Braille

Library Inaugurated at Dr. Shakuntala Mishra National Rehabilitation

University, UP's First State University

An

unparalleled gift of education for visually impaired on Louis Braille's birth

anniversary, with a capacity for over 150 readers

4000

academic Braille books available, based on 54 undergraduate and postgraduate

courses published by the university's Braille press, in line with the National

Education Policy

Becomes

Uttar Pradesh's first state university to establish a well-organized Braille

library

Lucknow,

04 Jan (HS): Transforming Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's far-sighted policy

of inclusive education and divyang empowerment into reality, under the guidance

of Narendra Kashyap, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Backward

Classes Welfare and Divyangjan Empowerment Department, the first state

university-level Braille library section was grandly inaugurated at Dr.

Shakuntala Mishra National Rehabilitation University. On this historic

occasion, the Chief Guest and Vice-Chancellor of the university, Acharya Sanjay

Singh, formally inaugurated this state-of-the-art Braille library established

on the first floor of the Swami Vivekananda Central Library. Earlier, the

Vice-Chancellor paid heartfelt tributes to the great Louis Braille, the father

of Braille script, by garlanding and offering flowers at his statue in the

university's Braille Press complex on the occasion of his birth anniversary.

Thereafter, the Braille library section was formally and gracefully inaugurated

by cutting the ribbon.

The

auspicious program commenced with the Vice-Chancellor lighting the lamp by

holding the hands of visually impaired students, symbolizing inclusion and

respect. On this occasion, he inspired visually impaired students to move

towards self-reliance and instructed the university administration to ensure

that modern computer training facilities are also provided to them so that they

can face the challenges of the digital age. In his address, he specifically

emphasized that Braille script is an extremely powerful medium of education for

visually impaired individuals, playing a significant role in their holistic

development by connecting them to the mainstream of society.

Narendra

Kashyap, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Backward Classes Welfare

and Divyangjan Empowerment Department, said that this innovative Braille

library has 4000 academic Braille books based on 54 different undergraduate

(UG) and postgraduate (PG) courses, published by the university's own Braille

press, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP). This is the first

state university in Uttar Pradesh where such a vast and well-organized library

section of Braille books has been developed. This library also has a large

reading room with facilities for more than 150 students to study together,

which will provide a quiet and conducive environment for study.

Minister

Kashyap stated that in line with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's noble vision

of Education for All, this Braille library will not be limited to

university students only. Rather, external visually impaired individuals can

also avail its resources by taking membership and continue their studies. For

this purpose, a comprehensive system of special, casual, and corporate

memberships has been arranged. Special membership will be available for scholars,

researchers, academicians, and other residents of Lucknow. For this, two

residential proofs will have to be submitted along with the membership form.

Guest lecturers, retired teachers, and employees of the Rehabilitation

University can also become special members by paying the prescribed library

fees. Casual membership can be provided for a maximum of six months at a time,

under which library resources can be availed by paying a prescribed amount.

However, no books will be issued to irregular members. Under corporate

membership, any organization in Lucknow can become a member of the library by

depositing an annual membership fee. Under this membership, the organization

will get the right to six library tickets, which the organization can provide

to its working employees.

Professor

Yashwant Viroday, university spokesperson and library in-charge, informed on

this occasion that an ambitious target has been set to increase the number of

Braille books to 10,000 in the current financial year. He also informed that in

addition to academic books, novels, plays, biographies of great personalities,

and various literary works are also available here, which will fulfill both the

knowledge and entertainment needs of visually impaired readers.

For

this important initiative, Braille research students Ajay Kumar Dwivedi, Rohit,

Ram Sakal, Manoj, and Ajay, along with other visually impaired students,

expressed their heartfelt gratitude to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Minister

Narendra Kashyap, and the university administration. Expressing their feelings,

they said that Louis Braille provided them with the script to read, while this

university has provided them with a dignified system and valuable

opportunities, which has brought new hope into their lives.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi