What’s New

Fuel a dream, change a life

Born blind in Bagalkot city of Karnataka, 23-year-old Vinayak Neelanayak dreams of becoming a Biotechnology Engineer. Like most students with vision impairment, he has braved many odds to pursue his interest in Science.

Our ill-equipped education system makes it difficult for blind students to follow subjects like Maths and Science, often encouraging them to opt out. Vinayak’s school refused to let him sit through Class 12 and he struggled for three years until he found admission elsewhere. His persistence paid off and he scored 75% in the finals.

Students’ future at stake, are guidelines enough?

Yogender Singh is a BA final year student of Delhi University (DU). Visually impaired since the age of two, pursuing his dream of education hasn’t been easy.

He was on a short break in his hometown Moradabad, UP, when the nationwide lockdown was announced in March. Yogender was oblivious of the challenges he would face in the coming months.

Challenging Times during Covid

Coronavirus has altered the existing scenarios. As the world grapples with change, blind people are faced with new set of difficulties. A long-term associate of Eyeway, Praveen Kumar shares what it means to be visually impaired in today’s times.

As a visually impaired person, being independent has been my priority in life. Now with the situation of corona there is going to be a change in my life and also for many others with vision impairment.

Covid19 Stories from the ground #9

Visually impaired siblings, Ravi and Shobha lost their parents at an early age. Orphaned and financially weak, they never got an opportunity to study. They live with an aunt in Belagavi district of Karnataka, who is also disabled. The family of three is dependent on the Disability Pension provided by the government.

Covid19 Stories from the ground #8

Rohit and his wife are both blind. Growing up as orphans, they didn’t get much chance at proper education. Rohit made a living by selling things and offering massage to commuters on Mumbai’s local trains. They were blessed with a baby in mid-March but the childbirth brought more woes than happiness.
Unemployed during the lockdown, Rohit struggled to arrange for food and pay rent. He pleaded with his landlord to make an exception for a few months, until he started earning again. But the house owner was indifferent and insensitive to their issues.

Covid19 Stories from the ground #7

Pradeep Kumar and his wife, both visually impaired, live in a rented house in Mumbai. He made a decent living as a masseur and also looked after his ailing mother-in-law. But the lockdown changed everything.

Recently, Pradeep made a desperate call to the Eyeway Helpdesk as he struggled to provide even one basic meal to his family. He also told our counselor how his mother-in-law had fractured her leg and was confined to bed.

Covid19 Stories from the ground #6: Services without awareness of little help

Although both central and state governments have announced welfare schemes and helplines for people to contact during the lockdown, for most people, relief isn’t easy to come by.

Maharashtra being one among the worst hit states by Covid19, Eyeway Helpdesk has received hundreds of calls from visually impaired people from various districts, struggling with daily existence.

Covid19: Stories from the ground #5

Persons with disabilities struggle to lead independent lives given our societal set-up which makes self-reliance a hard bet for them. The Covid-19 crisis has added to their woes, leaving quite a few desperate and dependent for provisions.

26-year-old Chikkaredappa and his wife are both visually impaired. While he sold books for a living, his wife contributed to the household income by selling flowers outside a temple in Bangalore city. But the lockdown brought their small business to a screeching halt. Left without food, they called Eyeway for help.

Roulette enables visually impaired people to draw tactile diagrams on any paper

Students with blindness and low vision are traditionally discouraged from pursuing mathematics, specifically geometry, given its visual nature. This lack of access translates into a detail of opportunities in academics and employment. Bengaluru-based developer Paul D’Souza is out to change that with his drawing tool Roulette.

(DPWD’s) webinar on Professional courses and network building

Webinar on Professional courses and network building BY Turab Chimthanawala an (Associate member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, currently a consultant with MG Consulting, a Leading Company Secretary Firm in Mumbai.
(DPWD) is ready with its 23rd Webinar, this webinar, will cover the Topics of various professional studies available for visually Impaired Students, like (CA, CS and CMA) entry in to professional Studies, steps of addition, prerequisites of certification and career.

Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT), Primary Teacher (PRT) and Orientation and Mobility Instructor (NIVH)

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE EMPOWERMENT OF PERSONS WITH VISUAL DISABILITIES (DIVYANGJAN) (Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities) Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt. of India
116,RajpurRoad, Dehradun-248001,
Uttarakhand
Website: http://nivh.gov.in/

Applications are invited from the eligible candidates for filling up the following posts.

Posts to be filled on Regular Basis.

WORKMEN

COCHIN SHIPYARD LIMITED
KOCHI-682015
(P&A Department)

No. P&A/2(230)/16-Vol VII

Cochin Shipyard Limited, a listed premier Mini Ratna Company of Government of India invites
Online applications to the following posts for appointment on contract basis:

Disability brings out the activist in her

Madras High Court advocate has been chosen for Javed Abidi award this year

M. Karpagam, a visually impaired lawyer practising at the Madras High Court, has been selected for this year’s NCPEDP-Mphasis Javed Abidi Universal Design Award in the public policy and advocacy category.

She is the first visually impaired woman advocate who is actively practising, including arguing her cases, in the High Court, she says. Her journey has been fraught with challenges.

Disability brings out the activist in her

Madras High Court advocate has been chosen for Javed Abidi award this year

She is the first visually impaired woman advocate who is actively practising, including arguing her cases, in the High Court, she says. Her journey has been fraught with challenges.

Assistant Professor

Swami Shraddhanand College (University of Delhi)
Alipur,
Delhi- 110036
Advt. No. SSC/DU-60/2020-21/261

Delhi-based Manovikas Charitable Society initiates virtual learning for people with disabilities

To help the kids and adults with disabilities and their parents cope up with the Covid-19 pandemic, Delhi-based Manovikas Charitable Society –founded in 1997 – initiated virtual programmes – Mashvara and Manbhavan. Mashvara is a live consultation for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and Manbhavan tries to engage these kids in cultural and craft activities.

NVDA 2020.3 Beta 2

The first news this time around, is the release of a Beta Version of NVDA 2020.3, two, in fact. Last week we released NVDA 2020.3 beta 1, and this week we have released a second beta. NVDA 2020.3 includes several large improvements to stability and performance, particularly in Microsoft Office applications. There are new settings to toggle touchscreen support and graphics reporting. The existence of marked (highlighted) content can be reported in browsers. There are also new German braille tables.

Online English classes for all Indian visually impaired

SAKSHAM* (An NGO for Visually challenged and other divyangs with
Head Office at Nagpur), is organising online English classes for all Indian visually impaired aspirants to learn English from the comfort of their home.
The classes will be taken by Dr. Komil Tyagi , Prof in The Deptt of English and Research Centre at Mehr Chand DAV College, Chandigarh.
Course duration is 1 month.
*No fee is payable*
Start date the 28th of September 2020
Class timings Monday to Friday 7 to 8 p.m.
Platform : online using zoom

If cobblers,vendors, domestic help included for foodgrains distribution, why not disabled:HC

New Delhi, Sep 7 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Monday said if cobblers, street vendors and domestic help can be included as categories for disbursal of subsidised foodgrains under the food security law, then why not disabled persons.