SPEECH OF HON’BLE GOVERNOR PUNJAB AND ADMINISTRATOR, UT CHANDIGARH, SHRI BANWARILAL PUROHIT ON THE OCCASION OF GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATION OF INSTITUTUTE FOR THE BLIND AT TAGORE THEATRE CHANDIGARH ON NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen and children of Society For The Care Of The Blind. I am very happy to be amongst you all to celebrate Golden Jubilee of the Society .

The Society For The Care Of The Blind is serving the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh in training their visually handicapped children . It is helping to build a strong foundation for them to become self reliant and confident citizens.

From what I have seen and learnt about the Institute which the Society runs, it is working for the all round development of the children under its care. It is also heartening to learn that all students, who have passed out from the Institute are either undergoing higher studies or are well settled in their lives. I congratulate entire team of the Society for the sincere efforts that they are putting in. I would like to offer my support for the promoting the cause of our visually challenged children.

It has always been in my mind that there is a constant need for empowering the visually impaired students by imparting them education and vocational training to enable them to live a life with pride and dignity.

We need to treat the visually impaired as an asset to the society; they should not be taken as a liability. Our loving and caring attitude, homely upbringing, proper guidance is required to these children to transform them into self reliant and useful citizens of the Society.

Just a few months ago, in the month of September, I happened to witness the Women’s National Chess Championship for Visually Challenged Players organized in Chandigarh. I was much impressed by the confidence of the participants. Visual impairment was no obstacle for them. They proved that Chess is a game of vision not visibility. The players did not have Vision in the Eyes, but, definitely they have Vision in their Hearts.

So, I feel that Braille Chess needs to be promoted. This will not just hone their cognitive abilities and decision making skills but also ensure integration and participation of visually challenged people into the broader society.

The Government has instituted a number of schemes for visually impaired students besides providing scholarship / allowance to enable students to continue their education with ease.

But, it is fully recognized that there is a need for greater efforts by society towards empowerment and inclusion, if the visually impaired are to be fully integrated .

It is our responsibility to accept this reality and try to create a truly egalitarian society in an environment in which not only the blind and the visually impaired but all those who are impaired in some form or the other, live and experience life as equals along with the others who are not so .

I call upon and all those assembled here and all other like minded organizations to redouble their efforts and expand the coverage of their operations as much as possible so as to reach out generously all over India.

May you be greeted with success in all your endeavours.

Thank you,

Jai Hind.