PM Modi releases new series of visually-impaired friendly circulation coins

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a new series of visually-impaired friendly circulation coins on Thursday.

The coins were released at a function at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, where visually-impaired children were specially invited. The Prime Minister expressed happiness in hosting them and thanked them for giving him an opportunity to interact with them.

Addressing the children here, the Prime Minister said, “Mahatma Gandhi used to say that every decision should be taken keeping in mind the last person of the society. Our government has considered this as our mantra."

“We have taken many decisions to understand the problems of divyangs, their lives and help them to increase their confidence. There are more than 100 websites of Indian government which can be easily accessible by divyangas. A sensitivity has emerged in the government that keeps these things in mind before taking any new decision,” he said.

The Prime Minister thanked the National Institute of Design for the design, Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited and the Ministry of Finance for the introduction of new coins.

During the interaction with the Prime Minister, the children thanked the Prime Minister for introducing the new series of coins. They added that these coins will greatly ease their daily routine.

“PM has done a good thing. Earlier, we could not recognize the coins before and people used to take Rs 20 rupees instead of Rs 10 rupees,” a girl said.

A boy came to attend the event said, “People used to cheat us in notes and coins. Even if we took the help of someone, they also used to deceive us. With the launch of these coins, we will become self-dependent.”

As part of the new series, the Prime Minister released Rs 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20 as part of the new series of coins.

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. The newly included coin of Rs 20, will be a 12 sided coin with no serrations. The rest of the denominations would be of the round shape.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Minister of State Finance and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan were also present in the event.