Mitra Jyothi, an NGO working for the visually challenged from the past 25 years, has been granted Rs. 1-crore Braille press by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment as part of a programme to establish 16 Braille press across the country in 2015.

The Braille press machinery has arrived in the city and the press has an industrial capacity to print 2,000 Braille pages an hour.

Managing trustee of Mitra Jyothi Madhu Singhal, a visually challenged herself, said the first project would be to take up production of Braille version of all textbooks from class I to pre-university. “We are working on starting a Braille magazine in the city, which will be the first for the State,” she said.

The State government-run Braille press in Mysuru has faced repeated technical glitches, the latest one being in November 2015, which brought the press to a halt. The administration of the press has also come under severe criticism.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Welfare Association for the Blind in Bengaluru has also put up a small Braille press and prints textbooks and other general books.