Bombay HC seeks suggestions from experts on ways to make currency user friendly for visually impaired

The Bombay High Court on Monday sought suggestions from experts about means and methods that can be adopted to make Indian currency notes and coins more user friendly for visually impaired persons.

A division bench of Justices Prasanna Varale and Sharmila Deshmukh noted that while the court may keep passing orders, sometimes it too may be proceeding in the dark and hence, suggestions from experts will be required to come up with a solution.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the National Association of the Blind (NAB), claiming that the new currency notes and coins posed difficulty for the visually-impaired people in identifying and distinguishing them.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had earlier told the court that it has included several tactile features in currency notes so that visually impaired people can easily identify them.

The court then asked the petitioner's advocate Uday Warunjikar to take the suggestions of experts.

"Take some experts' suggestions on what measures and method can be introduced for designing the coins and notes in such a manner that they are user friendly for persons who are fully or partially visually impaired," the bench said.

"We want some solution. We might keep passing orders but sometimes we may be proceeding in the dark, especially when we do not know what it is that needs to be changed in the design," Justice Varale said.

"We are not policy makers. They (visually impaired persons) are equal participants in all walks of life," the court said, adding that once suggestions are submitted by the petitioner, the same would be put forth to the RBI.

The bench posted the matter for further hearing after four weeks.

Published on: Monday, September 05, 2022, 06:14 PM IST