The ‘International White Cane Day’ was observed under the aegis of the National Association for the Blind (NAB), Kerala, here on Monday, in association with Amway Opportunity Foundation (AOF).
The association of Amway India was part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), with an aim to add value to the lives of the visually challenged.
The event commenced with a march of visually challenged persons with white canes along with community leaders. The key objective of the event was to generate public empathy for the visually challenged so that they can enjoy unhindered and safe mobility and also to promote the importance of the white canes for the visually challenged.
B S Mavoji, Commissioner of Entrance Examinations, inaugurated the observance. Josey Joseph, general secretary, NAB Kerala; Sukumaran S, working president, NAB Kerala; Raj Kumar P M, area manager, Amway India Enterprises; and Anil, manager, were also present.
On the occasion, 150 white canes were gifted to the students of NAB by the State Entrance Commissioner.
The day was also observed by the Kerala Federation of the Blind, in association with Karma, a socio-cultural organisation. Inaugurating it, K Muraleedharan MLA pointed out that visually challenged people were not getting the recognition they deserved in society and the government and social organisations should pay more attention to this.
Mayor K Chandrika distributed white canes and various aids were distributed to the visually challenged by the Mayor.
Federation of the Blind vice-president R Rajan, district president P Jayaraj, Lions Club district governor A K Abbas and Karma office-bearers P S Santosh and Indrajit were among those who spoke.