Reported by Christian Mathew Philip in Timesofindia.indiatimes.com on Jun 14, 2012
RTI to shed more light for blind with replies in Braille - The Times of India

CHENNAI: The blind in the state can now get replies to their queries under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in Braille, thanks to an initiative of the state information commission with help from the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped.

State information commissioner K S Sripathi said the programme, being done for the first time in the country, "Is expected to help more than seven lakh visually challenged people in the state." He said, "We have taken up the initiative following various requests from visually challenged persons across the state."

Every time the information commission receives a RTI application seeking information in Braille, the commission will prepare a reply in the printed format and forward it to the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped, where it will be converted into Braille. For each page of information, the application will be charged 1. "Initially, we planned to provide copies in Braille without any fee but financial constraints are not allowing us to provide information for free," said Sripathi.

National Institute for the Visually Handicapped regional director I Arivanandham said there were very glad to be associated with the project. The "RTI has emerged as a great tool for citizens. Providing information through Braille will help visually challenged people fight for their cause. We are trying to convert the printed format into Braille as early as possible," he said.

Welcoming the move, Tamil Nadu Handicapped Federation vice-president T M N Deepak said, "many government departments are not disabled friendly. According to the 2001 census, there are around seven lakh visually challenged people in the state." He said other government departments should follow this model. "The information commission is only an appellate authority. Other government departments should follow this model to provide information. Many foreign countries have made their official documents in Braille script."

C Govinda Krishnan of Nethrodaya, an NGO that works for the blind , said this would help blind people read RTIs without depending on others. "It will motive them to file more RTI applications."