INFOTALK FOR THE VI 1

1. Punjab National Bank has for the first time sound output service (screen reading software) at their ATMs. This has been tested and implemented at the ATM that is operational at 2-Nehru Place, Jaipur. PNB has come forward to issue ATM plus debit card of the bank to visually impaired persons on merit basis as per head office order dated 29th October 2007.

2. Job portal for disabled people

A job portal for persons with disabilities has been launched at Bengaluru. The Department of Welfare of Disabled people and Senior Citizens in collaboration with Partners in Change (PiC), a non–governmental organisation, has developed a website that will enable persons with disabilities to look for employment opportunities in various sectors.

Speaking to press persons, M.V. Vedamurthy, Director, said: "Around 36,000 persons with disabilities have enrolled themselves with the employment exchange and the department is collecting their details and will put this up on the website. Companies willing to recruit disabled persons can visit the website and get information on eligible candidates."

The website, www.karnatakapwdjobs.com will allow persons with disabilities to hunt for jobs anywhere in India and provides for companies to post their jobs free of charge.

According to Mr. Vedamurthy, the department is implementing the rural rehabilitation scheme that would provide jobs to 5,828 persons as well as enable persons with disabilities to avail themselves of all the schemes and benefits they were entitled to from the different departments at their doorstep through the rural rehabilitation workers at the gram panchayat level. The government had sanctioned Rs. 5.92 crore for this programme, he added.

3. Website launched for the benefit of the disabled

A website has been launched by UDIS Forum, a network facilitating employment of persons with disabilities and AES Technologies (India) Private Limited to facilitate information exchange between organisations working for persons with disabilities here recently. The website, Disability Alliance of Voluntary Organisations (www.davo.in),
Which, went online on December 30, contains profiles of institutions working in the disability sector, current developments in disability welfare, job opportunities for people with disabilities and Government initiatives and schemes. Formally launching the website, J. J. Jesuraj, District Disabled Rehabilitation Officer, said it would provide an excellent platform for the voluntary organisations to exchange their resources.

President of the forum, M.N.G. Mani, said the website would provide news on international trends and innovative practices in disability management. "A screening
committee consisting of representatives of leading voluntary organizations and disabled persons has been constituted to review the contents of the website regularly," Mr. Mani said.

The website would be a source for parents, persons with disabilities, professionals, and the public to find out about the training facilities available for children and adults with disabilities, employment counseling.

4. A technology conference with a difference:

IBM India announced the setting up of India's first ever Human Ability and Accessibility Centre in New Delhi, a centre that will create software to assist disabled people become tech savvy.

The Managing Director IBM India, Shanker Annaswamy says, "The idea is to enable tech ability of human beings using the available technology." IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Director, Francis West says, "The traditional view of disability is that they are a group of people that we have to help and therefore it's more of a charity sense of relationship."

On display were the accessibility products intended to make life easier for disabled people and get them into the mainstream. This software translates spoken Hindi into text. It makes web–browsing easy by customising font sizes, background and page–layouts. IBM says that the initial response has been good.

"The Government has participated, the National Trust has participated as has the department of social justice," says Annaswamy.
Annaswamy says that the goal is to make the software affordable. "We will work with our partners to make sure that it is accessible to them," he says. While this could be the best gift that these specially–abled people could get, the accessibility and affordability of the product will decide its success.