Berhampur: Visually-impaired students pursuing higher studies in the state will find it easy to pursue education as Braille textbooks, as well as literary works in Odia will be introduced from the next academic year.
The Red Cross Braille Press in Berhampur will be able to print textbooks for blind Plus II students due to the installation of a modern computerised Braille machine.
State minister for social security and empowerment of persons with disabilities Ashok Chandra Panda inaugurated the machine Thursday.
Reportedly, the modern machine has been procured from Germany at a cost of Rs1.18 crore. The machine can print around 50 to 60 error-free Braille pages per hour.
The existing infrastructure at the press does not have the capacity to print higher secondary textbooks.
In addition to textbooks, epics like the Ramayan and the Mahabharat will also be printed by the machine so that the blind students can take the advantage of reading epic books.
Berhampur MP Chandra Shekhar Sahoo, MLA Bikram Panda, Gopalpur MLA Subhash Chandra Maharana were part of inaugural meeting.