New currency notes pose problems for visually-impaired
BENGALURU : The new currency circulation in the market is confusing the visually-challenged who depend upon the feel of the note.The visually-impaired recognise notes through its length and width, a manoeuvre they master through practice. The new denomination notes of 50, 100, 200 and 500 are creating problems for them as the notes are difficult to differentiate.
“Adapting to the sizes of the new currency notes is a significant challenge for the blind. Identifying notes through length, width and tactile markings need immense practice. They struggle to identify the new denominations as they get confused,” M Srinivas, Chief Executive Officer, The National Association For The Blind (NAB), told City Express.
S Jagendra, a 51-year-old in NAB, struggled to differentiate among the new denominations of 100, 10, 50 and 200 and identified the new `200 note as a `50 one.“Losing even a `100 note is a huge loss for them,” Srinivas said.Ninety per cent of the visually-impaired population are dependent on cash. “Note X, a device earlier used by the visually-impaired for recognising different denominations, is now losing relevance amid the introduction of new currency notes,” he added.
In the era of digitisation, softwares like Voice Over in iPhones, Talk Back in Android, Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) are a blessing to the sightless. “To avoid hassles of cash transactions, I use the voiceover software on Paytm,” said Abdul Rehman, a 22- year-old UPSC candidate. Susmita D said she
avoids keeping higher denominations with her and uses separate compartments in her purse to keep the new notes to avoid being cheated.
“The introduction of the notes have made the visually-impaired highly dependent, which is a constraint for them,” said Pramila R, a teacher at NAB.Responding to a PIL filed last year, the RBI, in its bi-monthly monetary policy, said it would come up with feasible note-recognition features for the visually-impaired. Some new tactile markings have been introduced in the new denominations for their feasibility.
“Introducing markings in the new denomination will not solve problems until the visually-impaired are made aware of them. Only a handful of educated sightless people know about this. The government should come up with methods to raise awareness about the same,” said Srinivas.
Many petitions regarding introduction of Braille on currency notes are doing the rounds. He added that
appeals have been made and they are just waiting for the government’s response.In Australia, the bank
notes have a number of features that assist visually-impaired people. Canadian bank notes have Braille dots.