APPENDIX C (c)- PROCEEDINGS OF THE MEETING OF THE EXPERT BRAILLE COMMITTEE WHICH MET AT SIMLA ON THE 16TH AND THE 17TH JUNE, 1947.
1. A meeting of the Expert Braille Committee of the Contra] Advisory Board of Education was held in the Committee Room, Gorton Castle, Simla on Monday and Tuesday, the 16th and 17th June, 1947. The following members were present
1. Dr. Abdul Raquel (in Chair)
2. Mr. P. M. Advani.
3. Mr. Kalidas Bhattacharjee.
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4. Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterjee.
5. Rev. M. C. Langton,
6. Mr. S. C. Roy.
7. Sir John Sargent.
8. Dr. D. M. Sen.
2. As Sir John Sargent, C.I.E., M.A., D.Litt., the Chairman of the Committee, was unavoidably detained elesewhere, Dr. Abdul Haque was unanimously voted to the Chair. Sir John Sargent arrived at the meeting after some time.
Dr. D. M. Sen, O.B.E., M.A., Ph. D., acted as the Secretary of the Committee.
3. Dr. R. M. Haldar, Assistant Educational Adviser (Blindness) to the Govt. of India, was also present at the meeting.
4. A, special invitation had been sent to Lt.Col. Sir Clutha Makenzie of the St. Dunstan's Hostel for the War-Blinded, Debra Dun to attend the meeting, but due to ill health, he could not be present.
5. The agenda before the Committee was as follows
1. To consider what steps should be taken to bring the Uniform Braille Code into use in all the Schools for the Blind in India.
2. To consider a tentative plan for Braille contractions and abbreviations,
3. To consider a tentative plan for a Braille Printing Press.
The Explanatory Memoranda on the different items of the Agenda which were circulated to members of the Committee are appended to the proceedings (Annexures A-C).
6. Item of Agenda.-The Committee agreed
(i) That the Report of the Expert Committee of the Central Advisory Board of Education on Uniform Braille Code in India with the Foreword attached to it, which gives a summary of the progress made so far in the matter of devising a suitable and Uniform Braille Code for use throughout India, be printed in large numbers and distributed free to Institutions engaged in teaching the Blind and sold at a reasonable price to all in. terested in the Welfare of the Blind.
(ii) That sufficient number of black-printed charts of the Code with specific rules and illustrations be also printed and distributed freely or sold at as nominal price.
(iii) That embossed copies of the charts with specific rules and illustration be also printed in large numbers and distributed free among the Institutions for use of Blind Pupils.
(iv) That some Model Primers may also be embossed in Braille.
(v) That investigations should be made to find out whether there is any suitable Press in India which could undertake the work of embossing the Uniform Indian Braille Charts and that in case there was no suitable Press in India, the National Institute for the Blind, London, should be approached to accord the necessary facilities for printing.
(vi) That about six months after the book of instructions mentioned above was supplied, a Conference of the Workers and Teachers of the Blind, representing the Provinces should be convened to discuss the problems arising out of the adoption of the Uniform Indian Braille.
7. Item 2 of Agenda.-It was decided that the basic principles for devising suitable contractions should first be worked out by the members of the Committee individually and collectively and that these should then be finalized by circulation to the Provincial Govts. and the Institutions concerned. Accordingly the Committee worked out some contractions for some languages but they decided that these should be carefully reviewed again, by the individual members in a more leisurely shion.
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8. Item 3 of Agenda.-The Committee unanimously agreed that Dehra Dun would be an ideal place for ocating the Braille Printing Press and that it would be helpful the s te now occupied by St. Dunstan's could be acquired for the purpose They also resolved that the necessary personnel for running the Press should be selected and sent abroad for training so that they could take over the work when the Press arrived in India.
The Committee recommended along with the institution of the Press, the formation of a Publication Committee to select suitable books for embossing in different languages in India.
9. Item of Agenda.-As regards the Bulletin on Blindness which is hence. forth to be issued by the Central Bureau of Education, the Committee resolved that it be printed as often as necessary if sufficient material were available, and that the members of this Committee and others interested in the Education and Welfare of the Blind be invited to contribute materials or articles.
10. The Committee then concluded their session.
ANNEXURE A. Item 1 of Agenda.- The report* of the Expert Committee of the Central Advisory Board of Education of Uniform Braille Code in India and the Foreword attached to it(not reporduced), give a summary of the progress made so far in the matter of divising a suitable and Uniform Braille Code for use throughout India.
At the annual meeting held at Bombay on the 9th-11th January, 1947, the Central Advisory Board of Education unanimously recommended that steps should now be taken to bring the Uniform Braille Code into use in all the Schools for the Blind in India.
The following suggestions are accordingly submitted to the Committee for consideration in this connection
(1) The Report of the Expert Committee may be printed in large numbers and distributed free to Institutions engaged in teaching the Blind and sold at a reasonable price to all, interested in the welfare of the blind.
(2) Sufficient number of black-print Charts of the Code may also be, printed and distributed freely or sold at a nominal price.
(3) Embossed copies of the Charts with specific rules and illustrations be also printed in large numbers and distributed free among the Institutions for use of blind pupils.
(4) Some Model. Primers may also be embossed in Braille. For this purpose the National Institute for the Blind, London, may be requested to help pending the setting-up of a Braille Printing Press in India.
These books may be distributed to the Institutions for their study and observation. The text books to be selected as models may be decided upon in consultation with the Institutions concerned. Meanwhile, the existing Codes in the different institutions may be continued,
ANNEXURE B. Item 2 of Agenda.-Although the Braille Code has been, settled on broad lines the contractions and abbreviations have yet to be devised for the various languages and for +his purpose it is suggested that Provincial Govts. and Local Administrations may be requested to let us have, after consulting heads of institutions in the areas and suitable contractions and abreviations which may be considered necessary It may be Suggested. to the Provincial (Govts. that where there is more than one Institution for the- Blind in a Province, the Provincial Govt. concerned could, with advantage, arrange for an informal meeting consisting of representatives of the Provincial Government and of the Institutions concernd so that an acceptable system of contractions could be worked out.
Bureau of Edeation Pamphlet No. 16
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ANNEXURE C Item 3 of Agenda.-The Uniform Braille Code Commit-too of the Central Advisory Board of Education which meet in January, 1941, recommended,* amongst other things, the setting-up of Braille Press with an up-to-date embossing plant and workshop for manufacturing necessary educational tangible apparatus -and appliances to ensure adequate production of suitable materials for the blind. It was also their intention that a Central Library to servo all the Institutions of India, should be attached to the Press. Investigations were accordingly made by this Department to find out a suitable site for the Press.
At Dehra Dun, on Rajpur Road, about four miles from the Railway Station, is a big site of approximately 230 acres. The site and a few buildings thereon were originally used as the Viceroy's Body-Guard Lines and is the property of the Defence Ministry.
During the past few years, St. Dunstan's have taken over the site on lease and are conducting the Welfare Work for Blindled Soldiers. As far as it could be gathered at present, the training of the War- Blinded is likely to continue till the end of 1948 and perhaps longer in limited fields. The future of this activity is yet uncertain and after 1948, when the training Centre for the War-Blinded is wound up, there will only be the after-care department with a few officers occupying the main residential building and a few other small buildings.
Although the existing buildings themselves are not suitable for the location of the Press, the site itself would offer excellent scope for planned development of the Welfare Work for the Blind. In case the Govt. of India would go in for the site and ounded their welfare activities there St. Dunstan's hope to be able to persuade their authorities to extend their full co-operation to Govt. and to hand over to Govt. their apparatus and appliances now used by them.
In 1944, on the joint motion of the Central Advisory Board of Education and the Central Advisory Board of Health, a joint committee presided over by the late Sir Jogendra Singh investigated and have submitted a Report on Blindness in India. The Report,+ has not yet, however, been published, although it is hoped that it would soon be. It will be seen therefrom that the Joint Committee have recommended the establishment of an All India Council on Blindness. Sir Clutha Mackenzie of St. Dunstan's recommends the getting-up of this Council, when it materializes, at Dehra Dun. No decision has yet been reached by Govt. regarding the setting up of this Council and a final decision is bound to take some time in view of the-present political negotiations.+