Bertha Gyndykes Dkhar

Last updated

Bertha Gyndykes Dkhar
Born
OccupationEducationist
Awards Padma Shri
National Award for Child Welfare
WebsiteOfficial web site

Bertha Gyndykes Dkhar is a visually impaired Indian educationist, best known as the inventor of the braille code in Khasi. [1] [2] In 2010, the Government of India awarded her with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award. [3]

Contents

Biography

Bertha Gyndykes Dkhar was born in Shillong, Meghalaya [4] as a visually-impaired child with retinitis pigmentosa, a disease which causes degeneration of the retina, and lost the eyesight completely while she was in college due to which she had to abandon her studies. Without means to support herself, she sold fruits in the market for a living. [2] Continuing with efforts to overcome the disability, Dkhar researched in Braille code and designed the code in Khasi, the local language in Meghalaya. [1] [2]

Bertha Dkhar is the headmistress of the Jyoti Sroat School, a school run by the Bethany Society for the visually impaired children. [5] She received the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri, when she featured in the 2010 Indian Republic Day honours list. [3] She is also a recipient of the national award for Child Welfare from the Government of India in 2000. [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Tehelka". News report. Tehelka. 13 August 2011. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Woman for Society". Web Profile. Woman for Society. 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Padma Shri" (PDF). Padma Shri. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  4. "Highbeam". Highbeam. 13 August 2011. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  5. "Jyoti Sroat". Jyoti Sroat. 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  6. "Title unknown". The Hindu . 10 August 2000. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.

Further reading