Scholarships for visually impaired JU students from ex-prof’s grant
Times of India | 29 September 2024
Kolkata: Jadavpur University has decided to provide scholarships to at least four visually impaired students from the interest of the Rs 5 lakh donation given by a former professor of the English department Indrani Haldar in 2022 end. In spite of suffering from spinal cord degeneration, the 88-year old former professor has not been hesitant to help and support the disabled students in their academic pursuit from her savings.
Joint convenor of Centre for Persons with Disabilities, JU, Rajyeswar Sinha said, “At least four visually impaired students from UG and PG courses who are high scorers will be provided with scholarships. Former professor of our English department Indrani Haldar donated Rs 5 lakh to support visually-disabled students in 2022. The interest money from that will be utilized to provide them with the scholarship.”
Haldar, who taught at the English department from 1969 to 2001, is happy to know about the university’s decision. “It is good to hear that the money is being utilized to support visually impaired students in their academic pursuits.”
The octogenarian added, “During my teaching years at JU, I came across a few visually impaired students in the English department as well as disabled students in other departments, whose sufferings and challenges to access education had touched me to a great extent. Their determination to overcome the obstacles has stayed with me after so many years.”
The university is also taking initiatives to make the campus more disabled-friendly like installing Braille sign boards and updating the facilities of the accessible library.
“The funds for the Braille sign boards have been spent from the university coffers. There is also a plan to start blind-friendly computer classes and communication classes. All the initiatives were taken after discussing with the disabled students,” added Sinha.
Convenor of Forum for Students with Disability, JU, Akash Das welcomed the university’s initiatives to make the campus disabled-friendly and promote inclusivity.
“Our suggestions were taken regarding scholarships and upgrading the facilities at the accessible library. We have been demanding Braille sign boards for a long time which the university has fulfilled.”