Visual impairment is the worst form of disability. If one were to be visually impaired person and also belong to poor family, the problem becomes more severe. There cannot be a worse condition than being a visually impaired woman and belong to poor family. The problem of the visually impaired persons are so severe that it should be “seen” to be believed.
Amongst the estimated 17 lakhs of differently abled persons in one state namely Tamil Nadu alone, around ten lakhs of them are estimated to be visually impaired persons and of this around five lakhs are visually impaired women in the various age groups. Quite a number of them are born with visual impairment and many of them become visually impaired as they are not given proper treatment at the very young age, largely due to the ignorance of the parents and their lack of affordability. Many of them become visually impaired due to genetic reasons, diabetic conditions at a later stage of life and other reasons such as accidents etc. While medical technology for treatment of blindness has been developed in a spectacular manner in recent years and great work is being done by several eye hospitals and ophthalmologists, the problem still remains at an unacceptable level in India.
Large segment of the visually impaired people belong to lower income group and face extremely tough and insecured conditions. While the Central and State governments have initiated many welfare schemes and NGOs also adding to the Government efforts, they are not found to be adequate considering the extent and intensity of the problem.
The most glaring problems faced by them is the joblessness and unemployment, forcing many of them to virtually beg for their sustenance. While the Government and several public sector units have reservations for providing jobs to visually impaired persons, many posts still remain vacant due to their “unsuitability” for the positions advertised.
In the case of private sector, providing jobs to the visually impaired persons is an exception rather than a rule. Rarely, they provide jobs for visually impaired persons and if and when they do so, it becomes news. While a number of visually impaired persons have qualified themselves mostly in the arts subjects, their qualification remains only as a matter of “paper degree”, as they are not recognized by the employers in the private sector for providing them job openings.
Apart from the joblessness and consequent economic distress, the visually impaired women face severe conditions of insecurity and physical abuse. In several public forums, visually impaired women have spoken about this problem and in private discussions many have described their plight due to molestation etc. and other forms of abuse. In the case of many visually impaired persons particularly in the lower income group, the family support is minimal. Many of them are reasonably well taken care of as long as their parents would be alive but after the death of their parents, the family support gets severely reduced, as other members of the family are also poor and would view the visually impaired persons , as “economic burden.”
Facing severe unemployment conditions with the potential employers not viewing them with understanding, many visually impaired persons, both educated and uneducated and men and women become vendors to sell assorted goods . A number of them sell the products in moving trains, in bus stops and busy thoroughfares and quite a number of them have met with accidents losing limbs and even losing lives in some cases. The authorities frequently chase them away, when they try to sell their products in such areas and it is pathetic to see them running from pillar to post to find place to position themselves for selling. Again, rarely banks give them loan to self employ themselves as vendors and many borrow at exhorbitant interests from private money lenders , virtually making their activity unprofitable.
While several of their problems can be narrated, we need solutions.
Given the inadequate steps of the Government and NGOs so far, which leave the problems largely unsolved, the Government have to move in a big way to protect their interests. The visually impaired persons left with their problems all to solve by themselves, is a big blot on the conscience and image of the society and the Government.
It appears that without losing further time, both Central and State government should adopt the visually impaired persons in the lower income group , by providing them residential accommodation and financial support for their livelihood. In viewing this issue and finding solution, the government should not think about the economic impact on its budget but approach the issue solely from the point of view of the need to fulfill its responsibility towards this unfortunate visually impaired persons, who are as much the citizens of this country as anyone else.
Amongst the estimated 17 lakhs of differently abled persons in one state namely Tamil Nadu alone, around ten lakhs of them are estimated to be visually impaired persons and of this around five lakhs are visually impaired women in the various age groups. Quite a number of them are born with visual impairment and many of them become visually impaired as they are not given proper treatment at the very young age, largely due to the ignorance of the parents and their lack of affordability. Many of them become visually impaired due to genetic reasons, diabetic conditions at a later stage of life and other reasons such as accidents etc. While medical technology for treatment of blindness has been developed in a spectacular manner in recent years and great work is being done by several eye hospitals and ophthalmologists, the problem still remains at an unacceptable level in India.
Large segment of the visually impaired people belong to lower income group and face extremely tough and insecured conditions. While the Central and State governments have initiated many welfare schemes and NGOs also adding to the Government efforts, they are not found to be adequate considering the extent and intensity of the problem.
The most glaring problems faced by them is the joblessness and unemployment, forcing many of them to virtually beg for their sustenance. While the Government and several public sector units have reservations for providing jobs to visually impaired persons, many posts still remain vacant due to their “unsuitability” for the positions advertised.
In the case of private sector, providing jobs to the visually impaired persons is an exception rather than a rule. Rarely, they provide jobs for visually impaired persons and if and when they do so, it becomes news. While a number of visually impaired persons have qualified themselves mostly in the arts subjects, their qualification remains only as a matter of “paper degree”, as they are not recognized by the employers in the private sector for providing them job openings.
Apart from the joblessness and consequent economic distress, the visually impaired women face severe conditions of insecurity and physical abuse. In several public forums, visually impaired women have spoken about this problem and in private discussions many have described their plight due to molestation etc. and other forms of abuse. In the case of many visually impaired persons particularly in the lower income group, the family support is minimal. Many of them are reasonably well taken care of as long as their parents would be alive but after the death of their parents, the family support gets severely reduced, as other members of the family are also poor and would view the visually impaired persons , as “economic burden.”
Facing severe unemployment conditions with the potential employers not viewing them with understanding, many visually impaired persons, both educated and uneducated and men and women become vendors to sell assorted goods . A number of them sell the products in moving trains, in bus stops and busy thoroughfares and quite a number of them have met with accidents losing limbs and even losing lives in some cases. The authorities frequently chase them away, when they try to sell their products in such areas and it is pathetic to see them running from pillar to post to find place to position themselves for selling. Again, rarely banks give them loan to self employ themselves as vendors and many borrow at exhorbitant interests from private money lenders , virtually making their activity unprofitable.
While several of their problems can be narrated, we need solutions.
Given the inadequate steps of the Government and NGOs so far, which leave the problems largely unsolved, the Government have to move in a big way to protect their interests. The visually impaired persons left with their problems all to solve by themselves, is a big blot on the conscience and image of the society and the Government.
It appears that without losing further time, both Central and State government should adopt the visually impaired persons in the lower income group , by providing them residential accommodation and financial support for their livelihood. In viewing this issue and finding solution, the government should not think about the economic impact on its budget but approach the issue solely from the point of view of the need to fulfill its responsibility towards this unfortunate visually impaired persons, who are as much the citizens of this country as anyone else.
N.S.Venkataraman, Trustee,
Nandini Voice for The Deprived, Chennai-90
