Lakhs of visually challenged students, deprived of text books and magazines in Braille for years, will be a happy lot. The reason — a software called ‘Poornachandra Tejaswi Braille Kannada Thanthra msha’, developed by three IT professionals in Mysore. The software can translate 14 vernacular languages into the 172-year-old Braille script within no time. It converts convert data typed in Kannada fonts into Braille. However, the Government has not shown any interest in purchasing the software, which costs Rs 17 lakh. The founders of Maruthi Technology, HS Sudeer, Anand and Manju Achar are the brains behind the software. The trio, inspired by noted writer Poornachandra Tejaswi’s initiatives for the blind, were helped by Kannada Thanthramasha and Kannada University, Hampi, in their venture. The young trio learnt the Braille alphabet and worked on ‘Text-Speech’, a software using which typed matter can be translated into audio and heard. They also met experts and recorded 19,784 individual letters in different voices for a month, so that the user would be able to hear the alphabet while keying it in. The software, with convertors, aims at generating avenues for self employment among users. However,the developers have been running from pillar to post to get the Government to purchase the product. Though former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy had referred the case to the IT Secretary on July 28, 2007, no purchase has been made. “We could have sold the new software to a multinational company for Rs 1 crore. But we want the Government to buy it in the interest of lakhs of blind people,” said Anand.