Times of India: Madurai: Wednesday, November
28, 2018.
In what may be a first in the state, a
person with vision in just one eye has been issued a driving licence by the
Madurai South RTO in line with the Centre’s order permitting the same for
people with monocular vision.
N J Shirabthinath, 26, resident of
Palanganatham in Madurai, was issued the licence after he passed the driving
test on Monday. The man, who had lost vision in his left eye in an accident at
the age of two, said he never thought that his dream of driving a vehicle in
his life would ever come true as driving licence was not given to people with
monocular vision.
His hopes, however, soared, when his
friend Ashwin Vairavan showed him a ministry of road transport circular dated
Nov 21, 2017 which stated that a person with monocular vision could get a
driving licence if he/ she clears certain medical tests.
RTI: Licence can be issued under certain
conditions
Upbeat, they immediately filed an RTI to
know if the circular was effective in Tamil Nadu. He was in high spirits when
the RTI reply, dated Sept 11, 2018, stated that the regional transport officers
had been asked to issue the licence subject to certain conditions.
He had to pass vision tests including
Goldmann perimetry test/confrontation test and visual acuity test. Apart from
this, the candidate must have a visual acuity of 6/12. The tests were conducted
by the department of ophthalmology at the Government Rajaji Hospital and got
the required medical clearance.
Now all that was left was clearing the
learner licence registration (LLR) and driving test. He applied for an LLR in
October and cleared the driving test on Monday. “South RTO Suresh was very
encouraging,” Shirabthinath said. He then enrolled in a driving class in Tenkasi,
where he is working as a software professional.
Madurai South RTO P Suresh said that they
had got the circular directing to issue licence if the candidates passed
certain tests, which Shirabthinath had done.
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