New year calender in Braille for visually impaired in Odisha

The visually impaired persons of Odisha will get their own version of New Year 2015 calendar as an organisation for the blind has prepared Braille calendar for them.

Besides being a normal calendar with days and dates of various festivals, it would also have basic general knowledge, some 'slokas' of the Gita and the Mahabharata and quotations of great persons.
The 16-page Odiya calendar has been prepared by Berhampore based Odisha Blind Foundation.

"Visually impaired people in the state should not depend on others to know the dates and festivals or any other auspicious occasions. Now they can read the calendar themselves to know such days," said Foundation President Bijay Kumar Rath, who himself is a blind man.

While Rath prepared the calendar, it was printed at the Braille press here, run by the District Red Cross Society. "We have printed at least 1,000 copies of the calendar this year. The organisation will dispatch at least one copy of the Braille calendar to each blind school across the state, various blind organisations, visually impaired employed persons and several college students free of cost," he said.

Copies were also dispatched to other organisations and the blind students staying outside Odisha. Rath, head of a vocational training institute for the visually impaired, said the Foundation plans to prepare some books in Braille for competitive examinations.

He is also preparing a directory of founders of blind schools across the state.