Visually impaired hail Braille slip initiative

Mumbai, April 19

The Braille voter information slip introduced in 2019 has allowed visually impaired persons to exercise their franchise in secrecy unlike earlier times when they had to take help from those with sight, several persons associated with the initiative said.

Incidentally, the number of visually impaired voters in Maharashtra has gone up from 48,000 to 1,16,518 within five years, officials said.

“We are printing Braille voter information slip to allow visually impaired persons to exercise their franchise in secrecy. The NAB and EC have collaborated on this. It is a great boon for the visually impaired,” NAB honorary secretary Vimal Kumar Dengla said.

“The NAB has been working since 1952 to empower the visually impaired and has taken steps to ensure they are included in the mainstream. To help them vote, we have been printing ballot papers in our Braille press, which is the largest,” NAB executive director Pallav Kadam said.