Blind Persons’ Association at a Cost of Rs. 1.34 Crore
Blind Persons’ Association organised a cultural programme today (February 23, 2019) at 3 PM to inaugurate its new Braille press machine at its Braille printing facility at Lal Bihari Shah Braille Academia, Vidyapalli, Malancha-Mahinagar, Kolkata 700 145. The organisation has received a grant of nearly Rs. 1.34 crore from the (Union) Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for expansion of its Braille printing facility under the scheme of “Support for Establishment / Modernization / Capacity Augmentation of Braille Presses”. The grant is utilised for purchasing two new Braille embossers, Braillo 650 SW and Braillo 600 S2 from Norway-based M/s Braillo Company. These two machines can produce about 4,000 Braille pages per hour. The addition of these two printing machines will also help produce Braille books of high quality. It will raise this Braille press to a top-ranking position in the country.
Blind Persons’ Association has already played a leading role in supplying Braille books all over India. So far the organisation has used multiple small Braille printers together for printing books. The new embossers will expedite its production. Any casual search for Braille books will show that this organisation is one of the very few Braille presses with arrangements for public sale. This organisation has already printed more than hundred titles in Bengali and English, catering to the interests of all ages. Its catalogue includes books like college text books, literature, philosophy, computer manuals and books for competitive examinations.
The new Braille embosser was inaugurated by Shri Partha Sadhan Bose, Honorary Consul of Slovak Republic and old friend of the organisation. Shri Bose laid the foundation of the Present Braille press building in 1995. Shri Debabrata Chattoraj, Hon’ble Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, West Bengal could not attend the programme visited the press this morning and congratulated the organisation for its achievement. Among the distinguished guests were Dr. Anupam Basu, Director, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur and Dr. Smt. Mukti Sanyal, Principal of Bharati College for Girls, New Delhi.
The formal inauguration was followed by a cultural programme and the production of Rabindranath Tagore’s Raktakarabi by Anyadesh.
