Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a special series of Rs 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20 coins. These special series of coins will have the theme of the logo of AKAM and will also be easily identifiable to visually impaired persons. The coins of Re 1, Rs 2, 5, 10 and 20 denominations with AKAM design are not commemorative coins and will be part of circulation.
“These new series of coins will remind people of the goal of amrit kal and motivate people to work towards the development of the country,” Modi said while addressing the iconic week celebration of the Ministry of Finance. Modi also launched the ‘Jan Samarth portal’ — a credit-linked portal of 12 government schemes. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said each of these schemes will be displayed on the portal. “This portal is going to make it easy so that citizens does not have to ask the same questions every time to avail himself a government programme”.
Various new features have been incorporated in the new series of circulation coins to make it more easy for the visually impaired to use them. The coins are characterized by the increasing size and weight from lower to higher denominations. For real inclusion, government officials, implementing agencies, developers – all relevant parties – need to understand what accessibility truly means for a person with vision impairment. It’s not an additional feature or a retrofit. It’s a critical point to be taken into account at the time of building or designing anything new.
