CHENNAI: On the occasion of Louis Braille’s Day, celebrated every year on January 4, the National Association for the Blind (NAB) Tamil Nadu State Branch released braille storybooks for children and launched project Katha on Ratha on Friday. Governor of Tamil Nadu, Banwarilal Purohit was the chief guest of the event.

“Braille books for children are not easily available in the city. Even if they are, they are expensive. So, we decided to release braille edition of books by Sahitya Akademi Award recipient, S Ramakrishnan, and distribute them in special schools,” said P Chandrasekhar, secretary, NAB.

Three books — Ulagin Migacheriya Thavalai (World’s smallest frog), Paper Padikum Singam (Lion that reads the paper) and Eliyin Password (Rat’s Password) — were released. 

Katha on Ratha, a bilingual reading programme, promotes language development and creativity through stories. “We’ll be working together on creating material in braille and tactile pictures. The resource teachers in schools who work with students with visual impairment will be trained to implement the programme,” he added.

Talking about future plans, Nina Reddy, president, NAB, said they would open a bakery by the blind at Lady Andal School next month, and a plan to begin a sports centre at Madhavaram is underway.