Union Budget: The new coins for the visually impaired explained

New Delhi, July 05: Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the new series of coins which would be helpful for the visually impaired would be released shortly.

The coins in the denominations of Rs.1, Rs.2, Rs.5, Rs.10 and Rs.20 were released by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi in the month of March 2019.

The coins were released at a function at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, where visually impaired children were specially invited. Modi had said that the government is guided by the vision of the reaching the last mile and last person. He said that the coins were released keeping this in mind.

He said that the coin withs with various differentiating features, will greatly help the visually impaired. It will also instil confidence in them, he had said.

The coins were designed by the National Institute of Design for the design, Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited and the Ministry of Finance.

The new coins make it easier for the visually impaired to use them. The coins are characterised by the increased size and weight from lower to higher denominations.

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