Patna, Nov. 9: The visually impaired citizens of Bihar would be the first in the country to get copies of Right to Information (RTI) Act and the rules made by the state government for its implementation in Braille script.

The Bihar State Information Commission (BSIC) has sought help of National Institute of Visually Handicapped, Dehradun, for getting the Braille copies of the act and the rules in Hindi and English. It has also requested the institute to prepare their audio version.

The Dehradun-based institute has been selected for the work because it specialises in translating the act and rules in Braille script. It has a huge press where books in Braille script are printed.

“We have sent a letter to the institute’s director for getting the act and the rules translated into Braille and publish them in book form for distribution among the target group,” a BSIC source told The Telegraph today, adding that 50 copies of act and the rulebook would be printed in the first phase.

The BSIC would give each of the non-government organisations working for the welfare of the visually impaired people a copy of the book and audio recording. “They will make people aware of the availability of such a thing. If the demand for such books and audio recording increases, modalities would be worked out to ensure sufficient supply of both the items,” said the source.

The commission decided to distribute the Braille copies after it discovered that not a single visually impaired applicant had turned up with an RTI application in the past five years though Bihar is home to around one million such people. “Spotting the trend, we reached to the conclusion that visually impaired people need to be facilitated with books in their own language which could give them information about the act,” added the source.

Praising the move of the BSIC, former member of Bihar Public Service Commission and senior professor of Patna University Shiva Jatan Thakur, who himself is visually impaired, said: “The move would help the visually challenged people in understanding the act and the rules in their own script.”

The BSIC source said neither the Central Information Commission nor any state information commission had taken initiative to print the RTI Act in Braille script so far.

The commission has also decided to accept applications submitted in Braille. It would soon direct the public information officers (PIOs), deputed in the field to accept such applications.

“The BSIC would get such applications translated into Hindi or English by roping in the services of experts to make things convenient for the PIOs, who are supposed to deliver information sought under RTI,” said the source.

A similar kind of service has been introduced by the commission for applications received in Urdu after a an applicant from Bisfi block of Madhubani district was denied information by PIO concerned because he had filed application in Urdu.

The BSIC has also started the process of getting the act and rules translated into Urdu for the convenience of people using the language.