Why in the News?

• The National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities (Divyangjan), Dehradun, and the National Association for the Blind (NAB), New Delhi, jointly inaugurated ‘Antar Drishti’.

Key Points:

Objective and Features:

⇒ ‘Antar Drishti’ is designed as a unique sensory dark room to simulate the daily experiences of persons with visual impairments.

⇒ The facility enables sighted individuals to engage in activities in complete darkness, thereby promoting empathy and understanding of the challenges faced by persons with blindness or low vision.

⇒ The initiative aims to foster inclusion by bridging the perceptual gap between the general public and the lived experiences of visually impaired individuals.

Implementation of the ‘Enable Inclusion’ App:

⇒ Through this partnership, NIEPVD will implement the ‘Enable Inclusion’ App developed by Amar Seva Sangam for early detection, intervention, and tracking of children with developmental disabilities.

⇒ NIEPVD will integrate its specialization in visual disabilities to enhance the app’s accessibility and responsiveness for users with visual impairments.

⇒ The app will provide personalized support through tele-counseling, rehabilitation planning, and early intervention, advancing DEPwD’s vision of accessible, inclusive, and tech-driven empowerment for persons with disabilities across India.

NIEPVD:

• The National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Impairment (NIEPVD), under Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), has been working since 1943 for the education, training, rehabilitation, and empowerment of the visually impaired.
• It established a Regional Centre in Chennai in 1988 for serving the Southern Region, and coordinates four CRCs at Sundernagar (H.P.), Gorakhpur (U.P.), and Jaipur (Rajasthan) to provide rehabilitation and skill development services for persons with disabilities.