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The National Institute for the Visually Handicapped (NIVH)

history of institute

The National Institute for the Visually Handicapped (NIVH) owes its origin to St. Dunstan’s Hostel for the War Blinded established in 1943, which offered a basic set of rehabilitation services to the soldiers and sailors blinded in the World War II. In 1950, the Government of India took over the St. Dunstan’s Hostel and entrusted the Ministry of Education with the responsibility of developing comprehensive services for the rehabilitation of blind persons. Subsequently, services for the blind witnessed remarkable expansion. In the same year, the Government established the Training Centre for the Adult Blind to ensure reintegration of blind soldiers including other persons in the world of work. In 1951, the Government established Central Braille Press; in 1952, Workshop for the manufacturing of Braille Appliances; in 1954, Sheltered Workshop; in 1975 Training Centre for the Adult Blind Women and in 1959, Model School for the Visually Handicapped. In 1963, National Library for the Print Handicapped was established out of which National Talking Book Library was carved out in the year 1990. On integration of all the Units in 1967, the Government established National Centre for the Blind (NCB). This Cent re was further upgraded as National Institute for the Visually Handicapped in the year 1979 and finally in October 1982, it was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and gained the status of an Autonomous Body.

The NIVH has its Headquarters at 116, Rajpur Road, Dehradun with one Regional Centre at Chennai (Tamil Nadu) established in 1988 and two Regional Chapters at Kolkata (W.B.) and Secunderabad (Andhra Pradesh) established in the year 1997. These Chapters provide peripheral services and are being served by a small component of Officers and Staff transferred from the Headquarters, whereas, Regional Centre at Chennai is a full-fledged Institute with staff strength of 30 headed by a Regional Director. The Institute also coordinates and supervises Composite Regional Centre for Persons with Disabilities, Sundernagar (H.P.) established in the year 2001.

The campus at Dehradun is spread across 1,74,150 sq. meters (43 acres) of land area. There are 14 office buildings having plinth area of 19,000 sq. meters, 119 residential quarters having plinth area of 7,800 sq. meters, 3 hostel buildings having plinth area of 13,500 sq. meters and a dispensary building of 350 sq. meters plinth area. It has 11,700 sq. meters of roads, water supply lines, sewerage lines, electrical supply lines etc.

The NIVH Regional Centre, Poonamallee, Chennai has a total land area of 24,300 sq. meters (6 acres). Its Training Block measures 761.34 Sq. Meters Plinth Area, Administrative Block has 388.12 Sq. Meters Plinth Area, Hostel Block with Mess of 1000.47 Sq. Meters Plinth Area and Ladies Hostel Block has 715 Sq. Meters Plinth Area.

 Department of Special Education & Disability Studies

The Institute’s HRD activities comprise Degree, Diploma and Certificate level courses in Special Education, Orientation and Mobility, Refresher/Orientation Courses for Field Functionaries, Service Providers, Policy Makers and parents of the visually impaired children. Some of these courses are being conducted at the Institute’s Headquarters, Regional Centre, Chennai and CRC, Sundernagar while others are being conducted in collaboration with State Governments and reputed NGOs in the field of visual disability either with full or partial funding.

The Institute’s Department of Special Education is a shining example of academic excellence, its alumni are rendering services to the visually impaired school children and trainee teachers across the length and breadth of the country.Many are serving country’s leading Universities and have been instrumental in promoting research in various aspects of special education. Since its inception (1984), the department has contributed 6,500 teachers and 402 Mobility Instructors which comprise approximately 70% of the trained teachers for the blind available in the country. Courses wise detail being run by the Institute, its partner agencies and other institutions is presented in the following table: Name of the Course 	Intake Capacity 	Duration 	Location 	Entry level Qualification M.Ed. Special Education (V.I.)- 	15 	1 Year 	NIVH, 116, Rajpur Road, Dehradun 	B.Ed (Special Education) or B.Ed (General) with one year Diploma Course in Special Education B.Ed. Special Education (Visual Impairment) 	25 each 	1 Year 	NIVH, 116, Rajpur Road, Dehradun 	Graduate NIVH Regional Centre, Poonamallee, Chennai-56, Tamil Nadu Blind Relief Association,New Delhi Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, Narendrapur (W.B.) Bachelor Degree in Mobility Science (V.I.) 	20 	1 Year 	NIVH, 116, Rajpur Road, Dehradun 	Graduate Diploma in Education, Special Education (V.I.) 	25 each 	2 Year 	Training Centre for the Teachers of the Visually Handicapped, Campus of the Govt. Institute of Electronics, 10-3-60, Nehru Nagar, East Maredpally Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh 	Intermediate Training Centre for Teachers of the Visually Handicapped, C/O Govt. School for the Blind, (Near Buddha Murti) Kadam Kuan, Patna -3 (Bihar) Training College for the Teachers of the Blind, Ashram Road, Ahmedabad-9 Gujarat Training Centre for the Teachers of the Visually Handicapped, C/O The National Association for the Welfare of the Physically Handicapped Near Amravati University, Gate No. 3, Mardi Road, (NAWPH), Amravati, Maharashtra National Association for the Blind, Rustom Alpaiwalla Complex, Mumbai, Maharashtra The Poona School & Home for the Blind Teachers Training Centre, 14-17, Karegaon Park, Dr. S.R.Machave Road, Pune, Maharashtra Training Centre for the Teachers of the Visually Handicapped, S.I.R.D. Campus, Bhubaneswar, Orissa L.K.C. Shri Jagdamba Andh Vidhyalaya Samiti,Hanumangarh,Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan Montfort Centre for Education, Training Centre for the Teachers of the Blind, Danakgra, Arimile PO, Tura, Meghalaya Helen Keller Government Teachers Training Centre for the Visually Handicapped, Tilaknagar, Mysore, Karnataka Shree Ramana Maharishi Academy for the Blind,3rd Cross, 3rd Phase (Near Ragi Gudda), J.P.Nagar Bangalore, Karnataka Vivekananda Mission Ashram, Viveknagar, PO Chaitanyapur (Haldia) Medinipur, West Bengal Teachers Training Centre for Visually Handicapped, C/O Government Institute for the Blind,Braille Bhawan,Ludhiana, Punjab Smt. Prasanaben Narandas Ramji Shah (Talajawala) Pragnachakshu Vidyalaya, K.K. School and Home for the Blind,Opp. New Filter, Vidyanagar, Bhavnagar, Gujarat Raj Teacher Training Centre,(run by Israji Devi Shikshan Sansthan),14/18, Elgin Road, Civil Lines Allahabad,(UP) Ramakishna Vivekananda Mission,Rajgarhia House, 7 Riverside Road,Barrackpore, 24 Parganas (North),West Bengal Sparsh Rajkiya Dristibadhit Inter College,Handicapped Welfare Department, 10th floor, Indira Bhawan, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Composite Rehabilitation Centre for Persons with Disabilities, (CRC) Near Mahamay Temple, Sunderngar,Dist: Mandi Himachal Pradesh TCTVH,Rashtriya Drishtihin Shikshan & Punarvasan Sanstha,Nagpur,Maharashtra TCTVH,Jeevan Jyoti School for the Blind,Banaras, U.P TCTVH, National Association For the Blind, (Unit Maharashtra) Satpur, Nasik, Maharashtra Certificate Course in Prosthetics & Orthotics 	25 	1 Year 	Composite Rehabilitation Centre for Persons with Disabilities, Sunderngar, Himachal Pradesh 	10th Pass and Certificate from I.T.I in Fitter/Leather/Carpenter or Two years experience in related field or Two years Practical Experience from a recognised P&O Workshop/Centre under P&O Professionals Diploma in Hearing Language & Speech (DHLS) 	25 	1 Year 	Composite Rehabilitation Centre for Persons with Disabilities, Sunderngar, Himachal Pradesh 	Intermediate with Science