Greetings to Hamari Vaani. My name is Rajesh Kumar Pathak, a person with visual impairment from Nathupura village, Burari, Delhi. I work as a Music Teacher on a contractual basis at a special school for visually impaired students located at Seva Kutir, Delhi. I would like to share that I do not use any advanced assistive devices. I travel to and from work using a traditional white cane. Among assistive tools, I only have an Android mobile phone, but unfortunately, I am not able to use it independently. I depend on my children for basic assistance with mobile-related tasks and some school work. I sincerely wish that organizations would provide training on assistive technologies to working persons with visual impairment like me. Such training could help many of us become more independent and keep pace with others. I often hear about devices such as the Orbit Reader 20, BrailleMe, BrailleFirst, and other Braille-based technologies. However, not only are these devices expensive, but even if we somehow manage to purchase them, there is often no one available to train us on how to use them effectively. I would also like to speak about accessibility and mobility. It is unfortunate that even in Delhi, the capital of the country, footpaths are often not safe or accessible for persons with visual impairment. In such circumstances, using devices like a smart cane becomes challenging. If I talk about my school, many of my blind students walk approximately 200 to 400 meters from their hostel to the school. The footpaths along their route are occupied by shopkeepers, forcing the students to walk on the roadside. As a result, many of them have to walk on the wrong side of the road, exposing themselves to serious safety risks. There appears to be no adequate arrangement to ensure their safety while traveling between the hostel and the school. This is a matter of great concern for me. I would like to invite the Hamari Vaani team and others interested in disability inclusion to visit our school and witness these challenges firsthand. Although the school infrastructure itself may be adequate, the lack of safe and accessible pathways outside the school puts visually impaired students at constant risk. Students from Class 1 to Class 12 face these difficulties every day while traveling to and from school.
