EDUCATION, WELFARE AND
REHABILITATION OF THE HANDICAPPED
Although no reliable statistics are available, it is believed
that the blind population in India is in the neighbourhood of 20 lakh.
The deaf population is estimated at roughly 7 to 8 lakh. No estimate
of the orthopaedically and mentally handicapped is available.
2. During 1961-62, the Ministry of Education continued its
efforts to promote the education, welfare and rehabilitation of the
handicapped. Special efforts were made to re-appraise the existing
schemes and orient policies to be adopted during the third Five-Year
Plan.
A. THE BLIND
3. There are at present about 100 schools and other
establishments for the blind in the country. The majority of them are
run by voluntary agencies with some State aid. Most of these
institutions impart elementary education coupled with vocational
training in crafts like weaving, chair-caning, candle-making, toy-
making, etc. Music is taught in almost every school for the blind.
4. National Centre for the Blind, Debra Dun.-
One of the
major projects undertaken by the Government of India in the field of
the education and training of the blind is the establishment of a
National Centre for the Blind at Debra Dun. The centre aims at
providing an integrated service for the blind commencing from
education in childhood and ending with the training of the adult and
includes the production and manufacture of Braille literature and
appliances for the blind. The Centre comprises a number of
institutions one of which was established during the year under report
and the others were developed and strengthened.
5. Training Centre for the Adult Blind, Debra Dun.-
This was the first institution to be established at Dehra Dun for the
blind on the 1st January, 1950. The rules of admission to the Centre
were liberalised during the year under review by raising the maximum
age of admission from 30 to 40 years and by giving priority to blinded
ex-servicemen and to candidates sponsored by State Governments and
approved institutions for the blind. In the case of blinded ex-
servicemen a further concession was given by raising the maximum age
to 50. Since blind persons trained
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in cottage industries were finding it difficult to secure remunerative
employment, the process of shifting the emphasis gradually to light
engineering trades was started during the year and new trades like
cycle-repairing and cycle-assembly were introduced. The scope of the
training programme was also widened by introducing domestic science
and doll-making for blind women and coir mat-making for blind men.
The period of training in the various trades which was previously of a
uniform duration of 2 years was also rationalised and durations
varying from 6 months to 2 years depending on the particular trade
were fixed. The number of seats in the hostel remained constant at
150 in the Men's Section and 35 in the Women's Section. Sixty-nine
blind men and four blind women passed out of the Centre during the
year under report. (To advise the Government on the establishment of a
full-fledged light engineering section at the Centre, the services of
an I.L.O. expert are likely to be available from the middle of 1962.
6. Sheltered Workshop, Dehra Dun.-
Nine blind workers
were provided employment in this workshop, 4 on weaving and 5 on
chair-caning. The workers were provided free furnished accommodation,
a cook and free medical aid in addition to wages.
7. The Central Braille Press, Dehra Dun.-
During this
year, 32 new titles in Braille in different Indian languages and
suitable for various age-groups of the blind were published as against
70 titles brought out since 1957. Plans for improving the capacity
and out-turn of this press are at present in the process of
implementation. An agreement has been entered into with the UNICEF
for the supply of additional machinery, equipment and Braille paper.
In order to reduce the dependence of the Press on imported paper,
experiments were carried out in the use of indigenous paper. For
certain types of publications, such as, the quarterly 'Alok'
indigenous paper was used for the first time.
8. Workshop for the Manufacture of Braille Appliances.-
The
Workshop continued to manufacture and supply at subsidized prices
basic appliances like Braille slates, arithmetic frames, chess-boards
etc. needed for the education and welfare of the blind. The
suggestions for the expansion and improvement of the Press made by a
United Nations expert in the latter part of the last year were
examined and plans for implementing the same were prepared during the
year under report. In the light of these plans, an agreement has been
entered into with the UNICEF for the supply of necessary machinery and
equipment for the Workshop. With the addition, of these, it is
expected to double the production during the coming year.
9. Model School for Blind Children.-
In accordance with, a
phased programme, the 6th class was added during the year under report
and the
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number. of children on roll increased from 34 to 50. Plans for the
addition of the 7th class and for increase in the strength to about 75
from the next session are being finalized.
10. National Braille Library.-
There has been so far no
Braille lending library in the country. The establishment of the
National Braille Library in the year under review has, to some extent,
removed this deficiency. The nucleus for the Library has been formed
from a stock of books published by the Central Braille Press and the
valuable collection of books chiefly in English built up by the
Training Centre for the Adult Blind over the past few years. A
substantial number of additional Braille volumes were donated during
the year under review by the National Braille Library, London. Steps
to enrich it further are under way. This library will lend Braille
books free of charge to blind readers throughout the country. Since
no postage is levied on Braille literature, the blind reader will have
to incur no expenditure. Since one library for the whole country will
not be able to meet the demand, all State Governments were requested
to begin with the establishment of a Braille section in all State
central libraries. Some of the State Governments have already
implemented the suggestion.
11. Banubai Byramji Kanga Trainees' Welfare Fund of the
Training Centre for the Adult Blind, Dehra Dun.-
With the sum of
Rs. 50,000 bequeathed by the late Shrimati Banubai Byramji Kanga of
Bombay, a Trainees' Welfare Fund has been created during the year
under review under the Charitable Endowments Act of 1890. The
interest is proposed to be utilized on the welfare and rehabilitation
of the ex-trainees of the Training Centre for the Adult Blind, Dehra
Dun.
B. THE DEAF
12. There are at present about 53 institutions for the deaf in
the country. The majority of them are run by voluntary agencies with
some State aid. Most schools for the deaf impart elementary education
and training in trades like tailoring, weaving, carpentry, smithy,
printing, book-binding and so on.
13. Training of Teachers for the Deaf.-
With the
addition of 3 more training centres for the training of teachers of
the deaf during the year under review, there are at present 5 such
centres. In order to ensure uniform standards in all these 5 training
establishments, a committee has been set up by the Ministry of
Education to go into the question of improving the syllabus, method of
selection of trainees, quality of teaching etc.
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14. The All-India Federation of the Deaf has established in
Delhi a School of Photography for the Deaf with the assistance given
by the Ministry of Education. This is the first institution of its
kind in the country.
15. Training Centre for the Adult Deaf.-
Plans for the
establishment of a Training Centre for the Adult Deaf at Hyderabad,
the first one of its kind in the country, have been finalized.
Negotiations with the State Government of Andhra Pradesh regarding
various facilities to be provided have been completed. The Centre is
expected to start functioning early next year.
16. Manufacture of Hearing Aids.-
A private undertaking
has started manufacturing individual and group hearing aids on the
prototypes prepared by the National Physical Laboratory. Also the
factory of the Bharat Electronics, Bangalore has started the
manufacture of similar aids.
C. THE ORTHOPAEDICALLY AND MENTALY HANDICAPPED
17. There are at present about 24 special institutions for the
orthopaedically handicapped and about 10 institutions for mentally
deficient children. Almost all these institutions are run by
voluntary agencies. Efforts were made during the year under review to
strengthen and improve the working of some of the more important ones
through financial assistance.
18. Travel Concessions for the Orthopaedically
Handicapped.-
For the first time, travel concessions, though on a
limited scale, were granted by the Railway Board to the
orthopaedically handicapped. Persons suffering from disability of the
lower extremities can now travel by rail on one ticket together with
their escort when they travel from one place to another.
19. Education of Mentally Deficient Children.-
In view
of the inadequacy of existing educational and training facilities for
mentally deficient children, the Ministry of Education appointed a
committee to survey the existing situation and suggest measures for
the development of existing services and the establishment of new
ones. In pursuance of the interim recommendations of this committee,
it has been decided to undertake a survey of a few selected schools
for boys and girls in Delhi and Bombay in order to gauge the incidence
of inherent mental retardation among school-going children.
D. GENERAL
20. Scholarships.-
As against a total number of 659 awards
made during the 5 years of the second Plan period as many as 339 fresh
awards
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were made during 1961-62 comprising 87 blind, 83 deaf and 169 ortho-
paedically handicapped students. In order that the best available
handicapped candidates throughout the country may avail of these
scholarships, improvements were introduced in the procedure for
inviting applications and preliminary scrutiny. For the first time,
applications were invited through the State Governments who also did
the preliminary scrutiny and sent select lists to the Ministry of
Education. As against Rs. 1.86 lakh spent during 1960-61 over
scholarships for the physically handicapped, the expenditure during
1961-62 has been to the tune of Rs. 3.85 lakh.
21. Concessions to Handicapped Students taking University
Examinations.-
At the request of the Ministry of Education the
Inter-University Board has recommended to all universities that
suitable handicapped persons should be permitted to appear as private
candidates for examinations not requiring practical work. They have
further recommended that blind or crippled students who cannot write
should be given facilities like the provision of a competent writer or
permission to typewrite their answers.
22. Entry of Physically Handicapped Persons into Public
Services.-
During the period under review further efforts were made
to facilitate the entry of physically handicapped persons into public
services. Instructions to all employing departments have already been
issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs that cases of physically
handicapped persons should be treated with sympathy. During the year
under review, instructions were issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs
to the effect that physically handicapped persons certified as fit by
medical boards attached to special employment exchanges for the
physically handicapped should not be subjected to further medical
examination by the employing departments. The Ministry of Railways
has decided that physically handicapped persons referred by the
special employment exchanges for the physically handicapped for class
III and class IV posts under the Railways may be recruited directly
without appearing before the Railway Service Commissions. The
Ministry of Home Affairs has also issued instructions that in the case
of physically handicapped persons the compulsory requirement regarding
knowledge of typewriting may be waived.
23. Assistance to Voluntary Organizations.-
The rules
governing assistance to voluntary organizations in the field of the
handicapped were considerably liberalised during the year under
review. The percentage of assistance was raised from 60 to 75; the
ceiling on building grants was increased from Rs. 30,000 to Rs.
1,00,000; and the period for which recurring assistance is admissible
was raised from 3 to 5 years in deserving cases. The policy of giving
liberal assistance to deserving institutions of all-India or regional
importance was continued during the year under review and a sum of Rs.
3.18 lakh was sanctioned to 22 such institutions.
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24. Improvement in the Salaries of Teachers Working in
Schools for the Handicapped.-
The National Advisory Council for the
Education of the Handicapped and the Central Advisory Board of
Education recommended that scales of pay of teachers in schools for
the handicapped should be the same as for teachers in normal schools
and that in addition they should be given 5 advance increments and a
special pay. This recommendation has been forwarded by the Ministry
of Education to all State Governments and some of the State
Governments have started implementing the same during the year under
review.
25. Special Employment Exchanges for the Physically
Handicapped.-
The Employment Office of the Training Centre for the
Adult Blind located at Madras since 1954 has been transferred to the
Government of Madras and it began functioning as a full-fledged
special employment exchange catering to all the three categories of
the physically handicapped with effect from 1st April, 1962. This
office placed 10 blind persons during the year under review bringing
the total to 147 since its inception. The Special Employment Exchange
at Bombay placed 60 physically handicapped persons during the year
under review bringing the total placements since its inception in
March, 1959 to 187. The Special Employment Exchange, Delhi which
started functioning during the year under review made 55 placements of
physically handicapped persons. Plans for the opening of 3 or 4 more
such special exchanges during 1962-63 are under way.
26. The First National Seminar on the Training and
Employment of the Physically Handicapped.-
The Ministry of
Education convened at Bangalore from 16th to 22nd December, 1961 the
First National Seminar on the Training and Employment of the
Physically Handicapped to suggest a feasible programme for the
training and placement of the physically handicapped during the Third
Five-Year Plan. The Seminar was attended by 89 delegates and 9
observers and comprised representatives of Central and State
Governmens, employers' organizations, trade unions and distinguished
non-official experts in the field. The Seminar provided an
opportunity of bringing workers and administrators together in the
field of the handicapped from all over the country along with
employers and enabled them to exchange and pool their experiences and
ideas.
27. The First National Exhibition on the Utility and
Freedom for the Physically Handicapped.-
The First National
Exhibition with the theme "Utility and Freedom for the Physically
Handicapped" was ogranized by the Ministry of Education at Bangalore
from 16th to 21st December, 1961. The most striking feature of this
exhibition was that nearly a hundred physically handicapped persons
demonstrated to the public how they could successfully carry out a
variety of useful and productive activities.
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28. Financial Provisions.-
The following table gives the
financial provisions made for the different schemes in this sector
during 1961-62 and 1962-63:
Provision Budget
Sl. Name of Institution/Scheme for Provision
No. 1961-62 for
1962-63
Rs. Rs.
1. Training Centre for the Adult Blind at
Debra Dun 3,13,100 2,85,900
2. Sheltered Workshop for the Blind, Debra
Dun 52,900 54,200
3. The Central Braille Press, Debra Dun 1,26,550 1,66,600
4. Workshop for the Manufacture of Braille
Appliances, Debra Dun 20,000 21,000
5. Model School for Blind Children, Debra
Dun 98,200 1,22,800
6. Training Centre for the Adult
Deaf-Establishment of the .. 1,00,000
7. Scholarships for the Blind 1,54,000 2,62,000
8. Scholarships for the Deaf 91,000 1,38,000
9. Scholarships for the Orthopaedically
Handicapped 1,35,000 2,09,000
10. Survey of the Handicapped .. 30,000
11. Assistance to Voluntary Organisations
for the Handicapped 4,05,000 5,00,000
12. Establishment of Special Employment
Offices for the Handicapped 18,000 71,000
13. Training of Teachers for the Blind .. 31,000
14. National Braille Library 15,000 25,000
15. Meetings of Committees on the
Education of the Handicapped
and Social Welfare 53,000 12,000
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