stating that no one can be denied any financial services on grounds of disability.
 
When Kalyan went to see the Bank Manager with the government notification, his pleas fell on deaf ears. The Eyeway counselor then spoke to the official warning him of registering a complaint against the bank on denial of rights. The manager immediately gave in, and Kalyan was issued an ATM card.
 
Often persons with vision impairment are ignorant of their own rights or feel a lack of confidence in advocating for themselves. Also, the last mile implementing authorities are short of awareness as well as empathy towards the blind community. Eyeway counselors work towards bridging this gap.
 
Team Eyeway