Kerala: Blind demand currency notes they can see'

Thiruvananthapuram: The Blind Graduates Forum of India has launched a campaign to make Indian currency accessible to the blind. Totally blind people need different sizes of notes and tactile marks that can be felt by touch. These are absent now. The forum has also initiated a petition in the change.org for getting public support for the programme. Delhi-based Malayali Sachin Narayanan, who is an assistant professor at the Dayal Singh College of  Delhi University, told Deccan Chronicle that he had come into contact with the campaign through his friends belonging to various organisations working for the benefit of the visually challenged. It had not got much support from the general public, Mr Narayanan said.

Over 50 lakh blind people in India and lakhs of senior citizens with low eyesight are facing the issue,  the petition said. Low vision individuals need contrasting colours and large font. Most of our bank notes and coins are difficult for the blind to identify.  The new notes have multiplied the challenge. Digital currency still remains inaccessible tho-ugh they can use computers and apps using assistive technology, said the petition.  It appealed to the finance ministry, Reserve Bank of India and Prime Minister Narenra Modi to make all modes of monetary transactions — notes, coins, ATMs, websites and apps —  accessible to all persons with disabilities, including blind.