Braille Equipment Provision

What is the Braille Equipment Provision scheme?

Braille Equipment Provision is a scheme listed in the Uttarakhand government's compendium of schemes for persons with disabilities, under which Braille appliances are manufactured and supplied at subsidised rates to persons with visual disability and to institutions that serve them. The scheme is implemented by the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities (NIEPVD), Dehradun, through its Workshop for Manufacturing Braille Appliances (MBA).

The stated purpose is independence in daily life. The scheme description says it aims to facilitate the independent functioning of visually impaired individuals by providing them with Braille equipment for writing, computing, entertainment and mobility. Rather than paying a subsidy to the buyer, the government subsidises the manufacture, so the appliance itself is sold at a price far below what a commercial equivalent would cost.

The workshop is old and well established. NIEPVD states that it was set up in 1952 and manufactures a range of writing, computing, recreational, mobility, home-management and employment-related devices for persons with visual impairment, available "at highly subsidized rates and thus easily affordable".

Who is eligible for Braille Equipment Provision?

You are eligible if:

• You are a person with visual impairment; or
• You run or represent a special school for visually impaired students; or
• You run or represent an organisation serving visually impaired persons.

The scheme's eligibility clause is a single line and does not lay down an income ceiling, an age band, a minimum disability percentage or a state-residence requirement. That is consistent with a supply-at-subsidised-rate scheme rather than a means-tested cash benefit.

You are not eligible if:

• You do not have a visual disability and are not ordering on behalf of a school or organisation that serves visually impaired persons.
• You are looking for a cash allowance. Braille Equipment Provision is an in-kind benefit and gives no money. A person with visual disability in Uttarakhand seeking monthly cash support should look at the Divyang Pension Scheme, which pays Rs 1,500 a month.
• You cannot pay the advance amount, because orders are confirmed only after payment is received. There is no instalment or credit facility described in the scheme.

What Braille appliances does the workshop supply?

NIEPVD describes the workshop's output in categories rather than a fixed list on the scheme page, and publishes a downloadable catalogue of Braille appliances with item-wise rates. The categories are:

• Writing devices; used to produce Braille text by hand.
• Computing devices: arithmetic and calculation aids for study and work.
• Recreational devices, games and leisure items adapted for tactile use.
• Mobility devices — aids for independent movement.
• Home management devices: everyday household aids.
• Employment-related devices, items used in vocational settings.

Because the catalogue is revised from time to time, the item list and rates should be read from the current catalogue on the NIEPVD site rather than assumed. This guide does not reproduce individual prices for that reason.

How to apply for Braille Equipment Provision

1. Open the Manufacturing Braille Appliances page on the NIEPVD website at niepvd.nic.in and download the current catalogue and the order format.
2. Fill the order format with the item names, quantities and rates you want, taken from the catalogue.
3. Arrange payment by bank draft, NEFT or RTGS in favour of Director NIVH, 116 Rajpur Road, Dehradun, adding 10 per cent packing charges on the actual cost of the appliances plus freight charges as applicable. The catalogue rates are stated to be inclusive of 5 per cent GST.
4. Submit the completed order format along with the payment to the workshop.
5. Wait for order confirmation, which the workshop issues after the payment is received. Dispatch follows confirmation.

There is no online application portal for this scheme and no registration step. The order format is the application.

What does the applicant pay?

The economics of the scheme are worth stating plainly, because "subsidised" is often read as "free":

• The appliance price is the subsidised catalogue rate, inclusive of 5 per cent GST.
• Packing adds 10 per cent of the actual cost of the appliances.
• Freight is charged extra, depending on the destination and consignment.

Payment must accompany the order. There is no reimbursement route described, so an applicant should not buy equipment elsewhere expecting to claim it back under this scheme.

How does this scheme relate to Uttarakhand's other disability schemes?

Braille Equipment Provision is listed in the Uttarakhand government's departmental scheme guidelines for divyangjan, which is why it appears among Uttarakhand state schemes. The implementing body, NIEPVD, is a national institute located in Dehradun, and it serves applicants from across India, not only from Uttarakhand.

A resident of Uttarakhand with a visual disability may be simultaneously covered by other, separately administered benefits: the Divyang Pension Scheme (Rs 1,500 a month, Department of Social Welfare), scholarships for students with disabilities, and the central assistance for purchase and fitting of aids and appliances route. Each of these has its own form, its own office and its own eligibility test. Braille Equipment Provision does not replace any of them and is not routed through ssp.uk.gov.in.

Where to get help

• Workshop for Manufacturing Braille Appliances (MBA), National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities (Divyangjan), 116 Rajpur Road, Dehradun 248001, Uttarakhand
• Phone: 0135-2742145, 0135-2744491
• Email: director-niepvd[at]nivh[dot]gov[dot]in and mbaniepvd[at]gmail[dot]com
• Website: niepvd.nic.in

A special school or organisation placing a bulk order should contact the workshop before sending payment, to confirm current rates, stock position and the freight estimate for the consignment.

What this guide could not verify

Two things are deliberately absent from this page. First, item-wise prices are not reproduced, because the catalogue is revised periodically and a stale price is worse than none. Second, no helpline for Uttarakhand state grievance redressal is given for this scheme, because Braille Equipment Provision is operated by NIEPVD's workshop rather than through the state Social Welfare Department's pension and grant machinery. Queries go to the workshop numbers listed above.