Samarthanam's Forum

Four Visually Impaired Persons from Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled were bestowed with an unique opportunity to present Kannada News bulletins on the Chandana Channel, Doordarshan, on 4th January 2010, to mark the bi-centenary (201) celebration of Louis Braille's birthday. Honourable Managing Trustee Mr. Mahantesh G. Kivadasannavar and three Visually Impaired Persons of Samarthanam read the news bulletins along with  regular news readers at scheduled timings. (7.45 am, 1 pm, 7 pm and 9 pm.) 
Louis Braille was the inventor of Braille, a world wide system used by blind and Visually Impaired people for reading and writing. Braille is read by passing the fingers over the characters made up of an arrangement of 1 to 6 embossed points. It has been adopted to almost every known language.
Doordarshan Bangalore, as a Public Service Broadcaster, commemorated the bi-centenary of Louis Braille on January 4th last year in an innovative way by inviting the visually challenged to present  Kannada News. It was the first of its kind in the history of Doordarshan and the Media.
This year too , Doordarshan has initiated this noble endeavour which will not only mark a corner stone in the lives of the visually impaired persons of Samarthanam, but also pave way for subsequent endeavour by other media groups. The aim of such an initiative is to provide equal opportunity to the visually impaired and to help them associate with the main stream society.

Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled has been working since 1997 to empower the visually impaired, disabled and underprivileged people in India and striving hard towards creating an inclusive society which provides equal opportunities for the development of the visually impaired, disabled and underprivileged people. Mr. Mahantesh Kivadasannavar, Founder Managing Trustee of Samarthanam, has been convened with the State Award for his relentless service to the disabled and the society recently.