International White Cane Safety Day is being observed all over Pakistan, like other parts of the world, on Thursday to create awareness about the white cane among general public. The Punjab government is leaving no stone unturned in resolving the issues of blind persons, however, yet a lot is needed to be done.
Especially, the blind students are deprived of the reserved quota in the Punjab University. Furthermore, they are not being facilitated in examination on Braille. Blind people have used canes as mobility tools for centuries, but it was not until after World War I that the white cane was introduced.
In 1921 James Biggs, a photographer from Bristol who became blind after an accident and was uncomfortable with the amount of traffic around his home, painted his walking stick white to be more easily visible. In 1931 in France, Guilly d'Herbemont launched a national white stick movement for blind people.
In the United States, the introduction of the white cane is attributed to George A Bonham of the Lions Clubs International. In 1930, a Lions Club member watched as a man who was blind attempted to cross the street with a black cane that was barely visible to motorists against the dark pavement.
The Lions decided to paint the cane white to make it more visible. In 1931, Lions Clubs International began a program promoting the use of white canes for people who are blind.
The first special White Cane Ordinance was passed in December 1930 in Peoria, Illinois granting blind pedestrians protections and the right-of-way while carrying a white cane. On October 6, 1964, a joint resolution of the Congress, HR 753, was signed into law authorising the President of the United States to proclaim October 15 of each year as "White Cane Safety Day".
President Lyndon Johnson was the first to make this proclamation. It may be noted that the Punjab government has distributed Rs 10 million among disable persons a day earlier including the blind persons. The social circles have termed it a welcoming step in reviving the plight of the blind persons and stressed on further measures in connection with the world white cane safety awareness day.