The visually challenged from Tiruchi on Monday staged a demonstration in front of the District Collectorate here seeking permission to travel in all buses free of cost as per the government order.

Some would not allow them to travel free of cost on long-distance buses or without identification from the government. They had to pay the full fare and they were also charged for luggage if they were travelling to make a living.

“We would be carrying soaps, incense sticks, books to sell on buses and they would restrict it. How are we to earn a living then,” they asked.
 

The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and the Samagra Shiksha in Tamil Nadu are working towards equipping visually-impaired teachers in the State with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills. Around 1,500 such teachers in Tamil Nadu are working in mainstream schools across the State. Hope Foundation, an NGO in association with Dell Technologies, has facilitated this initiative with the School Education Department.

Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) Plc has awarded scholarship covering full tuition fees, monthly upkeep allowance, as well as presentation of a Braille keyboard, laptop and a recording device to Mr. Israel Ojo Temitope, a visually impaired Higher National Diploma I Mass Communication student of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State.

Figure represents only a tiny fraction of group’s total population of 26.8 million

Only 4,018 people with disabilities have received both doses of COVID-19 vaccine till November 28, as per figures released by the Health Ministry during the ongoing session of Parliament. It added that as per the CoWIN portal, 8,390 people with disabilities received the first dose.

As per Census 2011, the differently abled population in India stands at 26.8 million.