Anuj Goel’s eyes hurt. But he kept pushing himself, trying to prove that he could do it. It wasn’t easy sitting in the front row for the visually impaired student — he strained his eyes to make out the letters on the blackboard, peering through his thick glasses.

Friday’s CBSE results showed all his pains were worth the effort: Goel not only stood first among 1,034 disabled students who took the examinations, he was also the topper among government school students.

His score: 96.7 per cent.

For 12-year-old Avinash, a visually impaired student of an MCD school in Jahangirpuri,  it was smooth sailing from classes I to IV.

But since two years, he has been stuck in Class V, as his promotion now is based on performance.

“What could he do? All four years he just came to school and went back and could do nothing,” says lawyer Ashok Aggarwal.

He is pleading in the High Court for a direction to government and MCD schools to appoint special teachers for differently-abled students.

Roger Behm lost his sight at 16, the victim of an inherited disease that destroyed his retinas. Both of his eyes were surgically removed.

Now 55, Behm has made himself at home in a sightless world. He started his own business in Janesville selling devices that help the blind cope with day-to-day tasks. He and his wife have raised five children and just adopted another child from China who is also blind. He fishes, canoes, camps and scuba dives.

Adding another feature to its effort for making the admission process a lot more student-friendly for the differently-abled candidates, Delhi University this year has introduced JAWS computer software for the benefit of visually challenged applicants.

JAWS is a software programme designed to work with a speech synthesiser, converting an ordinary computer into a talking computer.

Last year, the University had introduced Braille forms to enable the visually impaired to “feel” the form, even though their admission applications were filled by the student counsellors.

A visually impaired person on Monday took charge as the judge of a Munsif Court in the city, claimed to be the first in Tamil Nadu, perhaps in India.

The 41-year old T T Chakravarthy, native of Arcot in Vellore District, was practicing in the district court there and later enrolled at Madras High Court.

After successfully writing TNPSC, he was called for the judges training and got 13th place in the examination in 2008.

One of the features that distinguishes Doordarshan from private news channels is a special news programme for persons with hearing disability: the anchor ‘tells’ news through sign languages, covering everything from politics to sports and the weather.

Though no other news channel gives such job opportunities, the Delhi University’s Equal Opportunity Cell is working towards more hearing-impaired students getting the training needed for such work. The course starts this August.

With more than 1,500 seats on offer, Delhi University and its affiliated colleges are doing all they can to encourage physically challenged students to enroll.

Many DU colleges, including Khalsa, Miranda House, Sri Ram College of Commerce, Hindu, Gargi, Kamla Nehru, Janki Devi Memorial college and Lady Sri Ram College are ready to welcome their special students with lifts, ramps, specially designed toilets and libraries equipped with resources.

In 2008, DU was able to fill a mere 386 of its 1,500 seats. 

With a view to giving convenience to physically challenged people, the Railways have decided to provide special facilities in over 1,500 stations in the country.
Special facilities like access ramps, reserved parking slots, low height water taps and suitable toilets for differently-abled people will be developed in phases at important railway stations, a senior Railway Ministry official said.