By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, August 10, 2024: India’s first university for blind students will soon come up in the state to provide educational and technical courses. There will also be technical schools of excellence in this university. The Odisha government’s move to set up a dedicated international university for visually challenged persons, making it the first such initiative in the country, a senior official said.

There are more than 50 lakh blind people in the country and Odisha counts more than 5.21 lakh of them, including 2 lakh youth. This university is likely to be named after blind poet and 19th-century social reformer Bhima Bhoi, official sources said.

Sanyasai Behera, the first visually challenged Odisha Administrative Services (OAS) officer from the state told the media that there is a need for a special university to meet the education and training needs of blind people. He is the blind Deputy Secretary, of the Department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD).

In this regard, a delegation from Japan’s University of Tsukuba, famous for the blind, also met SSEPD officials. There are around 67 special schools in Japan where students are given vocational education; the delegation informed the Odisha government officials. After this meeting, Sanyasai Behera said that he would soon send a proposal in this regard to Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi.

The plan comprises residential facilities with an advanced digital lab on the university campus. SSEPD principal secretary Bishnupada Sethi said, “We are planning to set up a campus to provide education to students from class IX onwards from India and abroad. We will provide vocational courses like acupuncture, (a part of the ancient study of Traditional Chinese medicine), and physiotherapy – (specialist branch of medicine focused on impairments in bodily movement), besides policy research.”