Patna, Nov 10 (IANS): The Bihar government will provide a copy of the Right to Information (RTI) Act in Braille for the benefit of visually impaired people in the state, officials said Thursday, describing it as a first for the country.

An official of the Bihar State Information Commission (BSIC) said the Nitish Kumar government had initiated the move to help visually challenged people in understanding the act and the rules.

"The commission will distribute the copies of the RTI Act in Braille script among visually impaired people to create awareness and to provide them an opportunity to use it for their benefit," an official said.

The commission has also decided to accept applications submitted in Braille.

According officials of the BSIC, there are one million visually impaired people in Bihar but not one had turned up with an RTI application in the last five years.

BSIC has approached the Dehradun-based National Institute of Visually Handicapped for getting Braille copies of the act and the rules in Hindi and English. It has also requested the institute to prepare audio versions.

Officials said the institute has a huge press where books in Braille script are printed.

Neither the Central Information Commission nor any state information commission has so far taken the initiative to print the RTI Act in Braille, an official said.