“We don’t know when that will happen.”The blind eye to the needs of the visually impaired with something as ubiquitous as new currency notes is just one example that indicates either ignorance or callousness. Mr Karnik, former honorary secretary of the National Association for the Blind and current centre head of Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, says it’s because disabled persons are not considered a sizeable vote bank. Malad resident Virali Modi, 26 and a wheelchair user for 11 years, recently petitioned the Maharashtra government to start make train stations disabled-friendly. “Despite the Act, I feel there is zero movement on the ground,” said Ketan Kothari, advocacy manager of Sightsavers India, which works with partners in over 30 countries to eliminate avoidable blindness and advocates for people who are visually impaired or blind. For the visually impaired, we have a beeping buzzer near the handicapped compartment so that a person can find them.

Source: The Hindu December 02, 2017 19:18 UTC