The Bombay high court on Monday directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Mint Corporation to file a reply on the petition seeking tangible changes in notes and coins so as to enable visually-impai
The Bombay high court on Monday directed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Mint Corporation to file a reply on the petition seeking tangible changes in notes and coins so as to enable visually-impaired persons identify them with ease.
A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice M.S. Sonak issued direction while hearing a PIL filed by Joaquim Rapose, secretary of National Association for the Blind (NAB), which raised the issue of difficulties faced by blind persons in identifying currency.
The petitioner sought direction to the RBI for making necessary changes to notes and coins so that blind people would be able to identify them without any difficulty.
“Earlier, blind or low vision persons were easily able to identify coins and notes as there were unique marks on each coin; some coins were raised or embossed and tactile differentiation was available for recognition of coins,” read the petition. It sought direction to respondents to spell out steps taken by them till date to protect the rights of blind persons.
Counsel for the petitioner, Uday Warunjikar, informed the bench that in recent years, blind persons had started facing difficulties in identifying notes and coins of various denominations and Rs 100 and Rs 500 notes had no distinguishing marks that could help the blind differentiate between them.
According to the petitioner, the RBI had requested NAB for its feedback on new notes and coins. Following which, detailed suggestions had been sent to RBI. Mr Rapose also said that he had pointed out that there wasn’t much difference between Rs 100 and Rs 500 notes. Similarly, there was hardly any differentiation between Rs 1, Rs 2 and 50 paise coins. However, nothing had been done so far.
