India has the world's highest population of blind people.
The All India Radio in Pune created history on Monday when its morning bulletin was read out by a visually impaired newsreader, officials said.
The second half of the regular regional news bulletin at 7.10 am was typed out in Braille script and visually impaired Dhanraj Patil read it out during a live broadcast in Maharashtra to Marathi audiences.
Later, following the successful broadcast, Mr Patil -- who earned distinction as the first Marathi blind newsreader -- was warmly congratulated by friends and admirers at the AIR Regional News Unit.
This was the first of its kind in the history of AIR's Marathi news bulletins, and also marked the birth anniversiary of Louis Braille, the inventor of the system of reading and writing by the blind.
The Pune Blind Men's Association cooperated in the venture, considering the close bonding of visually impaired people with the audio medium. Special arrangements were made in the studio for the special broadcast.
India has the world's highest population of blind people.
Over the years, blind and visually impaired people have conquered most fields and have served effectively in the civil services, government, private companies, banks, education sector, etc.