No Schooling for Highest-Blind-Ratio State

Abid Gowhar
Srinagar /July 2004
Let we Shut our eyes for a minute and try to observe the things which we see around by open eyes.OH!……. Nothing visionary except darkness of everything. Does your mind got a thrash and you get trashed and feel extremely anguish with heart turning wobble? One feels very afflicted, and heart gets shaken to see a blind person. Hardly any body could imagine the world of sightless people. How do we feel about the ill-fated blind persons? What a misery…. Why the Almighty is discriminated towards these eye-sightless human beings? The Creator of this universe can not be blamed of, except to put an extra attention and effort to bend before His greatness for being Almighty, the destiny choicer of the whole creature.
Really shocking that J&K State has got the highest blind prevalence in India. The estimated blind population of the J&K State is 2,16,124 out of 1,25,80,431,the India’s total blind presence. When among every 10,000 people 149 persons are blind in the whole country, J&K State carries the highest blind prevalence with 280 persons out of every 10,000 suffering from blindness by one cause or other. These figures are written on a hoarding hanging in the office chambers of National Institute for Visually Handicapped (NIVH), biggest institute for the blind aspirants run by ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India, situated in Dehradun Utranchal. The reasons for J&K State carrying the highest blind prevalence in India could be many i.e. The maximum population belong to remote areas, hence the women does not get proper medical care and counseling during their pregnancy period, resulting the born child suffer from blindness, teenagers not getting due and proper medical checkup, increasing trend of self medication, lack of quality ophthalmic facilities, State being the Muslim dominant area and as per the Muslim religious ethic, the marriages in inter blood relations are preferred, that the medical science, as per the latest research, turns wrong by claiming that there is the highest probability of disability in borne issues when marriages are made in blood relations. All these causes are imaginary and one can not be sure about the actual , but the fact lies there that the whole blind population of the State is suffering heavily due to government’s non realistic approach, improper care and dare of the guardians, lack of social Justice in the state and unrealisation of their potential and capability. Knowing that, a big number in the State prevail through total or partial blindness, the concerned government authorities have never shown any interest towards their rehabilitation, education or social obligation. The authorities might claim for one Abhinanda Home at Rambagh Srinagar, but the situation seems there bad to worse. “ The blind home run by social welfare department is a shameful gesture of this State, where the blinds are treated like animals. It was a home for adult blinds to learn different trades and get suitable education, but neither the infrastructure is available, nor the staff is committed to serve the purpose” Said Aijaz Ahmad resident of Sarai bala Srinagar, a 25 year old blind. “I left the Home after two months, because nobody was telling me how to do the chair canning, for which I was actually admitted, I was told that, you have no job to do at home, so your parents put you here, to keep themselves free of tension. What will we do, when government has not allotted / granted any fund to us to look after your worries.”
Surprisingly there is no school for blind girls or children below 18 years of age at present in Kashmir , as in other parts of the country. In early eighties there remained one such school, reportedly somewhere in Barbarshah area of Srinagar locality. The school voluntarily run by one Kashmiri Pandit, in which hundreds of boys and girls read in Braille System of education and all of them are reaping dividends of that schooling today like, Aijaz Ahmad Mir(blind) presently working as Senior X-ray technician in SKIMS Soura Srinagar, Shaheena Chesti (blind) working as music teacher in a Govt. school, Mohd. Shafi Kawoosa (blind) presently senior law officer in Government law department after doing LLB and LLM from Kashmir university and many more nowadays living a prosperous life.
Couple of years back Composite Rehabilitation Centre (CRC), a Govt. of India undertaking, came in to existence in Srinagar to rehabilitate the handicapped people of this destitute State, having a good location and premises at Bemina bye-pass near Govt. women Polytechnic Srinagar, but how come that could cater the need of a school, that too for the visually handicapped children. It can simply be a counseling centre for these sightless, never a school to learn. State Government among its priorities, should show a courtesies approach in this regard to establish a blind school in the valley, keeping in view the increasing trend of blindness in the region and willingness of these children to show their God- gifted and matured talent by way of basic schooling in valley. Quite alarming that these blind children of the state are seen emigrating from their homeland to other states of India for want of education and rehabilitation. As recently monitored, the dozens of boys and girls of the State tightening up with their parents to leave for Dehradun (Utranchal) for want of admission in NIVH.
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