Some former students of Jadavpur University, with support from Rotary International, have raised funds to upgrade the university’s accessible library used by visually impaired students.

The library, upgraded at a cost of ₹38.5 lakh, was thrown open to the students on Friday.

The alumni, who so far restricted themselves to extending help to renovate and upgrade the university’s laboratories, have now come forward to further their drive towards fostering inclusive education by helping in upgrading the accessible library.

Although the Global Jadavpur University Alumni Foundation (GJUAF), based in California in the US and led by Ranjit Chakravorty, took the initiative to modernise the accessible library, Rotary International did the bulk of the fundraising.

Explaining what prompted them to invest in the library, Chakravorty said: “Although JU was the first among the state-aided universities to establish an accessible library catering to over 230 visually impaired students pursuing undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral studies, the library struggles to keep pace with evolving academic needs due to outdated infrastructure and limited resources”.

Chakravorty, who graduated in chemical engineering from JU in 1964, said that with only one Braille printer, the library’s book conversion process takes six to eight months, leaving students dependent on a narrow selection of available Braille and audiobooks.

Jishu Debnath, a visually impaired PhD student pursuing a doctorate in Bengali at JU, said many of the facilities in the accessible library set up in 2018 have worn out. “Given the funds’ constraints, the university is encountering, it was not possible to renovate the library. We are happy that former students and Rotary International have thought of reaching out to us,” he said.