The Poona School and Home for the Blind has been a pioneer institution in Pune. This eight decade old institution was started by Dr.S.R.Machave, a practicing eye specialist who worked specifically for the noble cause of securing a future for people who were blind. The Poona School and Home for the blind was established in the year 1934 at a rented premise in Somwar Peth, Pune. The school for boys was later shifted to another campus in Koregaon Park, and has come a long way since then.
40 years after the inception of this school for the blind, a separate school for blind girls came into existence in the year 1974. Soon thereafter, a vocational training centre for girls was established in order to make them self sufficient in the outside world. Training these students for self-employment and rehabilitation was the objective of starting this blind school. Just starting a school for the blind was not enough; a need to provide special training to effectively teach the visually impaired students was the next step to be taken by the founder. The school was already running well, but a vacuum existed in training teachers. Considering this, we started a teachers training institute in 1990.
The blind school trust now has five institutions and has been inclusive in its policy of accepting blind boys and girls from all socio-economic backgrounds. It aims at fully integrating these students with the environment outside as independent members of our modern society. At present, around 177 boys and 121 girls are benefited by these efforts. Most of whom are also residents on campus, a provision which is made available free of cost.