The Delhi High Court has formed a high-powered committee, which will review if financial services are easily accessible to visually challenged people. It will also look at the problems raised in petitions submitted to the court regarding this matter and propose practical solutions. IIT Delhi professor M Balakrishnan will lead the committee.
The court said, “A High Powered Committee is constituted by this Court to look into all the grievances raised in the petitions and to offer practical solutions in the matter. The panel has been granted three months to submit the status report.”
The court’s decision comes after hearing a petition that sought the formation of a committee to ensure access to financial services for visually challenged persons. The plea said problems that these people currently face must be resolved systematically. These people must be able to make payments through cards and so access to card reading devices is important.
Furthermore, the petition also said that all bank websites and mobile phone applications for financial services must offer specific features that make them accessible to visually impaired people.
The court has assured that the committee’s work will not be limited to the problems mentioned in this petition alone. The committee will be looking at the overall working of the financial services entities to offer the best solutions to visually challenged people.
Committee Members
- M Balakrishnan, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Delhi
- Kolin Paul, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Delhi
- Manisha Mishra, (GM), Department of Regulation
- Tushar Bhattacharya, (DGM) Department of Supervision
- George Abraham, the Petitioner
- Amar Jain, Member of Blind Graduates Forum of India
- Petitioner Officer to be nominated by the Union of India
