Bengaluru sources have stated that at the age of 14, a congenital degenerative eye condition saw darkness envelope the world of Mohith B.P. A special school in Chikkamagaluru district, 25 km from his hometown of Handi, has offered the opportunity to finish his schooling.
Mr. Mohith, who now works as an accessibility trainer for the NGO Enable India in Bengaluru has told that very few places offer training in computers and screen reading, and these are in Bengaluru and whether a technical diploma or jobs, the only opportunities were in Mysuru or Bengaluru and there is no supporting infrastructure for training, or readers or specialized labs in rural areas.
Meanwhile S. Babu, assistant director, Association of People with Disabilities has stated that much of the disabilities empowerment activities, whether it is education or job opportunities, occur in urban areas and even NGOs focus on urban areas, out of 41 NGOs, at least 30 work in Bengaluru and naturally, people tend to move to urban areas.
Madhu Singhal, Managing Trustee of Mitra Jyothi, an NGO working with the visually-impaired has added that urban migration is becoming the only way out for most of the disabled, but many families are scared to send women on their own, particularly the visually-disabled and the state policy should gear itself towards villages to enable opportunity for access to education.
