The Central Braille Press
Situated in one of the pristine parts of Dehradun known as the Rajpur Road,
the Central Braille Press is the first press of its kind in India and one of
the oldest braille presses in Asia. It was set up in Dehradun, Uttarakhand
in 1951 after independence by the Government of India, Ministry of Welfare
to make braille literature available to the blind.
This was followed by the setting up of NIVH (National institute for the
Visually Handicapped) in 1967 in an area of about 43 acres on
Mussoorie-Dehradun Highway. It is a training centre for the blind.
If you are in Dehradun for a day or two, you should not miss this place. The
old British styled house gives a serene feeling and once you are inside the
building there are many things to see, just like a museum.
The old manual printing, cutting and perforating machines to the new age
digital printing devices - all under the same roof. And if you visit the
press after 9 in the morning, you will be lucky enough to meet the good
people who will gladly give you a tour of the printing, proof reading,
editing and binding rooms inside the building.
Central Braille Press is the largest producer of Braille text books in
India. The press produces braille books in different languages including
Hindi, English, Punjabi, Urdu, and Sanskrit. It supplies text books from
Class I to VI free of cost and at highly subsidized rates from Class VII and
onwards. The press also brings out regularly magazines for blind readers to
keep them abreast about latest developments. These magazines are “Braille
Times (Weekly), News magazine, Nayan Rashmi (Monthly in Hindi) and Braille
Digest (Bi-monthly in English)”.
For many years, Central Braille Press has been experimenting with the
production of Braille slates in order to overcome the difficulty of
obtaining special appliances used in the education of the blind. This proved
to be quite successful as, so far, over 150 Braille slates made at Dehradun
have been sold to institutions for the blind and blind individuals at about
one-fifth the price of imported slates.
Apart from old printing machines, the Central Braille Press or Rashtriya
Drishtibaditarth Sansthan Bharat has Heavy Duty High Speed Computerized
Braille Embosser like Braillo Braille Embosser and other modern printing
machineries. A trip to the press will help you to gain knowledge about
different processes undertaken for the production of books for the blind.
Address
Central Braille Press
National Institute for the Visually Handicapped
116, Rajpur Road
Dehradun - 248 001
Tel : 0135 744491
Fax : 748147
Email : nivhddn@nde.vsnl.net.in
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