The visually-challenged could soon get a 24X7 companion in the form of a radio dedicated solely to education and entertainment for the blind. City-based Braillevani Education Radio Group (BERG) has been working on the concept and will approach HRD Minister Kapil Sibal with it in July this year. Once sanctioned, the group said, the project would be functional by the end of the year.

“To start with, we are targeting Pune and Maharashtra and our aim is to reach out to maximum number of visually-challenged individuals. In fact, we also approached Delhi-based institutes — Blind Relief Association, Rahabilitation Council of India and National Council of Education Research (NCERT) — with the concept in April and they assured support in the production of the programmes. NCERT has assured us help in delivering lectures on Mathematics and Science through the radio,” said Satish Navale, member, BERG.

With involvement of experts in the field of blind education such as professor Mahesh Deokar, head, Department of Pali Language, University of Pune, Lata Kondurkar and others, the team consisting of 30 visually challenged members is working on the content of the radio station. “We have categorised the topics as textbook education, vocational training, home science, agriculture and competitive exams,” added Navale.

With a budget of Rs 2.5 lakh-3 lakh in addition to the infrastructure, the station, once functional, would be the first and the only radio channel in the country dedicated completely to the blind. “We are targeting corporates and sponsors for finance. Once operational, we are sure that the station will create an interactive platform for visually challenged individuals to express their thoughts,” said professor Mahesh Deokar, academic adviser, BERG. “We are looking at deemed universities to establish our base,” added Navale.

Anand Deshmukh, director, Vidyavani said, “The students have tremendous potential. We at Vidyavani are committed to providing full operational support to them till their own channel becomes functional.”