Visually impaired help each other earn

All of them come from a poor background,with almost no daily income. The idea to form the group was mooted by the Andhjan Sarvodaya Sangh – a local association run by the visually-impaired themselves. It will help the unemployed people get petty jobs which can earn them at least Rs 40 to 50 per day. City-based donors will help the group find new jobs for sustenance.

The group will initially start with jobs like wrapping chocolates,peeling vegetables,taking music classes and manufacturing candles.

Salim Vora,who runs the Sangh and is 100 percent visually impaired,said: “We are tired of the government proceedings. We have made several representations,but to no avail. Most of us are at least educated upto Class X,but never got a government job which we are entitled to. There are people who get government job on the basis of fake disability certificates,but we don’t get anything despite being the real beneficiaries.”

Bharat Vankar,is in his late 30s,is a 100 percent visually impaired and is the sole bread earner of his family of three. He is trained in making knitted chairs and playing the trumpet. But for years he has been earning his living by selling glasses of water outside the railway station.

“Sometimes I join a music group to play the trumpet at marriages where I earn Rs 400 a day,but that is a seasonal income and I don’t get to join the band very often either,” said Vankar who will join the group and also teach others to make knitted chairs. The group intends to include more such works which would not just sustain the present batch but would help to include others like them in need.