Published On : Tue, Feb 16th, 2016

Blindman’s Rally: an event waiting to excite citizens

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Nagpur Round Table-83’s endeavour at philanthropic efforts for visually challenged

Blindman’s RallyNagpur: Come this Sunday February 21, 2016, a very innovative and challenging endeavour is going to attempted once again in the city. Nagpur Round Table 83 (NRT83) a social and philanthropic organization which is concerned for the underprivileged while promoting their motto of “Freedom Through Education”, will once again be organizing  the Blind Man’s  Car Rally here on Sunday February 21, 2016.

The Blind Man’s Car rally would be flagged off from Haldiram’s Krazy Castle (Ambazhari Road) at 8.00 am and would conclude after covering a distance of about 50 to 60 Kilometers. On the way the team or participants would be discovering several places around the city and registering their passing the spot at various Check points.

Unlike the usual race, this rally is a unique sport wherein one car is flagged off every minute. The event is essentially time-speed-distance (TSD) road rally where each one of the teams consisting of minimum two persons (driver and navigator) would be given a set of route directions in Braille language to follow and the speeds at which they should travel. The blind man’s car rally is an exceptional situation wherein the sighted driver is totally dependent on the blind navigator to make his way through the course.

It is an initiative to help develop a close emotional bond with blind persons, to support and to instill confidence in the participating visually challenged person. Nagpur Round Table 83 along with Nagpur Ladies Circle No. 50 is organizing this event.  Dinshaw’s are the Co Sponsors.  Haldiram’s Krazy Castle are Venue partner,  Sign Post is Outdoor Media partner, 94.3 My FM is Radio Media partner,  Nagpur Today is Online media partner, The Hitavada is English print Media partner,  Vasant is Vision partner,  National Motors is breakdown support partner, Radiance Hospital is Medical support partner and Adventure Achievers as adventure partners.

The Visually impaired men and women are from Rashtriya Drushtihin Shikshan and Punarvasan Sanstha, Nagpur. 

About Nagpur Round Table 83

The Nagpur Round Table 83 organizes various events and undertakes various activities that can generate funds for achieving their aims and goals. The members gather and organize some event so that they can raise funds through contributions and tie ups etc. The members display a passion for building classrooms and do not compromise on quality of the work. Some of the laudable achievement and major projects undertaken by Nagpur Round Table 83 include:

After the year 1997, Long-term project the motto-Freedom through Education was adopted, under which the following infrastructure has been constructed by Nagpur Round Table 83:

  • School building built for Arya Prathmik Shala, Sadar at a cost of Rs. 4.35 lakhs
  • One Storey built for Deaf and Dumb School, Saoner at a cost of Rs. 1.50 lakhs
  • School building built for Uday Education Society’s Jeevan Shikshan Vidyalaya, Parvati Nagar at the cost of Rs. 40 Lakhs
  • School built at Hingna Village worth Rs. 14 lakhs
  • Toilet block constructed at school in Wardha district at the cost of Rs. 60,000

Nagpur Round Table -83- More than a school – A future

  • A new school building in the remote Mandwa village, 20 kms from Umrer, has been built by Nagpur Round Table 83. A small, dilapidated slum school is being transformed into a modern school with 6 classrooms, library, kitchen, toilet blocks, store, staff rooms and principal’s rooms. The 5,000 sq. ft. structure being is being built at a cost of Rs. 22 lacks and will have a provision to be later build a first floor too. Over 1,200 children from the less privileged background will for the first time have a proper school and class rooms to go to. It is Nagpur Round Table -83’s way of giving a future to those who have a stake in the country’s future. The school was inaugurated in June 2008.

Other valuable and noteworthy contributions of Nagpur Round Table -83:

From the year 1990 to 2000 – Project Vision was their mission. The following were achieved under this project:

  • More than 1000 cataract operations performed for the poor
  • Yearly medical camps conducted in villages around Nagpur
  • Distributed free medicines worth more that Rs. 1,00,000/-
  • Apart from the above, Nagpur Round Table 83 has been rewarding meritorious students every year for the last 7 years at the above schools on Children’s day and Independence day
  • Nagpur Round Table 83 has contributed Rs. 2.85 lakhs towards the rehabilitation of Tsunami victims
  • Nagpur Round Table 83 has donated Rs. 2 lacks to the PM relief fund for Kargil Fund
  • Nagpur Round Table 83 has sent relief material for the earthquake victims at Latur and Gujarat
  • Nagpur Round Table 83 has sent Rs. 21000 for the relief of the flood-affected in the Gujarat floods
  • On August 15 of every year from last 9 years, prizes distributed to first ranker students of all classes of 83 constructed schools.
  • Nagpur Round Table 83 has sent Rs.80000 for the relief of the flood-affected in the recent Kahsmir floods.
  • Nagpur Round Table 83 has sent Rs.110000 for the relief of the affected in the recent Nepal earthquake.
  • Nagpur Round Table 83 has donated Rs.21000 for five international projects in Hong Kong, Singapore, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Philippines. 

About Our Flagship Event: Blind Man Car Rally

The Blind-Man’s Car Rally or BMR, is a day-long exciting family event. It is a social initiative by Round Table India, which they have been hosting for last 14 years. In Nagpur we have been doing this rally for last two years.  It is a concept based on professional TSD rallies, just that here the participant (driver) would drive around the route with instructions from a visually impaired (navigator) who reads out the route from a Braille route chart. The navigator will give step-by-step driving directions through a series of check points to their sighted partners behind the wheel during the time-speed-distance (TSD) car rally. The foremost aim of the event is to create awareness about the grave consequences of ignoring literacy. The initiative focuses on eradicating illiteracy and highlights the challenges faced by the visually impaired. The rally for last two years started from the Krazy Castle. These navigators were the guides to the contestants through a series of checkpoints.